The Matthew Tkachuk contract negotiations

[Toonage]

Interview with Tkachuk's agent (Don Meehan) on TSN.ca

Says they gave the Flames options this past June

The agent is speaking up.

Uh oh?

https://www.tsn.ca/video/tkachuk-s-a...n-june~1757533

[socalwingfan]

Yeah, that's not good And screw TSN for the damn regional viewing restrictions

[Boreal]

https://www.tsn.ca/video

Update on Tkachuk from Don Meehan.

[Flash Walken]

[PepsiFree]

Not sure what the hand-wringing is for.

"We started early, we set a position and didn't have to wait... we gave that to Calgary the early part of June, so we're involved in negotiations right now but it's not a waiting game, we've made a decision as far as what we think is fair and relevant for the player and we're working with Calgary now."

So... they came out with exactly what they wanted early and are continuing to negotiate. Can't see how that's a negative.

[Toonage]

IMO it never looks good when an agent, who until now has been silent, chooses to speak up. Regardless of his message its never by accident.

[VilleN]

I don't see how this is necessarily negative. Brad could be waiting to intensify negotiations once he has settled his cap concerns. IE he may be working on a deal to move Frolik and is waiting until he has a clear picture of what their cap space is before moving forward.

If Tkachuk's camp has said these are our options:
- 3 year - 6 mil
- 5 year - 9 mil
- 6 Year - 9.5 mil
And so on (these are hypothetical numbers, insert your own estimations)... So Brad may be looking at this and thinking; 'If I can't clear more space we're likely looking at 3 years, if I can make a deal to move Frolik maybe we're looking more in the 5-8 year range'... Too many unknowns at this point to say whether things are going poorly.

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Toonage

IMO it never looks good when an agent, who until now has been silent, chooses to speak up. Regardless of his message its never by accident.

Its a negotiation tactic.

[Flash Walken]

Time to Tre to pull the trigger on some of those deals he has sitting in the hopper.

[VladtheImpaler]

Well, I think it's a good sign at least that Meehan does not appear to be waiting for Marner. I was concerned this thread would be at the same point in November (of course, it still can be). Maybe this is Meehan's way of putting pressure on Treliving to clear the space.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Toonage

IMO it never looks good when an agent, who until now has been silent, chooses to speak up. Regardless of his message its never by accident.

Maybe. But especially in context of the full quote and the question he was asked, I don’t really see it as much of a tactic. Unless “we’re not waiting around to see what Marner gets to decide how much to ask for” is a tactic.

It’s summer, I get it, plenty of time to kill to panic about anything, but in context this quote hardly seems like a tactic and even less so something to worry about.

[jlh2640]

I feel like the Flames will get him to sign, likely 8 mil range is what he is worth, Hoping cheaper but its very unlikely

[GioforPM]

Meehan is a pro. but not a bomb thrower or super aggressive. He tends to get fair deals for his clients. He doesn't tend to stoop to the risk of blowing relationships with GMs. I think he operates much like Treliving, and they will get something done. I can't recall any client of his who's held out.

He does owe Treliving a solid for the Neal deal.

ETA: He had some holdouts like Peca and Nabokov a long time ago. Once Sergei Kostitsyn held out but that was not a contract issue - it was a demotion issue (and Meehan told him not to refuse to report).

Doughty and Pietrangelo missed some camp in 2011 and 2012. And Subban held out for 4 games in the short 2013 season. But he didn't seem to have burned any bridges and ended up with a renewal later on (avoiding arb).

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Well, I think it's a good sign at least that Meehan does not appear to be waiting for Marner. I was concerned this thread would be at the same point in November (of course, it still can be). Maybe this is Meehan's way of putting pressure on Treliving to clear the space.

imo, this is it.

"Take the poison pill already so we don't have to hold out."

Remember that right now Tkachuk is paying to insure himself right now on his next contract Could be over 100k at this point based on the value of his next deal. Maybe several hundred k.

This is how you hurt relationships with players.

[Toonage]

Here's hoping its all good, Tkachuk doesn't want to miss any time and Meehan is throwing the ball back into Treliving's court.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

imo, this is it.

"Take the poison pill already so we don't have to hold out."

