Matthew Tkachuk's Contract Situation

[wired]

Tkachuck's antics and lack of play this season may have soured the league on him.
In my opinion, the last few years of sub par coaching, may have killed any desire for any really good UFA to even entertain signing here.
Tkachuck will not be signing in Calgary next contract IMO.
And he will not have many teams lining up for him.

[stang]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

There's no way that Tkachuk is getting a long-term deal over his QO from any team in the league, so if he wants term, he will sign for way less than $9million

Or he signs his QO gets 9 mil for that year, and goes to free agency after the caps been flat for 3 years and is hopefully rising.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by stang

Or he signs his QO gets 9 mil for that year, and goes to free agency after the caps been flat for 3 years and is hopefully rising.

That makes way more sense. Get the 9 million, and then walk Mark Stone style. The flat cap makes it even more appealing.

[tvp2003]

Two thoughts:

1) Keeping guys like Gaudreau and Tkachuk long term were, IMO, contingent on the Flames becoming a contending team. That obviously hasn't happened, which will make it a lot harder to get them to stay without overpaying. What's the incentive for them to want to be in Calgary?

2) Can you imagine if Treliving had signed Tkachuk long term, say 6 or 7 years at $8 million or more? That would have been a heck of a contract considering his stats have been dropping and the intangibles have been MIA as well...

[Savvy27]

I wouldn't trade Tkachuk unless he was a major piece in a deal to bring in a sure thing star player. He's had a really bad season, but the knives out are ridiculous.

If he is terrible next year and the QO still seems way too high, deal him at the trade deadline. Otherwise send him the qualifying offer and try to negotiate a longer deal. You only risk him being significantly overpaid for the one season.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Savvy27

I wouldn't trade Tkachuk unless he was a major piece in a deal to bring in a sure thing star player. He's had a really bad season, but the knives out are ridiculous.

If he is terrible next year and the QO still seems way too high, deal him at the trade deadline. Otherwise send him the qualifying offer and try to negotiate a longer deal. You only risk him being significantly overpaid for the one season.

You risk losing him for nothing in two years then if you just sign the QO. He is our Mark Stone.

[Icon]

The right move after last game feels like benching him for a couple. But I feel like that won't impact him in a positive way and instead he'll pout and want a trade in the off season.

I had high hopes, but at this point I say trade him for some high picks or prospects if you still can. Team isn't competing in the next few years anyway so dump the deadweight and stock the cupboards.

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Strange to see this site turn on somebody so quick, but also not surprising. Not too long ago it was monumental praise for him. Ever since the puck flip it's the complete opposite. I think a full season of Sutter can bring out the best in him. But for sure this season is a write off. I'm only on board to trade Tkachuk IF Sutter had ID'd him as some of the rot. I personally don't feel that's the case but Sutter will find out. If he is, than so be it, ship him off.

The same thing is also happening with Rasmus after he's had a bad year this season. And I've seen normally fairly balanced posters claim that Andersson is now replaceable. I get that both players have had poor seasons, but perhaps giving a non-Covid year for evaluation would be worth it.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by Icon

The right move after last game feels like benching him for a couple. But I feel like that won't impact him in a positive way and instead he'll pout and want a trade in the off season.

I had high hopes, but at this point I say trade him for some high picks or prospects if you still can. Team isn't competing in the next few years anyway so dump the deadweight and stock the cupboards.

I would prefer we did a hockey trade or added a sweetener and brought in someone with elite skill. We have the ability to do it and the Flames need to revamp that top line. Elis is an excellent player we can build around. If we were to trade for high picks/prospects we might as well start the rebuild over.

[chedder]

Originally Posted by activeStick

The same thing is also happening with Rasmus after he's had a bad year this season. And I've seen normally fairly balanced posters claim that Andersson is now replaceable. I get that both players have had poor seasons, but perhaps giving a non-Covid year for evaluation would be worth it.

