The decision to potentially trade Tkachuk comes thanks to the reality of his contract situation. Tkachuk is able to hit unrestricted free agency next summer, and he looks ready to do so. The Flames have had every opportunity to extend Tkachuk to a long-term extension, and yet have been unable to secure his signature to a deal to this point, indicating that Tkachuk’s heart may not be in Calgary long-term, just like Gaudreau. As a result, the Flames may be motivated to move Tkachuk now to avoid a situation where the team allows 100-point wingers to leave in free agency in two consecutive offseasons. The Flames’ asking price, if open to a Tkachuk trade, is likely to be on the high side, though a league-wide lack of cap space could limit their pursuit of getting the biggest possible return package. Now, for some other notes from around the league:
Conor Geekie scared a lot of Arizona Coyotes fans early in the team’s development camp when he went down with a pretty gruesome lower-body injury. Fortunately, though, the injury wasn’t serious, and Geekie confirmed that to PHNX’s Craig Morgan today. According to Morgan, Geekie “didn’t elaborate” on the nature of his injury or any timetable for his return to the ice, but noted that he was still doing cardio and upper-body work. With his main contract already signed, Geekie has a chance to make the Coyotes’ roster, so he’ll want to make sure that upper-body injury is fully healed by this fall so he can hit the ground running. on the ground running in training camp. There has been some nervousness from people around the NHL about Russian players and whether they will be able to easily return to North America from their off-seasons spent in Russia for training camps this fall. For the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks, they won’t have to worry much more about two of their players. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal learned from agent Dan Milstein that Canucks big offseason signing Ilya Mikheyev has arrived in North America to begin his preparation for the upcoming season. The New York Post’s Mollie Walker also learned from Milstein that winger Vitali Kravtsov arrived in New York ahead of practice.