Remember that right now Tkachuk is paying to insure himself right now on his next contract Could be over 100k at this point based on the value of his next deal. Maybe several hundred k.

This is how you hurt relationships with players.

Do you think insurance is that expensive if he is not actually playing contact hockey? I have wondered about this. I wouldn’t think it’s that pricey if he’s not playing hockey or going skydiving.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

imo, this is it.

"Take the poison pill already so we don't have to hold out."

Remember that right now Tkachuk is paying to insure himself right now on his next contract Could be over 100k at this point based on the value of his next deal. Maybe several hundred k.

This is how you hurt relationships with players.

Meh. The cost of insurance (which I don't think is that high) is built into the next contract he eventually signs.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by VilleN

I don't see how this is necessarily negative. Brad could be waiting to intensify negotiations once he has settled his cap concerns. IE he may be working on a deal to move Frolik and is waiting until he has a clear picture of what their cap space is before moving forward.

If Tkachuk's camp has said these are our options:
- 3 year - 6 mil
- 5 year - 9 mil
- 6 Year - 9.5 mil
And so on (these are hypothetical numbers, insert your own estimations)... So Brad may be looking at this and thinking; 'If I can't clear more space we're likely looking at 3 years, if I can make a deal to move Frolik maybe we're looking more in the 5-8 year range'... Too many unknowns at this point to say whether things are going poorly.

If those are the options you do 6 for 3 years no matter what. Even if he gets 8 years at 11 in 3 years saving 3 mil a year for next 3 years would set us up to win now

If he wants out of town he is more likely to change his mind on that if this team is stacked for next 3 years.

If he has no long term interest in this team at all then I'd rather 4 cheaper years than 5 expensive years

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Maybe. But especially in context of the full quote and the question he was asked, I don’t really see it as much of a tactic. Unless “we’re not waiting around to see what Marner gets to decide how much to ask for” is a tactic.

It’s summer, I get it, plenty of time to kill to panic about anything, but in context this quote hardly seems like a tactic and even less so something to worry about.

He's established the public high ground of the negotiation, that his side has been 'proactive and progressive' and established a timeline that favours their side and tabled an offer they believe is fair.

So now the flames as the other negotiating party are reactive and not proactive, regressive and not progressive, delayed or been slow in how they have conducted the negotiation so far and have not tabled a fair offer.

This is more than neutral pr, imo this is aggressive negotiating language. It's not offensive but it's clear from their side this negotiation has not gone well from their perspective.

This is uncommon language for an agent publicly I think. If there's an agent in the league who understands the cap realities this summer it's him, and I think there is some urgency here now to get a deal done before the options for Calgary become even more limited.

If you put that statement in front of a public sector labour negotiation for example, the next salvo of statements would be talking about ending talks in favour of a strike.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

He's established the public high ground of the negotiation, that his side has been 'proactive and progressive' and established a timeline that favours their side and tables an offer they believe is fair.

So now the flames as the other negotiating party are reactive and not proactive, regressive and not progressive, delayed or been slow in how they have conducted the negotiation so far and have not tabled a fair offer.

This is more than neutral pr, imo this is aggressive negotiating language. It's not offensive but it's clear from their side this negotiation has not gone well from their perspective.

This is uncommon language for an agent publicly I think. If there's an agent in the league who understands the cap realities this summer it's him, and I think there is some urgency here now to get a deal done before the options for Calgary become even more limited.

If you put that statement in front of a public sector labour negotiation for example, the next salvo of statements would be talking about ending talks in favour of a strike.

Yeah... I don't see any of this being in line.

The context of the statement is that they are not basing their ask on Marner, they've already created the parameters and are in the process of negotiating based on it. He also took a shot at agents who are waiting on Marner to set their asks, saying agents should be able to properly evaluate the market.

You're reading way way too much into it. If you look at the quote, again in context), it does not position the Flames as regressive but other AGENTS as regressive, and I don't think it does much at all to suggest the Flames are reactive, slow, or unfair. In context, the comparisons are against the negotiation tactics of other agents in familiar RFA territory, not the Flames. There's not a negative lobbed the Flames' way in any of his quotes, literal or inherent.