There’s a significant sense around the league that teams are rushing to get their salary cap situations cleared up before the start of free agency next week. Moves like the Tampa Bay Lightning trading Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators for spare change and the Minnesota Wild moving early on a Kevin Fiala deal are evidence of that.
Now, another team is joining that list of really trying to make headlines in the near future. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports that the Calgary Flames are making “every effort” now not only to re-sign top pending unrestricted free agent forward Johnny Gaudreau but also restricted free agent Matthew Tkachuk.
While most of the public talk has centered around Gaudreau’s status, it makes sense that general manager Brad Treliving would want to get these deals done in a short window. Playing on the same line, Gaudreau and Tkachuk helped propel each other to career seasons. The Flames are likely hoping that keeping the two together will keep their level of play from declining after this season.
Finances are also a huge part of this equation too, though. Gaudreau and Tkachuk are surely bound to take up a gigantic chunk of Calgary’s offseason spending limit, likely at least $16MM of it. With a long list of other players to re-sign and/or spots to fill via free agency, Calgary needs a clear picture of how much cash they’ll be able to devote to players like Andrew Mangiapane and Oliver Kylington while still fielding a cap-compliant squad.
With Tkachuk’s value through the roof after his 40-goal, 100-point season and Gaudreau likely able to net eight figures on the open market, Treliving faces his toughest challenge yet as GM in Calgary in order to keep this year’s Pacific Division champions at the top of the Western Conference.
Gotta let one go Brad
It has to be Gaudreau. Tkachuk is the absolute leader of that team and gives them to much intangibles to let him go plain and simple.
Going to lose both of them.
Gaudreau actually had a good playoffs this time around for the most part, now was his regular season a reflection of a contract year or has he matured as a player, I suppose it remains to be seen
As for Tkachuk outside Game 1 against the Oilers he was invisible, and he’s shown throughout his career thru his antics that he’s not a leader.
It’ll be interesting to see how much Treliving believes in this core and how much of their cap will be tied up in these 2, and will they have enough to manoveur to improve
Isn’t It funny how free agents of all kinds have there best seasons In contract years? I used to think It was a coincidence but now I think that the sample size Is large enough to call It a trend.
There was a baseball manager out there who once said something liked – he’d like to have a team made of players in the last year of their contracts.
16 million?
Try 20 million as a starting point for both. You aren’t getting either of them for 8 million a year
If you let one go you have a better chance of a winning season, If you keep them both you are a team swimming In mediocrity. Isn’t funny how the cap works. If you keep one you can spread around the cash and fill In some other holes on the team.
Ducks have something like $39 million to spend. Hmmm
Gudreau has to walk. I agree. Not worth 8×9 or worse.
Who is on the FA market that can replace him a bit? Palat? Trade for Debrincat?
debrincat is going to get something close. why pay a trade price and $?
Yeah, I was thinking much the same. Giving Gaudreau 8×9 (however much I despise max term contracts) would likely be less AAV than he’d get on the open market — SOMEone would offer him north of $10MM.
But DeBrincat would scarcely be less, and he’d cost Calgary plenty to acquire. Beyond that, what makes him clearly the superior player to Gaudreau? There’s age, certainly — I’d rather give a big term contract to a guy who’s 24 than one who’s 28. But it’s a crap shoot either way. I don’t buy into the malarkey that little guys can’t play as well as big guys, but I do buy into the premise that they get banged up far more often. Giving ANYone that size a long term contract is betting against the odds.
Tampa has 6 million in cap space once Seabrook is on ltir
Palat isn’t going anywhere. He’s the main reason McDonagh was traded.
How do you figure? Tampa’s still over the cap, and still has six NHL contracts to fill out. They don’t have any fat to trim, and if they dump a Killorn or a Cirelli to keep Palat, well … that just makes a similar hole in the lineup. And Killorn/Cirelli are cheaper than Palat would be — you know coming off of the playoffs someone will offer Palat $6MM AAV or more, and Tampa just can’t afford that.
Johnny will join the Flyers.
Johnny will sign w/Flames, then they jettison Mangy to sign Matty. I would rather get a haul on Matty to fill out and balance the roster. They could get an NHLer, a 1st, a quality prospect and more for Matty! And then not have $70M invested in just11 players.