[News] 2023 Hart Top 3: McDavid, Pastrnak, Tkachuk

[Paulie Walnuts]

Some bizzare takes to get the MVP to Tkachuk who had a great year but McDavid was unreal like it's not debatable.

Yeah he stinks defensively but he still put up 153 points!!! He outscored our top 2 scorers combined.

Tkachuk is having a great playoffs but this is a regular season award not playoffs.

I hate the guy as well but it's not even close. Last I checked power play points count the same as 5 on 5 and we would be in the playoffs if had a half decent powerplay no one would complain.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Yes people will continue to argue for what they believe to be true
Again win don’t know

The GM of the team told us what happened. The player himself told us what happened. Many people in the media have told us what happened. We know the cap was extremely tight. Brad just couldn't get Tkachuk to sign more than 3 years and caved to the player when he has a track record of being an extremely tough negotiator with RFAs. It's a tough pill to swallow after seeing Tkachuks regular season and playoffs so I get it.

[Hackey]

Can't go wrong with any of the choices really. Everyone one of those guys was huge for their team this year. McDavid probably makes most sense but the other two are very deserving.

[midniteowl]

Wrong threat, sorry.

[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.

[You Need a Thneed]

Mcdavid’s season this year wasn’t even as good as Gaudreau’s season last year.

And yes I’m being serious, and that is an objective truth.

Raw points aren’t everything, like way to many make them out to be.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Mcdavid’s season this year wasn’t even as good as Gaudreau’s season last year.

Um. Numbers don't lie.

Nobody has put that many points up in over 30 years.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Um. Numbers don't lie.

Nobody has put that many points up in over 30 years.

No one had a +64 in the past 30 years either, nor had more ES points.

All in only 18 min of playing time per game as well.

Games aren’t about which team gets to 5 goals first. It’s about out scoring the other team, it’s a two way game.

[Jason14h]

And both lost in the 2nd round! McD did get one more game though I guess

[Cali Panthers Fan]

The only one on the list still playing is Tkachuk. Just sayin'.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

The only one on the list still playing is Tkachuk. Just sayin'.

Its a regular season award that's why the voting is done before the playoffs.

If they involved playoffs McDavid would have 0 MVP's to his name.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Its a regular season award that's why the voting is done before the playoffs.

If they involved playoffs McDavid would have 0 MVP's to his name.

Oh really? I was completely unaware!

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Oh really? I was completely unaware!

Today is a day of celebration we shouldn't be fighting.

Hopefully Tkachuk wins the cup.

[TheIronMaiden]

#### Tkachuk.