Matthew Tkachuk & Johnny Gaudreau Signing Watch Thread

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by Soliak

Damn you got a source for this???

Eric Francis was on NHL Network radio about 4 or 5 weeks ago and he said that Johnny's wife had moved to Calgary and they were happy in Calgary.

[Iginla]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Eric Francis was on NHL Network radio about 4 or 5 weeks ago and he said that Johnny's wife had moved to Calgary and they were happy in Calgary.

Eric Francis said that? Oh great, now I'm worried.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I've long wondered if something around Barzal and Tkachuk could be on the cards.

Islanders are struggling this year, Barzal off to a poor start, and has similar RFA expiry to Tkachuk.

Tkachuk seems like a guy Lou would love to have too.

I'd add to make this happen

[Roof-Daddy]

I thought Tkachuk for Barzal was a good idea 3 years ago and I still do now.

Of course I have no idea what Barzal is like or if he could fit into what Sutter is doing or not. If the answer is yes he could fit, then I make that trade for sure.

[Knightslayer]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

I thought Tkachuk for Barzal was a good idea 3 years ago and I still do now.

Of course I have no idea what Barzal is like or if he could fit into what Sutter is doing or not. If the answer is yes he could fit, then I make that trade for sure.

Let this be a reminder how Islanders got a stud in Barzal.

Griffin Reinhart to the Oilers.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by heep223

The usual. Family is out east, wife is from out east, played college out east, he spends off-season and has property out east, but most importantly why wouldn’t he test the market? He might get some obscene offer. The reasons for staying are the extra year if he re-signs, and that the team appears to be a contender (big one that has only emerged recently).

I’m not saying he’s going to walk, I’m just saying there’s plenty of reasons to be worried and on balance I personally think there’s more reasons to leave than stay.

Yea at this point there is zero reason for Gaudreau to sign before July 1, he's on pace for a career year and would likely have multiple teams bidding for his services, why wouldn't you wait for that kind of payday? The only way I see him re-signing with Calgary before free agency is if he gets hurt or his production starts to slip for other reasons

[Moneyhands23]

God this thread is getting depressing. I still believe we can get both players signed and should do so.

[heep223]

Yeah and think about what his agent is saying to him. “There’s no downside in testing the market”. And there’s nothing wrong with that, I don’t blame him in the slightest.

Definitely worried. I think the Flames should make him a $10M 8 year offer, I’d even go to $11M. Sounds crazy but they need to keep him - the entire offence revolves around him.

With Tkachuk and Mangi the flames have a real tough situation coming up. All is well if they win the cup this year

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Yea at this point there is zero reason for Gaudreau to sign before July 1, he's on pace for a career year and would likely have multiple teams bidding for his services, why wouldn't you wait for that kind of payday? The only way I see him re-signing with Calgary before free agency is if he gets hurt or his production starts to slip for other reasons

The only reason to not wait is if Calgary is acceptable to him and they make him an offer he simply cannot refuse. That would certainly have to be 8 years and $10M and above. How much above, likely only Johnny and his agent know that, and maybe Treliving.

[Leeman4Gilmour]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Yea at this point there is zero reason for Gaudreau to sign before July 1, he's on pace for a career year and would likely have multiple teams bidding for his services, why wouldn't you wait for that kind of payday? The only way I see him re-signing with Calgary before free agency is if he gets hurt or his production starts to slip for other reasons

It's low probability, but a career ending injury between now and the end of the year means he'd be out $70 to $80MM. Again, low probability, but if he signs
8 x "xx" tomorrow, all that risk is eliminated.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

Let this be a reminder how Islanders got a stud in Barzal.

Griffin Reinhart to the Oilers.

That and Boston flubbing three straight picks - taking DeBrusk, Zboril and Senyshyn instead of Barzal, Chabot and Kyle Connor.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I am not worried about Gaudreau. Remember, it is BT's job to get the best deal possible for the Flames, I would not be surprised if this dragged out until the season is over. In the end they will sign him though, even if they have to pay more than they want to.

The only reason not to worry would be if this was a Landeskog situation, where you have a player who badly wants to stay, but does want the best contract he can get.

I simply don’t think this is the same situation.

While I know believe that there is a contract Johnny would accept to stay, I don’t think it’s Calgary or bust. That contract may well have to be higher than he would be prepared to accept otherwise.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Before COVID hit, three teams – Toronto, Montreal, and the Rangers – were earning 50 percent of the league's profits. About a third of the teams were losing money. Take away those three markets, and you were not looking at a healthy financial picture. It's gotten substantially worse.