I think the Tkachuk situation has more to do with his contract status and what he might command and be worth going forward more than his poor year. The poor play just got the conversation started.

What many of us are saying is the gm has to figure out pretty quickly whether Matthew is part of the long term plan for this team.

[Steve Bozek]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

That makes way more sense. Get the 9 million, and then walk Mark Stone style. The flat cap makes it even more appealing.

Exactly. If the current trend continues it’s a lose - lose situation for the Flames.

[Savvy27]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

You risk losing him for nothing in two years then if you just sign the QO. He is our Mark Stone.

What's to stop them from trading him at the deadline like Ottawa, if it seems like he's not interested in re-signing?

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Savvy27

What's to stop them from trading him at the deadline like Ottawa, if it seems like he's not interested in re-signing?

Nothing, I misread the part of your post about overpaying him for one year. Thought you meant keeping him for that entire year. Tkachuk probably has to either be moved or signed longterm by TDL 2023. My original post was just agreeing with Stang that he would likely sign his QO rather than sign a long term deal for less money per year next offseason. The starting point for a longterm deal for Tkachuk likely is north of the qualifying offer. Of course if the Flames do not qualify him he becomes a UFA.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

You risk losing him for nothing in two years then if you just sign the QO. He is our Mark Stone.

Sens got a decent return for Stone

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by stang

Or he signs his QO gets 9 mil for that year, and goes to free agency after the caps been flat for 3 years and is hopefully rising.

Well obviously, Matthew has a lot of control in this situation but if he wants to sign long-term in Calgary, he will sign in Calgary for less than his QO.

But it's also not the riskiest situation for the Flames either, since this team is bad and Matthew has a lot of perceived value around the league. There's not a lot of incentive to keep the band together.

[Erick Estrada]

If a guy like Bennett flourishes outside of Calgary could you blame Tkachuk for accepting his QO so he can get out of Calgary as fast as possible? It certainly doesn't look like he's loving his time under Darryl.

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Well obviously, Matthew has a lot of control in this situation but if he wants to sign long-term in Calgary, he will sign in Calgary for less than his QO.

But it's also not the riskiest situation for the Flames either, since this team is bad and Matthew has a lot of perceived value around the league. There's not a lot of incentive to keep the band together.

If there one certainty about Tkachuk, it's that he'll get every dollar possible on every contract he ever signs.

I'm not criticizing him for it. It's his career and he's going to try to maximize the output from it. So far, he's done a great job at getting a high cap hit while also assuring a huge raise.

I think the chances that he signs for less than the QO are extremely thin.

[dino7c]

Tkachuk did a great job of getting 77 points in a contract year

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

If there one certainty about Tkachuk, it's that he'll get every dollar possible on every contract he ever signs.

I'm not criticizing him for it. It's his career and he's going to try to maximize the output from it. So far, he's done a great job at getting a high cap hit while also assuring a huge raise.

I think the chances that he signs for less than the QO are extremely thin.

Well, at his current play Tkachuk is not a $9M AAV player and the team is bad anyway, so there's no reason we can't move on from Tkachuk. There are hard decisions to be made but I think there is a winning hand for the Flames in there somewhere.

I really do think we need a new set of eyes with no attachment to these players to make these decisions though.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

If a guy like Bennett flourishes outside of Calgary could you blame Tkachuk for accepting his QO so he can get out of Calgary as fast as possible? It certainly doesn't look like he's loving his time under Darryl.

If Tkachuk takes his QO and goes UFA at the earliest possible date, he'd be 25. I think there is some GM who would do a massive overpay for a 25 year old first line winger with some edge. While he isn't a strong skater so probably doesn't have tons of longevity, a 7 year deal ends with him being 32. So it isn't like you'd need to underwrite the last half of the contract being terrible, especially if the cap starts to go up again.

If the flames don't qualify him I think $9MM as a UFA is a definite possibility.