Mathew Tkachuk and other key RFA signing watch thread

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Mitch

Not sure if this is being said as I'm not really keeping up with this thread, but I think having the worst/oldest arena in the NHL is playing a big role in losing our top players/losing out on potential free agents.

Yeah agreed, between the arena deal, and a known bellicose owner in union negotiations and even potentially in direct player negotiations, it paints an interesting picture of people it would be difficult to work with/ for.

[jlh2640]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

Yeah, it’s totally Brad’s fault Calgary isn’t part of the United States.

It is Brads fault that countless negotiations have been painfully slow. Over and over again, to the point where players remember and want to leave. Matthew is American yes. 24 years old. There is a way to keep him happy. The Flames seem unwilling to do anything. I’m done with Brad and his regime. It’s time to go.

[Jore]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Both players said the right things that they love playing in Calgary and would like to stay. The reality is that anytime a player says something like this it's pure lip service and it's unfortunate really because as we have seen a lot of Flames fans bought those comments as sincere. Tkachuk in particular was always planning on leaving as soon as he could and was flat out lying to media and fans. I not going to hate on the players for pursuing their careers in cities they wanted to live but I have more respect for the PLD approach as he's not lying to Jets fans and he's also doing the organization a favor by giving them a heads up and plenty of opportunity to plan on a future without the player on their roster.

From the moment that Tkachuk negotiated his bridge contract the clock should have been ticking for the organization to take advantage of any offers that they could get for him.

I said during the Eichel trade last season that I hoped that BT's refusal to make Tkachuck available would be worth it, and right now the answer looks like a strong no. The first Dubois trade might also have been a good moment to move Tkachuk to bolster the C position. Hell, right down to the draft a few weeks ago, BT apparently refused to move Tkachuk for 2OA+.

It sucks that the Flames' stars refuse to stay, but the current mess is on the organization for not making solid assessments of player intentions, negotiating short-sighted contracts, and not making strong, pro-active decisions on players.