The floor in STL is probably 8.5/8.75, the ceiling is probably 9.5. I have a very difficult time seeing a contract outside of those boundaries if it's in STL. I think all Blues fans would agree that in a pure dollar bidding war the Blues clearly lose, we don't disagree with anyone on that.
When companies report financially, they list both tangible and intangible assets. Intangible assets are things like copyrights, brand value, goodwill, etc. The value of these assets cannot always be assessed perfectly but there is value.
In this case, the intangible asset is being the unquestioned king of a passionate sports town that eats this kind of story up like it's Thanksgiving dinner. He is from STL, he gets exactly why he'd be the king. It would be a spectacle. It might not ultimately make the Blues a better team to acquire him given the dominoes it sets in motion, or it might, but regardless it would be an all time STL spectacle. So few human beings ever get this opportunity, the intangible value on it may be extraordinary. So extraordinary it could maybe cause a Tkachuk to let go of a buck. Which, again, at any contract with the Blues he would be doing. If his lifelong friend Andy Strickland is guaranteeing he will be on the Blues, and Strickland's most infamously ridiculed moment was a false report on a Tkachuk nearly two decades ago and a chance at redemption, there is definitely reason to suspect that this intangible value I'm describing? Tkachuk values it.
