(Rumour) Tkachuk trade in the works

[Ilya Mikheyev]

6 minutes ago, Mustard Tiger said:

Yikes 30! 

 

In my mind, 3 year ELC should be followed by a 3 year bridge deal. After that you still have the player under 1 more year of club control where you can choose any deal.. The 3 year bridge contracts have a bracketed pay scale that can be negotiated but only within a certain range. Why? RFAs ruin the market. Damn near zero incentive for UFA status when kids can get paid just as much and somehow demand trades / kwok block gms from getting good value while being a restricted free agent. RESTRICTED. All it does its make the older vets pissed the kids are making as much without having to prove much... So they ask for these crazy 8x10s ect that age soo poorly.

 

Example: Average 10g10a over elc years. Your able to sign a max of 2m for 3 years, But no lower than 1x1 sort of deal. Dollar amount would have a cap at say 7m. But accurately adjusts as the cap goes up. None of this crap we see now where the cap goes up 1m, Yet the player thinks HIS pay scales by double that.

 

Tons and tons of details to iron out, Its not much different than right now. Gets plays to ufa at 27 ect.. Just keeps the kids and agents from ruining the market imo.

you wanna instill a cap for a player's second contract based on offensive contributions??

[N4ZZY]

39 minutes ago, D-Money said:

I think part of the issue for all Canadian teams has to do with the pandemic. For a time period, it was incredibly hard to connect with family in the other side of the border. And there's no guarantee it won't happen again. All other things being equal, I could see players with lots of American family more inclined to want to be on a US-based team than before.

 

As for a Calgary-specific reason, the rink is terrible. Even the stuff the average fan might not even see, the nuts and bolts underneath, are just so far below the standards of the rest of the league. If you've ever worked at a dump of a place, you probably have noticed an effect on you. That said, there is nothing specifically wrong with Calgary. Our own players left Vancouver to sign with the Flames. And last year the team had a great season, I doubt the players have any issue playing for Sutter - his tactics may wear on them if they stop winning so much, but for now how could they argue with the results?

 

I think this all has to do with an individual. Gaudreau himself got put through the ringer in his last contract negotiation. Added to everything else - the border, the rink, the lack of team success, etc. - there were persistent rumours that he'd leave to return to an Eastern-based US team in free agency. I think that was his plan all along, but last year went so well for the team that he really considered staying, and the team also offered more than anyone else to keep him. But in the end, it was just better for him personally to leave. Now Tkachuk sees the team isn't good enough for him to win, and decides he would rather not deal with the border or rink either. He wants to go somewhere better for him personally, that probably also gives him a better shot at a cup. Had Gaudreau stayed though, he probably would have too.

I understand if it’s with the pandemic. But I think things with respect to that is a little better right? If that’s an issue, why isn’t it an issue with Canadians playing in America coming back to Canadian soil to be with family?

 

I understand the domino effect that a core player could have on the rest of the team. They’re teammates after all, and the Flames without Gaudreau isn’t a great team. A team without Tkachuk and Gaudreau, I don’t think is a playoff team. But the Pacific Division is probably, this upcoming season, not going to be a great division. Edmonton I guess will be better. But yeah, I am not expecting the Flames to make the postseason, unless they can rebuild their team through a Tkachuk trade.

 

Gotta feel bad for Calgary. Their fans feel slighted, and I don’t blame them one bit. It’s like if Pettersson did the same thing, this city would riot again. 

 

[Mustard Tiger]

1 minute ago, Ilya Mikheyev said:

you wanna instill a cap for a player's second contract based on offensive contributions??

Tier system yes. The range can be quite wide. I know it's very extreme and nhlpa is about giving kids max asap... Honestly even just not allowing rfas to get the term they do. 3/4 year bridge is enough. Create some incentive to keep working hard to earn that massive 10x8 or whatever at 27yo while being able to choose your own location. Much better than getting them at 30.. and ruining the teams caps structure 4 years in

 

The thing for me is we should find a way to pay the kids who are worth it in the years between ELC and UFA.. While limiting the damage it causes to inflated contracts. In my opinion I think we see these insane older guy deals because of the way RFA status is set up now. I'm promoting pushing guys to get to UFA so they can choose their own destiny by the earliest age, While still giving teams value with 6 fair club controlled years.

