Including Quinn is way too much. Calgary doesn't have much leverage to get a return like that.

Sure they do. There are 20 teams staring at their whiteboards and wondering how they can find the space and create a package to get Tkachuk. They have all the leverage they need.

There aren't 20 teams with the cap room to sign him long term

"There are 20 teams staring at their whiteboards and wondering how they can find the space and create a package to get Tkachuk"

That doesn't matter though. What matters is what team Tkachuk wants to go to. A team is not going to trade for Tkachuk if he's not willing to sign long term. Buffalo likely isn't even a team he wants to sign long term with.

Based on Strickland's reporting (very close to the Tkachuks) he only wants to go to St. Louis. That's a terrible spot for Calgary to be in. A guy that can walk in a year that only wants to sign long term with one team. They lose a lot of leverage.

Not if tkachuk won't sign, which will determine the return

Agreed, hence the whiteboard exercises they're all doing. There are only two or three teams that could afford to sign him without first moving pieces. St. Louis, for instance, would have to clear almost all of the expected $10M that Tkachuk commands. Is there a team out there that covets him enough to give him McDavid money? Maybe. Everyone would like to try.

Those reports are BS for one simple reason: why would Tkachuk give away that kind of leverage when it comes to negotiating his contract? That makes even less sense than screwing over Calgary. Think about it, if the Blues know that the only place Tkachuk wants to be is St. Louis, they have him by the short hairs. Over the course of an 8-year contract, giving up that kind of leverage can cost a guy $20M. I assure you that his agent is doing the rounds and will ensure Tkachuk gets a bunch of offers. Perhaps St. Louis is one of them. But the Blues have a pretty good thing going already, so why would they torque their roster for a diva?

Do you think Tkachuk cares about the return for Calgary? Do you think he cares about getting the most money possible? We just watched Johnny G leave millions on the table to sign with the team he wants to be with. If all Tkachuk cared about was money he'd just resign with Calgary. This is where he's gonna spend the next 8 years of his career. I don't think money is the most important thing for him.

In short order, no I don't think he cares (much) about Calgary, though he wouldn't be doing this exercise if he wasn't trying to make it easy for CGY. As for leaving money on the table, absolutely he cares about that. He's a pro hockey player and the son of a pro hockey player. It's ALL ABOUT the money. Gaudreau admitted he blew it by taking the Flames to the wire. Had he made it clear a few months ago that he would go the the market, there are teams that would have asked to trade for his negotiation rights. He would have been able to secure an 8-year deal for a lot more money. Instead, he ended up with just two offers — NJ and Columbus — that were both well below the $10.5 x 8 that Calgary reportedly offered. He said he has no regrets, but acknowledged that his indecision cost him a fortune. And I don't know your financial situation, but I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't give a sh*t about leaving $15M on the table.

It's not all about the money. If that's all Chucky cared about he'd sign a 8 year 10M+ offer from Calgary. They could likely offer him the most money out of everyone. Chucky not wanting to resign and Strickland saying he wants St.Louis shows it's not about the money. Strickland is very connected to the Tkachuk family. He was the first one to call BS on the Tkachuk package for Eichel when Weekes said it. Anything he says regarding Tkachuk is not bs.

Johnny G was literally offered 8x10.5M and turned it down to take 7x9.75M from Columbus. That's 16M less. If money was the most important thing he would've just taken the offer from Calgary.

JG was not offered 8x$10.5 and turned it down to take the Columbus deal. He turned down CGY and threw the dice. He had no idea what would be offered because, contrary to popular belief, teams don't freely engage in tampering. JG said in his presser that he didn't know what to expect but was surprised that there were that few offers. I suspect his agent was trying to whip up an auction, but JG's playing footsie with CGY hadn't given the rest of the league enough warning to make that possible.

Tkachuk is doing exactly that. He is giving the league fair warning to be prepared to whip out their chequebooks. I don't dispute that his ideal choice might be St. Louis, but if the Blues offer $9M and someone else offers $11M, my bet is he'll take the higher bidder.

Flames trade Tkachuk to Panthers for monster haul headlined by Huberdeau
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/flames-trade-star-matthew-tkachuk-to-the-panthers/

"Tkachuk is signing an eight-year deal worth $9.5 million per season, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman."

Perhaps St. Louis didn't show him enough love, but my guess is that it was just the money and Florida's income tax.

So he took less money lol?

I doubt that's the case when you factor in taxes. When he saw Florida's 8-year offer, he greenlighted the deal. But, contrary to you assertions yesterday, what's clear is that he wasn't paving his way to St. Louis.

If he only cared about money there would be drastically more teams than the very few that were involved. He wouldn't care if it Buffalo or Arizona. He just wants money right?

Not my assertions. I said based on Stricklands reporting. St. Louis was interested. Tkachuk liked St. Louis. The only 3 teams that were reportedly interested were St.Louis, Florida, and Carolina.

For whatever reason, the Blues came up short. I suspect it was as much to have 4-6 cracks at his brother in Ottawa each year.