The Ottawa Senators have two preseason games left. This Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens, and Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Right now, it looks like they may not have star forward Brady Tkachuk for either of them.
Tkachuk is the final major restricted free agent left to sign this offseason after his most recent training partners, Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, both signed multi-year deals with the Vancouver Canucks. Neither of those contracts, which were six and three years in length respectively, seem to be what the Senators are looking for in their negotiation with Tkachuk. Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest tweets that Ottawa is “set” on only signing Tkachuk to a seven or eight-year deal.
One of the closest comparables to Tkachuk in terms of age and production was Andrei Svechnikov, who reached an eight-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes in August. The two were both picked at the top of the 2018 draft, and have similar numbers through their first 200 NHL games (Svechnikov has one less goal but 15 more points in seven more games). The simple fact is though that not many premium restricted free agents are signing deals of that length for their second contract, instead trying to maximize earning potential by selling off fewer years of unrestricted free agency. That can be a nice compromise for most teams, given they also have salary cap concerns to worry about and a shorter deal keeps the cap hit down, but Ottawa isn’t really in that situation.
The Senators have more cap space than any other team in the league, as they currently sit below the cap floor. It makes sense then that they would want to lock in Tkachuk for as long as possible, as they did with Thomas Chabot in 2019 when they signed him to an eight-year, $64MM contract extension. Given their history of losing key players in free agency (or, rather trading them away as they approached it), buying out as many years as they can now is likely their best option. Avoiding a bridge deal, which would open up the path to arbitration in a few seasons, also seems prudent for a team that works on an internal budget.
But this season was also about turning the corner for Ottawa, moving away from the complete rebuild, and starting to play competitive hockey. Without Tkachuk in the lineup, their roster suddenly doesn’t look like it is ready to take that next step. Missing training camp and the start of the season has different effects on every player but has negatively impacted the performance of many in the past. The Senators have already accepted that risk as Tkachuk has missed most of camp, but if they don’t want him to miss many games they have just a few days left to find a compromise of some sort.
Though it is a long way away, one date to remember is December 1, when restricted free agents must be signed by if they are to play at all. In 2018, William Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs made a deal at the very last second on his current six-year contract, which allowed him to suit up for the rest of the season. He had a dreadful year, scoring just seven goals in 54 games, and both sides expressed regret that they didn’t get something done sooner. There’s plenty of time to avoid that situation, but once the season begins, December comes quickly.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
What happens if they don’t sign him and don’t make the cap floor?
The easy answer is signing Tyler Ennis, who is in camp on a PTO, but there is also the trade route or end-of-camp waivers, depending on who hits the wire.
Ottawa is less than $1M from the cap floor according to CapFriendly. That’s an easy fix.
Buffalo however is another story. If they bury (LTIR) or trade Eichel they are $5.5M shy of the cap floor. Or if he say “F it, what are they gonna do cut me?” and gets the surgery he wants, and they follow up by cutting him (would NEVER happen), they’re short $5.5M. That is a situation to keep an eye on.
They wouldn’t put him on LTIR and go below the floor, he’ll just be on regular IR. They’re stupid but not that stupid.
Greed is a terrible thing. Apple doesn’t fall from the tree. His dad did that in Winnipeg.
Greed? Tell Eugene Melnyk to stop trying to keep his team at the cap floor. He is the Bob Nutting (Pittsburgh Pirates owner) of the NHL. Neither team will ever win a championship as long as they are owners.
@ mario crosby. I have noted Eugene Melnyk is a seemingly cheapskate owner. Any insight as to why? I would like to think a winning team makes more money and that benefits him as an owner.
Some owners are morons and try to make the team winners by being pretend GMs.
Is that his issue?
@DoltDoug – sadly capitalism is = to greed. I dislike Tkachuk holding out, but he’s doing what he’s been programmed to do by our society. His father did the same. Likely any of us would do so if we could bargain to do so.
All I ask of a player is if you ask for the big paycheck, make it happen on the ice without any excuses. Don’t take it if you cannot delivery. I prefer bonus/performance based pay.
Yes,yes, it is the players who are greedy! Pay no attention to the billionaires who have private citizens pay for their arenas and especially those that barely spend to the cap floor!
@The Mistake…. At what point did I specify it is just the players? I’m describing the capitalist system as perpetuating greed, which includes billionaires… of which anyone would like to be if they were being honest.
As stated, if they take the big paycheck, my expectation is that they have to deliver on it.
I don’t blame RFAs in wanting shorter term deals at the moment. Especially if the number is $8mil per or below.
So you think every player should hold out for 9.8% of the teams cap while needs to fit 23 players in for just 81.5M. Makes sense.
Young players trying to force trade like some in the NBA.