 

I don't expect people to agree for many reasons, I just see more horrible contracts dragging teams down than great contracts who save the team a little money in the long run

 

[Ilya Mikheyev]

Just now, Mustard Tiger said:

Tier system yes. The range can be quite wide. I know it's very extreme and nhlpa is about giving kids max asap... Honestly even just not allowing rfas to get the term they do. 3/4 year bridge is enough. Create some incentive to keep working hard to earn that massive 10x8 or whatever at 27yo while being able to choose your own location. Much better than getting them at 30.. and ruining the teams caps structure 4 years in

 

The thing for me is we should find a way to pay the kids who are worth it in the years between ELC and UFA.. While limiting the damage it causes to inflated contracts. In my opinion I think we see these insane older guy deals because of the way RFA status is set up now. I'm promoting pushing guys to get to UFA so they can choose their own destiny by the earliest age, While still giving teams value with 6 fair club controlled years.

 

I don't expect people to agree for many reasons, I just see more horrible contracts dragging teams down than great contracts who save the team a little money in the long run

 

I don't know - the devil would definitely be in the details but what about defensive oriented players? You would have to capture that or else suddenly Marcus Johansson is worth more than Victor Hedman 3 years in.

[Mustard Tiger]

2 minutes ago, Ilya Mikheyev said:

I don't know - the devil would definitely be in the details but what about defensive oriented players? You would have to capture that or else suddenly Marcus Johansson is worth more than Victor Hedman 3 years in.

Well than a defensive player is not a superstar who shouldnt be getting anywhere near the same money. That's the whole idea, 1 way guys, And older guys are paid too much.. Dragging teams down for years ... While creating bad contract and promoting tanking allowing yotes, Hawks ect to take on bad contracts so they can fall in the standings. That's not how you grow an entertainment business.

 

If you average what EP / Huggy over the ELC years, You can negotiate somewhere between like a 6.5 - 7.5 x 3 or 4 years.

 

If you average a Dickinson, you can get between 1.0-2.5 x 3 or 4 years

 

Still good dollar, RFA gets paid and he can push for 4 years which walks him to UFA. Team likes the dollar, They push for 3 year to keep 1 year of club control after the bridge deal. Hence the negotiable range.

 

Just rough examples, don't take the dollar figure to seriously, Just the idea behind it. Remember this only applies to the post ELC RFA status guys 

 

 

[WHL rocks]

Straight 30 years ufa.  That's what's needed

 

If NHL doesn't do that and this league turns into NBA then nhl won't survive. 

 

We can't have 3 yrs development in nhl and then build a team around that player then players leave soon as team starts winning. 

 

 

[tas]

4 minutes ago, WHL rocks said:

Straight 30 years ufa.  That's what's needed

 

If NHL doesn't do that and this league turns into NBA then nhl won't survive. 

 

We can't have 3 yrs development in nhl and then build a team around that player then players leave soon as team starts winning. 

 

 

the pa will never allow it to go backwards. they fought hard to move it from 27 to 25, and they'll never accept a cba that ties their hands to an age where a number of guys are already being pushed out of the league. players need to be allowed to financially capitalize on their prime years. 

[RWJC]

Bit of a read but here are a few hypothetical trades tabled by Trevor Neufeld (Flames blogger). Think the STL deal is a bit far fetched. Interesting to note is that it’s now been confirmed that Treliving turned down #2 overall, a prospect and a roster player from NJD at the draft for Tkachuk…

 

Nashville 
A deal with the Predators would be easier to capacitate than most teams provided they have a little under 4.1 million in cap space remaining with only Yakov Trenin to re-sign as an RFA. Also compelling is that Matthew Tkachuk has put up some of his greatest highlights against the Predators. His between-the-legs one-timer in overtime comes to mind. 

