So it prevents an offer sheet, which prevents someone else from signing Tkachuk longterm and prevents the Flames from matching that offer and getting him longterm (or getting the compensation which likely would have been 4 first round picks). It guarantees that they will have to pay him equal to or more than his QO and if it goes through arbitration guarantees that he is in the same position as Mark Stone was in his last year as an Ottawa Senator as it can only be a one year contract. The only possible reason you would elect to go to arbitration is to ensure that you have him for game one of the season, because everything else that could happen without arbitration gives you more options to either get him signed longterm or get pretty good compensation for him (and I guess it give you more time to get a deal done because the arbitration won't be until August sometime).
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