Is this true? Source?

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Is this true? Source?

You will be waiting a long time for that source. Posts like the one quoted ignore some key facts:

The NHL has a salary cap which fixes their biggest expense at 50% of revenues. Of course Covid has had a profound impact and the owners are essentially lending the players money, but long term that expense is still tied completely to revenue.

In the most recent valuations published by Sportico, the average NHL franchise is with $934 million with 10 franchises worth over $1 billion. The amount of inherent gain each owner is sitting on is staggering. It’s one of the reasons they are fronting player salaries through Covid.

Of course no one can predict the future but people sure seem to like spending money on pro sports. The talk of full blown crisis is good for a chuckle though.

[Macman]

I think I'll be surprised if both Tkachuk and Gaudreau don't re-sign here. Would either sign with another team for the most money alone, I don't think so and if they do go elsewhere it would be to an actual contender.

They're both in their prime and maybe even past their apex, not by much but still. The only thing really left for them is to win a cup and they can do it here, this is their team.

There's also the Jarome Iginla angle, he played most of his career here and made it to the Hall of Fame so I would think that would be something to consider as well, plus Lanny and Theo as well as others. It's quite possible to win in Calgary plus a new arena coming.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Is this true? Source?

I don't have the link handy, but I got the figures from the Forbes ‘business of hockey’ articles for 2019. Those three markets accounted for almost exactly half of the total reported profits of the 31 NHL franchises. Most teams were near break-even, but about 10 were on the wrong side of it.

What it adds up to is that apart from the Original Six and a couple of other big-market franchises, NHL teams operate very close to break-even and haven't got a lot of reserves for sharp downturns like we've seen the last couple of years. One year of slumping attendance wouldn't be a crisis. A year of slumping attendance after a year of closed arenas is definitely a crisis.

[Classic_Sniper]

I've been paying close attention to the words that Gaudreau and Tkachuk have been using in their last couple interviews and it's made me more optimistic about these 2 re-signing with the club.

Specific things that I've liked is that they both have mentioned the team is:

- They both mentioned in separate interviews that they're a "a close group"
- Tkachuk was very complimentary to both Lindholm and Backlund
- In a recent Gaudreau interview, he mentioned that he and Tkachuk had chemistry together
- Tkachuk mentioned that "winning cures all"

I know these are little things that don't say a whole lot, but at the very least, I like they seem comfortable and content and like Matthew said, winning cures all. I don't know if that was possibly alluding to the trade demand rumors this summer, but if this team can actually go deep and win rounds this season, then that should build even more closeness between the group.

[Moneyhands23]

I am optimistic lately about johnny. I just wish it would happen now. And yes I get waiting may be better for him. I'm just selfish and would love to see him signed to a great long term deal. I just keep getting the bs here in Victoria about this year being the last with johnny, Tkachuk and now Mangiapane. Just want these salty canuck fans to eat a di*k!

[Roof-Daddy]

Sutter coming on board and getting the team winning was a huge boost to the chances of re-signing both these guys IMO.

I know it's been beaten to death around here, but I think adding Eichel would have been another huge boost as well. Such a shame really.

[Groot]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I don't have the link handy, but I got the figures from the Forbes ‘business of hockey’ articles for 2019. Those three markets accounted for almost exactly half of the total reported profits of the 31 NHL franchises. Most teams were near break-even, but about 10 were on the wrong side of it.

What it adds up to is that apart from the Original Six and a couple of other big-market franchises, NHL teams operate very close to break-even and haven't got a lot of reserves for sharp downturns like we've seen the last couple of years. One year of slumping attendance wouldn't be a crisis. A year of slumping attendance after a year of closed arenas is definitely a crisis.

I have to slightly disagree with your assessment so I went and dug up some more recent links. Here's the latest Forbes article after the Covid shortened 2020-2021 season.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeoza...h=226a122570dd

The league’s five most valuable teams—the New York Rangers ($1.65 billion), the Toronto Maple Leafs ($1.5 billion), the Montreal Canadiens ($1.34 billion), the Chicago Blackhawks ($1.085 billion) and the Boston Bruins ($1 billon)—accounted for almost a quarter of the league’s revenue. Without them, the league would have lost $50 million.

So for the recent year, besides a Sportico listing of franchise values, all I could find was this..

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...teams-in-2010/

And then here's a list done by an actual analyst about projected revenues per team until 2025.

https://bookies.com/nhl/picks/reveal...-nhl-rich-list

So yes, I think your usage of "crisis" is grossly overstated.