To Nashville 
Matthew Tkachuk 

To Calgary
Mikeal Granlund
Tanner Jeannot
Zachary L’Heureux

Granlund provides cap balancing as well as a second or third line shutdown center role, but really this trade is about the other two pieces. It would take moving heaven and earth to pry Tanner Jeannot out of the Predators organization, but a +100 point power forward signed long term just might do it. 

 

Jeannot put up a respectable first full season last year. 

24 goals? Not bad. 

17 assists? OK.

Led all forwards in hits? Ah, yeah Sutter would probably like that guy. 

The number alone says a lot, but watching him throw those hits is something else. These aren’t small bumps, if there was a stat for knocking players off their skates— Jeannot would lead that category by a country mile. 

L’Heureux plays a similar game. When he hits; he hits to hurt. Here’s what EliteProspects had to say of him in their 2021 draft guide:
 

So much of L’Heureux’s game is defined by his physicality. He’s an enthusiastic hitter, one who’s put more than his fair share of poor opponents into the boards or onto their asses. He’ll get under his opponent’s skin after the whistles. He’ll fight. He’ll mix it up. His problem-solving ability through secondary and tertiary defensive variables lets him make plays where others would struggle to retain possession.

Zach is no slouch on offence either. He’s been above or around a point per game since his rookie season despite being caught on second line duties due to an abundance of depth on Halifax.

The Flames were picking a little to early last year (Coronato at #13) to take a flyer on the 5’11” 200lbs power forward, but have undoubtedly given him a few looks given he plays on a team with defensive prospect Cameron Whynot on the Mooseheads. 


Montreal 
This one will get some pushback from almost everyone reading. Hit refresh ten times on your browser to access the secret apology paragraph at the bottom. 

To Montreal 
Matthew Tkachuk 
Oliver Kylington

To Calgary 
Josh Anderson
Christian Dvorak
Micheal Pezzetta
2023 first round draft pick – FLA
2023 second round draft pick - MTL

Montreal currently only has $249,334 in cap space, so the 11-some million heading over would require a balancing act cap-wise. Anderson and Dvorak add up to 9,950,000 in cap hit between the two of them. A third party such as the Coyotes may need to be involved in a secondary trade to get the Habs cap compliant. Another obstacle is Josh Anderson’s eight team no-trade list.

 

The Canadiens do this to get a star winger for Suzuki who can aggravate at a similar level to Gallagher. If you’ve played enough hockey, you might be familiar with the Lightning Rod Concept. If you have two players disturbing the peace on one team in the same game— one player usually catches the brunt of it from officials while the other generally flies under the radar and does as they please. Tkachuk and Gallagher would terrorize. 

Kylington fills a need on a blue line lacking transition last season. He would likely flourish with a bit more freedom in Martin St. Louis’ open system. 

The return would be three very “Sutter” players. Josh Anderson provides quintessential size on the right side. 6’3”, 227lbs and moves surprisingly well for someone of that stature. Christian Dvorak is the shutdown center that Darryl wanted in Calle Jarnkrok. The 26 year old has been playing that role for the last three seasons.

Pezzetta is a fan favourite and is about as close to Ville Niemenen as you will find in 2022. He’s a good size at 6’1”, 216lbs and has plenty of tread on the tires having played only one season by the age of 24. His ability to agitate is already top tier. His hitting game is sublime as well. He averaged 7:50 of ice time per game over 51 appearances and threw 156 hits over that time. That’s a league leading 23.42 hits per 60 minutes of play among players dressing for at least 15 games. 

The picks are altogether necessary for a trade like this. A 103 point winger and a 31 point defenceman for two 30 point forwards and an 11 point fan favourite winger doesn’t quite add up. Even if all three coming back are valuable role players. 

 

 

St. Louis
A trade with the Blues seems most likely, but also the least supportive of the idea that Treliving will be targeting abrasive players that can also put the puck away. 

The first issue is the amount of players they can’t trade to Calgary.

Players With a Full No Trade Clause:
Vladimir Tarasenko
Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington
Torey Krug
Colton Parayko
Justin Faulk
Brayden Schenn
Brandon Saad

Limited NTCs:
Pavel Buchnevich
Marco Scandella

The second issue is that the Blues only have 625k in cap room. 

