[DeluxeMoustache]

^ sure, and Tkachuk wanting more money than Treliving has doesn’t mean more money is available. It means somebody has to go.

Tre can ask Tkachuk who he should get rid of. It’s just business, kid. To which teammate do you want to say goodbye?

“Look, we can pay you, say, 6 million this year and then next year we will have space to get to a number you like better. But if you need that number this year, one of your teammates becomes your casualty”. Let Tkachuk understand, and own, his part in the big picture. If his demands have consequences on the team, let him know.

Then Tre has to make something happen. And what if he can’t?

And the consequence, if Tkachuk wants to stick to it, can be one full year at zero dollars, one year of his career down the toilet, plus trying to recover that money in future years. It’s a lose-lose.

One year at 6 million? Tkachuk may hate himself for taking it but it would be an outcome that is not a lose-lose

It’s just a negotiation.