[FanIn80]

Just to put all the facts on paper, in case people aren't sure...

Treliving signed:
- Frolik to a 5yr deal on July 1st 2015, worth $21.5M at a $4.3M annual cap hit.
- Tkachuk to a 3yr deal on September 25th 2019, worth $21M at a $7M annual cap hit.

Both Treliving and Tkachuk confirmed at the time that the reason for the 3yr deal for Tkachuk was "so we could keep the team together." Frolik at the time was Tkachuk's linemate, and was entering the final year of his contract. Based on the roster situation back then, he would have been the logical player to move (factoring cap hit and replaceability).

I've seen some comments about how keeping Frolik had nothing to do with Tkachuk not signing long-term, as he could have signed for 8 years at the same annual $7M he got for the 3 year deal. I'm not sure what the thought process is behind those comments, as there's no way anyone of his calibre would have signed 8x7. Obviously, it would have cost the Flames more per year to get another 5 years, but that's the part where "we wanted to keep the team together" comes into play.

Tkachuk at the time was adamant that he wanted to sign and stay in Calgary long term, so it makes sense that his camp was asking for 7 or 8 years. I figure it would have cost the Flames $9M a year to lock him up for that term, so that's where everything fell apart. Treliving didn't want to move Frolik to free up the extra money needed to pay Tkachuk $9M a year, so they went back and forth all offseason long until Tree got what he wanted, which was a dollar amount that would allow him to not have to move anyone.

I've commented before on the morality of making a player have to decide between keeping a teammate or not. It's a pretty questionable spot to put someone in, and I'm sure it left a bit of a taste behind when all the dust had settled. I've been a huge supporter of Treliving in the past, but his job was to stand up and realize that keeping a future first-line player was far more important than keeping a bottom-six guy in his 30s and on the last year of his contract.

I believe Tkachuk when he said at the end of the 2022 season that he wanted to re-sign. I also believe that he met with the coaching staff and didn't get some of the answers he wanted to hear, which led to him changing his mind.

We shouldn't have even been in this situation though. I mean, Treliving couldn't predict Sutter and his "nobody in that room is worthy of being a Captain" mantra, and his "I'll start every 3v3 OT with Backlund, Coleman and Tanev" schtick. Regardless, Trelving gambled on the teams future and lost.