The bright side is that the widely rumoured return in Jordan Kyrou doesn’t have an NTC in his contract and carries a 2.8 million dollar cap hit. The winger would open up a lot of ice with his speed and would likely form out a first line of Mangiapane-Lindholm-Kyrou. 

The problem standing is that Kyrou’s 2.8 million dollar cap hit won’t balance the swap cap wise, and the guys that could be added to the trade to fit the Blues under the cap have the ability to say “No. I’m not moving to Calgary.” Ryan O’Reilly and Rob Thomas notwithstanding. 

With that said, let’s go out on a limb and assume that Pavel Buchnevich’s seven team no-trade list somehow neglected to include Calgary due to California’s similar tax rates factoring in as well. 

To St. Louis
Matthew Tkachuk – Est. 10 million AAV

To Calgary 
Pavel Buchnevich – 5.8 million AAV
Jordan Kyrou — 2.8 million AAV
Zac Bolduc 

Even with the stars aligning to make this offer work, the Blues would find themselves 1.95 million over the cap. Bolduc’s inclusion is more value-based due to him being a prospect, but he is a fun player to watch in terms of his deceptiveness on the rush. 

The pressure will be on Blues general manager Doug Armstrong to find a way to get a deal done. It would be nice if Brad Treliving wasn’t the only GM scrambling during negotiations. Left in that scramble would be any notion of picking up players Darryl Sutter would particularly prefer. 

 

 

Long Island
There certainly seems to be a goldilocks factor to the Islanders. 11.185 million in cap space with only Bellows, Dobson and Romanov left to sign. An enticing market for Matthew to play in along with an elite center in Matthew Barzal. Plenty of roster players to send off and they’ve retained every one of their own picks for the next three years all the way up to the seventh round in 2025. Not bad. 

There’s also a few players that Darryl would surely enjoy coaching. Here’s an offer that would make some sense.

To the Islanders
Matthew Tkachuk

To the Flames
Casey Cizikas
Alex Romanov
2023 first round pick
2023 second round pick 
2024 first round pick

The painful part that comes with this offer is the lack of talent heading the other way. A third or fourth line center and a hard hitting, up-and-coming top four defenceman doesn’t really justify trading an elite scoring winger with even more impressive two-way statistics. Hence the amount of draft capital. 

With that said, both of these guys hit like a truck and can hold their own defensively. Cizikas is locked down for five more seasons and Romanov is within RFA control. Add these two and then sign Tyler Motte, Micheal Raffl and Brett Ritchie as free agents to bolster an already gritty forward group? You’re looking at the meanest roster in the modern era led by the most recent recipient of the Jack Adams Award for best Head Coach during the 21-22 season. 

Edited July 23, 2022 by RWJC

[Hogs & Podz]

2 hours ago, Mustard Tiger said:

That's not how life works. You don't get to tell other people who enjoy an openly public thing to " Find another one " because YOU want it a certain way... lol 

 

Kinda sounds like a freedumb fighter 

thing to say 

If I'm a freedumb fighter then I guess that makes you a Karen?  Or part of the cancel culture? 

Look, my point is, I don't believe you need a Marchant type of player to win a cup anymore. I guess you think you do.  Grit and toughness is one thing and turtle, dirty intent to injure is another.  Agree to disagree.

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, RWJC said:

Here are a few hypothetical trades tabled by Trevor Neufeld (Flames blogger). Think the STL deal is a bit far fetched. Interesting to note is that it’s now been confirmed that Treliving turned down #2 overall, a prospect and a roster player from NJD at the draft for Tkachuk…

 

Nashville 
A deal with the Predators would be easier to capacitate than most teams provided they have a little under 4.1 million in cap space remaining with only Yakov Trenin to re-sign as an RFA. Also compelling is that Matthew Tkachuk has put up some of his greatest highlights against the Predators. His between-the-legs one-timer in overtime comes to mind. 

To Nashville 
Matthew Tkachuk 

To Calgary
Mikeal Granlund
Tanner Jeannot
Zachary L’Heureux

Granlund provides cap balancing as well as a second or third line shutdown center role, but really this trade is about the other two pieces. It would take moving heaven and earth to pry Tanner Jeannot out of the Predators organization, but a +100 point power forward signed long term just might do it. 

