Player Discussion Brady Tkachuk (LW) - Part VII

[IranCondraAffair]

I know some people are going to be disappointed but we have to be realistic, this was one likely result of the situation.

We knew that we were going to have to overpay him and we were prepared as a fanbase for that decision. 8M, for a guy who has never paced near a PPG in his career coming off his ELC was an overpay. We were paying for intangibles, and potential. Maybe he fulfills that, maybe he doesn't. Either way, how much higher could we have gone without screwing ourselves?

If anything, with our budget, we need value signings more than anyone. Brady was never a good bet to outplay an 8x8. It sucks, but we'll get through it. Some of Ottawa's best seasons and best trades came as a result of financial decisions.

 

[Masked]

Also, the team has to be careful of the last year’s QO amount.

mid it ends up being structured to get 9 in the last year, then his next year obviously starts at 9 no matter what he shows us over the course of his bridge.

That's false.

Assen na yo!

 

[Adele Dazeem]

Not gonna lie I ain't going to enjoy Sens hockey much if Brady signs only long enough to fulfill his duties and GTFO as soon as possible. Another Dorion fail.

I don't blame Dorion for Tkachuk's unwillingness to sign a long term deal with this team. This is Tkachuk wanting to have the option to go to another team (probably a US team) when he's a UFA.

 

[OttawaSenators11]

im no PD fan, but how is it his fault that Brady wont sign long term?? He can't hold a gun to his head and force him to sign a deal he doesn't want to sign.

Just being a loser the whole time Brady’s been on the roster - trading away Stone for peanuts etc

They haven’t done anything as an organization that screams they wanna win
They know Melnyk can’t afford a winning team so likely said, let’s get the get the hell of here gracefully ASAP.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

I'm not going to blame Dorion/Melnyk on this one. The Tkachuk family is just as bad.

It's 100% on the team if Brady bridges and leaves in 2-3 years and I don't see how anyone can enjoy these next few years as he leads our team, continues to endear himself to the fanbase, and then gets tf out of dodge. Expect more players to leave in the future as Melnyk continues to penny pinch.

 

[IranCondraAffair]

It's 100% on the team if Brady bridges and leaves in 2-3 years and I don't see how anyone can enjoy these next few years as he leads our team, continues to endear himself to the fanbase, and then gets tf out of dodge. Expect more players to leave in the future as Melnyk continues to penny pinch.

8X8, as rumoured, is not penny pinching, it is a pretty decent overpay. I refuse to blame management or ownership when I have no evidence of them being cheap.

 

[DaveMatthew]

Don't you kinda feel like this is the fallout from the mismanagement, instability and losing culture. Which ultimately is on ownership. You reap what you sow, everything comes at a cost the sens are seeing it now.

I think if they show they are committed to winning he may commit. But I can't really blame him at this point. Signing Norris long term would potentially inspire confidence. If I was Brady I'd be disappointed they didn't add a legit top 4 d man. I'd also be wary of where the team is headed after walking Zub to UFA.

Maybe they meet in the middle at 6 years? Sens want 8 Brady probably wants 3 or 4.

It's a combination, I'd think.

You certainly can't blame BT for not wanting to commit - he's the type of guy who wants to win. Last thing he wants is to sign for 8 years and then be the 5th best team in the Atlantic. And in this league, you have to spend to win.

Then you have the him living in Missouri (a low tax state) in the offseason but playing in Ontario (a high-tax province) - and us not being willing to offer bonuses.

Combine those two things, and a bridge with an eye on UFA is a logical conclusion.

If I was PD, I'd start kicking tires on trades now. Maybe something you can't pass up is there. The Rangers want to get tougher. Would they be crazy enough to deal Lafreniere? Probably not, but you never know.

If we're going to try and win while penny pinching, we need to be ruthless. Like the Tampa Bay Rays in the MLB.

 

[Johnny Hanson]

It’s unbelievable how some of you can talk out of both sides of your mouths.

So let me get this straight - everything bad that has happened recently to this team is melnyks fault.. until now. It’s Brady being greedy. Ok, makes sense

 

[TheDebater]

I feel like this has always been the plan. The sens offered 8 x 8 almost a month ago. Shouldn't take that long to hash out the particulars. I'd sign him to a 1 or 2 year deal max then go from there. Nothing in the 3 to 5 year range.

At this point I have to reluctantly agree, BUT, I will supplement that by saying that if Brady is "gone" either way (i.e after 2 years or 5 regardless), then I would rather take a chance and sign him to 5 years and hope to win a cup before then, after that, he can walk.

I know we would still own his right after a 2 year contract, but will it be worth the headache again the next time we try to negotiate a long-term deal?

 

[Neil Patrick Harris]

Literally nothing has happened yet.

