Quote:
Originally Posted by jayswin
With that contract one of two things is true, either a) Tkachuck would have signed longer and Treliving therefore signed one of the worst star player contracts in NHL history, walking him right to free agency before he even hit his prime
or b) Tkachuck purposely negotiated the deal that way and wouldn't entertain anything longer, which means Tkachuk had already planned to leave 3 years ago, and then lied to the media and fans about how the deal came to be, and his desire to stay.
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There is a 3rd option. Treliving's own hubris. He may have thought that because a long term deal on possible at one point, that he could offer a more team friendly bridge deal then give him the long term offer later. He may have been gambling that Tkachuk would settle in as a 70 point player and not a 100 point player, and then have some leverage at the end of the bridge. When I see bridge deals, it suggests to me that the player is betting on himself and the team is betting the other way. Tkachuk won that bet.