 

Jeannot put up a respectable first full season last year. 

24 goals? Not bad. 

17 assists? OK.

Led all forwards in hits? Ah, yeah Sutter would probably like that guy. 

The number alone says a lot, but watching him throw those hits is something else. These aren’t small bumps, if there was a stat for knocking players off their skates— Jeannot would lead that category by a country mile. 

L’Heureux plays a similar game. When he hits; he hits to hurt. Here’s what EliteProspects had to say of him in their 2021 draft guide:
 

So much of L’Heureux’s game is defined by his physicality. He’s an enthusiastic hitter, one who’s put more than his fair share of poor opponents into the boards or onto their asses. He’ll get under his opponent’s skin after the whistles. He’ll fight. He’ll mix it up. His problem-solving ability through secondary and tertiary defensive variables lets him make plays where others would struggle to retain possession.

Zach is no slouch on offence either. He’s been above or around a point per game since his rookie season despite being caught on second line duties due to an abundance of depth on Halifax.

The Flames were picking a little to early last year (Coronato at #13) to take a flyer on the 5’11” 200lbs power forward, but have undoubtedly given him a few looks given he plays on a team with defensive prospect Cameron Whynot on the Mooseheads. 


Montreal 
This one will get some pushback from almost everyone reading. Hit refresh ten times on your browser to access the secret apology paragraph at the bottom. 

To Montreal 
Matthew Tkachuk 
Oliver Kylington

To Calgary 
Josh Anderson
Christian Dvorak
Micheal Pezzetta
2023 first round draft pick – FLA
2023 second round draft pick - MTL

Montreal currently only has $249,334 in cap space, so the 11-some million heading over would require a balancing act cap-wise. Anderson and Dvorak add up to 9,950,000 in cap hit between the two of them. A third party such as the Coyotes may need to be involved in a secondary trade to get the Habs cap compliant. Another obstacle is Josh Anderson’s eight team no-trade list.

 

The Canadiens do this to get a star winger for Suzuki who can aggravate at a similar level to Gallagher. If you’ve played enough hockey, you might be familiar with the Lightning Rod Concept. If you have two players disturbing the peace on one team in the same game— one player usually catches the brunt of it from officials while the other generally flies under the radar and does as they please. Tkachuk and Gallagher would terrorize. 

Kylington fills a need on a blue line lacking transition last season. He would likely flourish with a bit more freedom in Martin St. Louis’ open system. 

The return would be three very “Sutter” players. Josh Anderson provides quintessential size on the right side. 6’3”, 227lbs and moves surprisingly well for someone of that stature. Christian Dvorak is the shutdown center that Darryl wanted in Calle Jarnkrok. The 26 year old has been playing that role for the last three seasons.

Pezzetta is a fan favourite and is about as close to Ville Niemenen as you will find in 2022. He’s a good size at 6’1”, 216lbs and has plenty of tread on the tires having played only one season by the age of 24. His ability to agitate is already top tier. His hitting game is sublime as well. He averaged 7:50 of ice time per game over 51 appearances and threw 156 hits over that time. That’s a league leading 23.42 hits per 60 minutes of play among players dressing for at least 15 games. 

The picks are altogether necessary for a trade like this. A 103 point winger and a 31 point defenceman for two 30 point forwards and an 11 point fan favourite winger doesn’t quite add up. Even if all three coming back are valuable role players. 

 

 

St. Louis
A trade with the Blues seems most likely, but also the least supportive of the idea that Treliving will be targeting abrasive players that can also put the puck away. 

The first issue is the amount of players they can’t trade to Calgary.

Players With a Full No Trade Clause:
Vladimir Tarasenko
Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington
Torey Krug
Colton Parayko
Justin Faulk
Brayden Schenn
Brandon Saad

Limited NTCs:
Pavel Buchnevich
Marco Scandella

The second issue is that the Blues only have 625k in cap room. 

