The possible outcome of the Brady Tkachuk negotiation is becoming clearer
Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk is the last major restricted free agent this year. With the recent signing of Elias Pettersson, many thought the Tkachuk issue would be resolved quickly, but it was not.
As we talked about it two days ago, Tkachuk would like to sign a short term contract, to get a lot of money in a few years, because of the salary cap increase.
On the other hand, the Senators would have the desire to sign the American on a long-term basis, as per their Eugene Melnyk "tradition". The owner of the Ontario team advocates that his star players sign long-term with the organization to avoid screwing around.
According to information from Darren Dreger, if Brady Tkachuk signed a three-year contract with the Senators, he would not be in Ottawa for long. Dreger believes that Pierre Dorion might be tempted to trade the number 7 if such a scenario were to occur.
The possibility of signing a three-year bridge contract would be very real according to Dreger. We would go from a potential captain to a player who could be traded. Reminds me of a certain Mark Stone...
The ideal deal for both sides would likely be a five-year contract. It's the in-between demands of both parties. Could they put some water in their wine? Possibly yes. The season is starting soon, it would be a waste to have a player of Tkachuk's caliber out of the lineup.