 

[OttawaSenators11]

8X8, as rumoured, is not penny pinching, it is a pretty decent overpay. I refuse to blame management or ownership when I have no evidence of them being cheap.

Brady probably knows if they sign him for $8M, that Norris and or Stutzle are gone because of the lack of funds.
Melnyk can’t afford to keep everyone

 

[Silencio]

I'd be fine with a 5 year deal (as an NBA fan I'm kind of used to those already). If Ottawa isnt competing for a cup by that point then another season or two with Brady in the lineup isn't going to make much of a difference.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I don’t blame Brady. By the time his bridge expires it will be six years with the Sens. He’ll get a good idea of how committed Melnyk is.

 

[BondraTime]

Literally nothing has happened yet. And the Tweet we're all basing this on has been deleted (at least on my end)

Nothing more than Dreger's thoughts on where things are, same as every other report thus far

 

[IranCondraAffair]

It’s unbelievable how some of you can talk out of both sides of your mouths.

So let me get this straight - everything bad that has happened recently to this team is melnyks fault.. until now. It’s Brady being greedy. Ok, makes sense

Puhleeze. Tkachuks are just as greedy as Melnyk. I'm not going to blame them for that. Like everyone else they look out for themselves. Good for them, Brady doesn't owe us anything. If he had elected to stay, I'd be happy. But he's not, so I'll move on. It's just a game.

I'm just not going to blame Melnyk for Brady's decision when I have no evidence it was his fault.When we have evidence Melnyk did something to f*** up negotiations, I'll grab my pitchfork with everyone else. Until then, I have no beef on this.

 

[jbeck5]

Just being a loser the whole time Brady’s been on the roster - trading away Stone for peanuts etc

They haven’t done anything as an organization that screams they wanna win
They know Melnyk can’t afford a winning team so likely said, let’s get the get the hell of here gracefully ASAP.

They were rebuilding. Of course they weren't going to make win now trades. Even Brady isn't that dumb. He should know this and not use it as an excuse.

 

[IranCondraAffair]

Brady probably knows if they sign him for $8M, that Norris and or Stutzle are gone because of the lack of funds.
Melnyk can’t afford to keep everyone

Internal equity is important to maintain in every organization, not just a sports team. You give Bob a raise, Sam is going to want one too.

That's why you look around at comparable contracts to make sure you're being fair.

That comparable contracts for Brady had him lower than what we (supposedly) offered. If he thinks he can do better, I wish him the best of luck and I sincerely hope he gets it. .

 

[Adele Dazeem]

Literally nothing has happened yet.

Which is not a good sign...

 

[branch]

Here for my daily BT slander. Wasn’t disappointed.

What do you expect really?

 

[Micklebot]

Tweet is unavailable?

Did this get deleted, what did/does it say?

 

[DaveMatthew]

I'd be fine with a 5 year deal (as an NBA fan I'm kind of used to those already). If Ottawa isnt competing for a cup by that point then another season or two with Brady in the lineup isn't going to make much of a difference.

Reasonable way to look at it. In 5 years:

Chabot will be 29
Tkachuk will be 27
Batherson will be 28
Norris will 27
Pinto will be 25

Our last rebuild "started" when:

Karlsson was 28
Stone was 26
Hoffman was 29
Duchene was 27

 

[Adele Dazeem]

It's a combination, I'd think.

You certainly can't blame BT for not wanting to commit - he's the type of guy who wants to win. Last thing he wants is to sign for 8 years and then be the 5th best team in the Atlantic. And in this league, you have to spend to win.

Then you have the him living in Missouri (a low tax state) in the offseason but playing in Ontario (a high-tax province) - and us not being willing to offer bonuses.

Combine those two things, and a bridge with an eye on UFA is a logical conclusion.

If I was PD, I'd start kicking tires on trades now. Maybe something you can't pass up is there. The Rangers want to get tougher. Would they be crazy enough to deal Lafreniere? Probably not, but you never know.

If we're going to try and win while penny pinching, we need to be ruthless. Like the Tampa Bay Rays in the MLB.

Great post.

 

[branch]

Brady probably knows if they sign him for $8M, that Norris and or Stutzle are gone because of the lack of funds.
Melnyk can’t afford to keep everyone

This is the scariest part really. You need to sign Norris and Stutzle.

 

[BondraTime]

Tweet is unavailable?

Did this get deleted, what did/does it say?

Same user, different tweet, same message. First tweet added they wanted the same as Matt's contract

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Nope, you move him. Getting better and convincing him to stay is just setting yourself up for disappointment. I like Brady as much as the next guy, but if he's not willing to be here longterm so be it (I'll add the caveat that if Ottawa was lowballing him, I would blame management), but by all accounts they were being pretty fair.

You can't move him until he signs.