[GreenLantern2814]

Treliving has yet to sign a contract longer than six years (EDIT: As Scorpion points out, Monahan got seven).

As we've seen with Johnny and Monahan, the Gio cap is real. On the Calgary Flames, $6.75M gets you:

-First-line LW who has lead the team in scoring every year since 15/16.
-Soon-to-be Norris trophy winning defenseman who is a freak biceps tear from being a 2x Norris trophy winner.

Tkachuk has finished 5th, 3rd and 4th in team scoring, which is awesome. It doesn't explain why he deserves $2M+ more than players he hasn't been better than. 3 points in 9 playoff games, compared to 12 in 20 for Gaudreau.

Tkachuk is great. There's no way to argue he's not an insanely good hockey player. A common comparable is Nylander. Nylander's cap hit is $6.96M. So it's not even like that deal reset the market, Nylander's negotiation was just a spectacle.

Tkachuk isn't a centre. He isn't Matthews. He isn't McDavid. He isn't even Draisaitl, who got $8.5M ostensibly to be a centre; there's not a single winger not named Draisaitl to get $8M out of their ELC in the entire sport. I know we like Tkachuk, but there has to be a reason beyond "the worst organization in the game gave Draisaitl X, so Tkachuk deserves more despite not even putting up Draisaitl numbers on the wing".

Tkachuk is going to get a deal where most of his lockout year salary is guaranteed in a July 1 signing bonus. He will likely sign for 6 years, and I will be astonished if his number begins with a 7.