8M-9M for Brady is lunacy.
That's 10% of the team's salary cap.
There is no way anyone would be okay paying that kind of money to a player that performed exactly the same as Tkachuk, but carried a different last name.
At which point do we separate the love for Brady from actual insanity? 45 points, 44 points, 36 points. That's what Tkachuk has done so far in the NHL. 60 goals, 125 points in 198 games.
8M-9M is close to ''top winger in the game'' money. How is it not enough? What in the actual F is he thinking?
1) The organization is extremely deep at LW, arguably the least important position in the sport & the easiest to fill.
2) With Batherson, Norris, Chabot, Stützle & Pinto in the fold, one might wonder if Tkachuk will even be a top 3 scorer on the team year in and year out. That's the definition of ''complementary'' and regardless of intangibles, that's not worth 10% of the cap. Especially not in Ottawa.
It'll be impossible to build a legitimate, sustained cup contender with a Tkachuk type eating 10% of the cap for his intangibles while Stützle, Norris, Sanderson & Pinto will all be up for new contracts; every single one of them having a reasonable argument of being an equal or better player than Tkachuk by the time their ELCs expire.
The team's current clear cut best player is Chabot. He signed for 8M x 8 years with no salary bonuses and limited trade protection. No moaning, no bending the organization over a barrel. Just recognized a fair contract and signed it. What argument does Brady have to deserve more? The captaincy being handed to him on a silver platter?
RFAs:
- Andrei Svechnikov 7.75M x 8 yrs (2021)
- Josh Anderson 5.5M x 7 yrs (2020)
- Kyle Connor 7.15M x 7 yrs (2019)
- Mikko Rantanen 9.25M x 6 yrs (2019)
- Clayton Keller 7.15M x 8 yrs (2019)
- Tom Wilson 5.16M x 6 yrs (2018)
UFAs:
- Gabriel Landeskog 7M x 8 yrs (2021)
- Kris Kreider 6.5M x 7 yrs (2020)
- Anders Lee 7M x 7 yrs (2019)
- Evander Kane 7M x 7yrs (2018)
Again, what the F is he thinking?