Brady Tkachuk and the Senators are reportedly working on a contract worth around $8 million annually
The 2021-22 season is only a month away and there are still a lot of very good restricted free agents without contracts.
Vancouver’s @Quinn Hughes and @Elias Petterson remained unsigned, along with former No. 1 overall pick @Rasmus Dahlin and 2021 Calder Trophy winner @Kirill Kaprizov. Another big name without a contract is @Brady Tkachuk, but Elliotte Friedman reports that the Senators are optimistic the two sides will reach a deal before the start of training camp.
“Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion (with a fresh contract extension) told the FAN 590 morning show on Thursday, “Are we confident (restricted free agent Brady Tkachuk) will be signed by the time camp starts? Yes. These negotiations aren’t always easy and they take me a bit more time.” Over the last little while, the word is the Senators and Tkachuk have been grinding away on a long-term deal — believed to be similar to Thomas Chabot’s 8×8 extension. If that can’t get done soon, it’s very possible the two sides will switch to something shorter. What that says to me is both sides agree getting Tkachuk in camp is a priority.”
Ottawa drafted Tkachuk with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2018 draft. He immediately broke into the league with a 22-goal, 45-point rookie season and produced a similar 21 goals and 44 points in his second season. In 2021, Tkachuk scored 17 goals and 36 points, both of which were paced to become career-highs had the season been longer than 56 games.
A contract similar to that of @Thomas Chabot, worth $8 million annually over eight seasons, would be a huge investment by the Senators. Tkachuk has been good since entering the league, but he hasn’t yet shown the elite performance that Chabot did before he inked that contract.
As Friedman says, if the two sides can’t reach a long-term deal, they’ll settle on a bridge contract with a smaller cap hit. Of course, there’s major risk for Ottawa there if Tkachuk breaks out in the coming years.