The bright side is that the widely rumoured return in Jordan Kyrou doesn’t have an NTC in his contract and carries a 2.8 million dollar cap hit. The winger would open up a lot of ice with his speed and would likely form out a first line of Mangiapane-Lindholm-Kyrou. 

The problem standing is that Kyrou’s 2.8 million dollar cap hit won’t balance the swap cap wise, and the guys that could be added to the trade to fit the Blues under the cap have the ability to say “No. I’m not moving to Calgary.” Ryan O’Reilly and Rob Thomas notwithstanding. 

With that said, let’s go out on a limb and assume that Pavel Buchnevich’s seven team no-trade list somehow neglected to include Calgary due to California’s similar tax rates factoring in as well. 

To St. Louis
Matthew Tkachuk – Est. 10 million AAV

To Calgary 
Pavel Buchnevich – 5.8 million AAV
Jordan Kyrou — 2.8 million AAV
Zac Bolduc 

Even with the stars aligning to make this offer work, the Blues would find themselves 1.95 million over the cap. Bolduc’s inclusion is more value-based due to him being a prospect, but he is a fun player to watch in terms of his deceptiveness on the rush. 

The pressure will be on Blues general manager Doug Armstrong to find a way to get a deal done. It would be nice if Brad Treliving wasn’t the only GM scrambling during negotiations. Left in that scramble would be any notion of picking up players Darryl Sutter would particularly prefer. 

 

 

Long Island
There certainly seems to be a goldilocks factor to the Islanders. 11.185 million in cap space with only Bellows, Dobson and Romanov left to sign. An enticing market for Matthew to play in along with an elite center in Matthew Barzal. Plenty of roster players to send off and they’ve retained every one of their own picks for the next three years all the way up to the seventh round in 2025. Not bad. 

There’s also a few players that Darryl would surely enjoy coaching. Here’s an offer that would make some sense.

To the Islanders
Matthew Tkachuk

To the Flames
Casey Cizikas
Alex Romanov
2023 first round pick
2023 second round pick 
2024 first round pick

The painful part that comes with this offer is the lack of talent heading the other way. A third or fourth line center and a hard hitting, up-and-coming top four defenceman doesn’t really justify trading an elite scoring winger with even more impressive two-way statistics. Hence the amount of draft capital. 

With that said, both of these guys hit like a truck and can hold their own defensively. Cizikas is locked down for five more seasons and Romanov is within RFA control. Add these two and then sign Tyler Motte, Micheal Raffl and Brett Ritchie as free agents to bolster an already gritty forward group? You’re looking at the meanest roster in the modern era led by the most recent recipient of the Jack Adams Award for best Head Coach during the 21-22 season. 

Like that Habs’ one.  Calgary gets two cap dumperoos!  

[canuck73_3]

3 hours ago, WHL rocks said:

Tkachuk is a unicorn. A superstar power forward..

 

Teams should be lining up to trade for hom but he holds the cards..

 

NHL needs to fight hard next CBA to get UFA age to 30 yrs..

 

 

Zero chance the PA goes for that if anything they want UFA age lowered. 

[Mustard Tiger]

32 minutes ago, Hogs & Podz said:

If I'm a freedumb fighter then I guess that makes you a Karen?  Or part of the cancel culture? 

Look, my point is, I don't believe you need a Marchant type of player to win a cup anymore. I guess you think you do.  Grit and toughness is one thing and turtle, dirty intent to injure is another.  Agree to disagree.

I know what you mean. All this is because you ignored the part where I said a Cooke like player without the head shots, A cleaner Burrows ect

[DrJockitch]

21 minutes ago, canuck73_3 said:

Zero chance the PA goes for that if anything they want UFA age lowered. 

I kind of agree with the PA. Don’t think guys should be forced to play in one place for over a decade just because somebody drafted them. I think should be UFAs earlier if anything. 
‘Getting drafted by Edmonton and having to stay there until 30.

[canuck73_3]

Just now, DrJockitch said:

I kind of agree with the PA. Don’t think guys should be forced to play in one place for over a decade just because somebody drafted them. I think should be UFAs earlier if anything. 
‘Getting drafted by Edmonton and having to stay there until 30.

Yep, I’m going to Edmonton with a buddy to see the Red Wings and Rangers and I already can’t wait to leave 

[EddieVedder]

37 minutes ago, RWJC said:

Bit of a read but here are a few hypothetical trades tabled by Trevor Neufeld (Flames blogger). Think the STL deal is a bit far fetched. Interesting to note is that it’s now been confirmed that Treliving turned down #2 overall, a prospect and a roster player from NJD at the draft for Tkachuk…

 

Nashville 
A deal with the Predators would be easier to capacitate than most teams provided they have a little under 4.1 million in cap space remaining with only Yakov Trenin to re-sign as an RFA. Also compelling is that Matthew Tkachuk has put up some of his greatest highlights against the Predators. His between-the-legs one-timer in overtime comes to mind. 

To Nashville 
Matthew Tkachuk 

To Calgary
Mikeal Granlund
Tanner Jeannot
Zachary L’Heureux

Granlund provides cap balancing as well as a second or third line shutdown center role, but really this trade is about the other two pieces. It would take moving heaven and earth to pry Tanner Jeannot out of the Predators organization, but a +100 point power forward signed long term just might do it. 

 

Jeannot put up a respectable first full season last year. 

24 goals? Not bad. 

17 assists? OK.

Led all forwards in hits? Ah, yeah Sutter would probably like that guy. 

The number alone says a lot, but watching him throw those hits is something else. These aren’t small bumps, if there was a stat for knocking players off their skates— Jeannot would lead that category by a country mile. 

L’Heureux plays a similar game. When he hits; he hits to hurt. Here’s what EliteProspects had to say of him in their 2021 draft guide:
 

So much of L’Heureux’s game is defined by his physicality. He’s an enthusiastic hitter, one who’s put more than his fair share of poor opponents into the boards or onto their asses. He’ll get under his opponent’s skin after the whistles. He’ll fight. He’ll mix it up. His problem-solving ability through secondary and tertiary defensive variables lets him make plays where others would struggle to retain possession.

Zach is no slouch on offence either. He’s been above or around a point per game since his rookie season despite being caught on second line duties due to an abundance of depth on Halifax.

The Flames were picking a little to early last year (Coronato at #13) to take a flyer on the 5’11” 200lbs power forward, but have undoubtedly given him a few looks given he plays on a team with defensive prospect Cameron Whynot on the Mooseheads. 


Montreal 
This one will get some pushback from almost everyone reading. Hit refresh ten times on your browser to access the secret apology paragraph at the bottom. 

To Montreal 
Matthew Tkachuk 
Oliver Kylington

To Calgary 
Josh Anderson
Christian Dvorak
Micheal Pezzetta
2023 first round draft pick – FLA
2023 second round draft pick - MTL

Montreal currently only has $249,334 in cap space, so the 11-some million heading over would require a balancing act cap-wise. Anderson and Dvorak add up to 9,950,000 in cap hit between the two of them. A third party such as the Coyotes may need to be involved in a secondary trade to get the Habs cap compliant. Another obstacle is Josh Anderson’s eight team no-trade list.

 

The Canadiens do this to get a star winger for Suzuki who can aggravate at a similar level to Gallagher. If you’ve played enough hockey, you might be familiar with the Lightning Rod Concept. If you have two players disturbing the peace on one team in the same game— one player usually catches the brunt of it from officials while the other generally flies under the radar and does as they please. Tkachuk and Gallagher would terrorize. 

Kylington fills a need on a blue line lacking transition last season. He would likely flourish with a bit more freedom in Martin St. Louis’ open system. 

The return would be three very “Sutter” players. Josh Anderson provides quintessential size on the right side. 6’3”, 227lbs and moves surprisingly well for someone of that stature. Christian Dvorak is the shutdown center that Darryl wanted in Calle Jarnkrok. The 26 year old has been playing that role for the last three seasons.

Pezzetta is a fan favourite and is about as close to Ville Niemenen as you will find in 2022. He’s a good size at 6’1”, 216lbs and has plenty of tread on the tires having played only one season by the age of 24. His ability to agitate is already top tier. His hitting game is sublime as well. He averaged 7:50 of ice time per game over 51 appearances and threw 156 hits over that time. That’s a league leading 23.42 hits per 60 minutes of play among players dressing for at least 15 games. 

The picks are altogether necessary for a trade like this. A 103 point winger and a 31 point defenceman for two 30 point forwards and an 11 point fan favourite winger doesn’t quite add up. Even if all three coming back are valuable role players. 

 

 

St. Louis
A trade with the Blues seems most likely, but also the least supportive of the idea that Treliving will be targeting abrasive players that can also put the puck away. 

The first issue is the amount of players they can’t trade to Calgary.

Players With a Full No Trade Clause:
Vladimir Tarasenko
Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington
Torey Krug
Colton Parayko
Justin Faulk
Brayden Schenn
Brandon Saad

Limited NTCs:
Pavel Buchnevich
Marco Scandella

The second issue is that the Blues only have 625k in cap room. 

The bright side is that the widely rumoured return in Jordan Kyrou doesn’t have an NTC in his contract and carries a 2.8 million dollar cap hit. The winger would open up a lot of ice with his speed and would likely form out a first line of Mangiapane-Lindholm-Kyrou. 

The problem standing is that Kyrou’s 2.8 million dollar cap hit won’t balance the swap cap wise, and the guys that could be added to the trade to fit the Blues under the cap have the ability to say “No. I’m not moving to Calgary.” Ryan O’Reilly and Rob Thomas notwithstanding. 

With that said, let’s go out on a limb and assume that Pavel Buchnevich’s seven team no-trade list somehow neglected to include Calgary due to California’s similar tax rates factoring in as well. 

To St. Louis
Matthew Tkachuk – Est. 10 million AAV

To Calgary 
Pavel Buchnevich – 5.8 million AAV
Jordan Kyrou — 2.8 million AAV
Zac Bolduc 

Even with the stars aligning to make this offer work, the Blues would find themselves 1.95 million over the cap. Bolduc’s inclusion is more value-based due to him being a prospect, but he is a fun player to watch in terms of his deceptiveness on the rush. 

The pressure will be on Blues general manager Doug Armstrong to find a way to get a deal done. It would be nice if Brad Treliving wasn’t the only GM scrambling during negotiations. Left in that scramble would be any notion of picking up players Darryl Sutter would particularly prefer. 

 

 

Long Island
There certainly seems to be a goldilocks factor to the Islanders. 11.185 million in cap space with only Bellows, Dobson and Romanov left to sign. An enticing market for Matthew to play in along with an elite center in Matthew Barzal. Plenty of roster players to send off and they’ve retained every one of their own picks for the next three years all the way up to the seventh round in 2025. Not bad. 

There’s also a few players that Darryl would surely enjoy coaching. Here’s an offer that would make some sense.

To the Islanders
Matthew Tkachuk

To the Flames
Casey Cizikas
Alex Romanov
2023 first round pick
2023 second round pick 
2024 first round pick

The painful part that comes with this offer is the lack of talent heading the other way. A third or fourth line center and a hard hitting, up-and-coming top four defenceman doesn’t really justify trading an elite scoring winger with even more impressive two-way statistics. Hence the amount of draft capital. 

With that said, both of these guys hit like a truck and can hold their own defensively. Cizikas is locked down for five more seasons and Romanov is within RFA control. Add these two and then sign Tyler Motte, Micheal Raffl and Brett Ritchie as free agents to bolster an already gritty forward group? You’re looking at the meanest roster in the modern era led by the most recent recipient of the Jack Adams Award for best Head Coach during the 21-22 season. 

Youre overrating Tkachuk.  A 10 mil cap on a player that isnt a good skater isnt going to fetch as much as you think.

[RWJC]

40 minutes ago, EddieVedder said:

Youre overrating Tkachuk.  A 10 mil cap on a player that isnt a good skater isnt going to fetch as much as you think.

I didn’t write the article Eddie. 
You make as much sense saying that as the rambling lyrics you sang on that Yellow Leadbetter song. 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by RWJC