The team watched Johnny Gaudreau walk in free agency and sign a seven-year, $68.25 million contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets — a contract with less time and dollars than Calgary’s offer — and now fellow forward Matthew Tkachuk appears ready to leave the city. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis suggested “nobody in the hockey world should be surprised if (Tkachuk) is traded in a week or two,” and it was revealed Wednesday that the restricted free agent has no plans to sign a contract extension with the team. who selected him sixth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. The team submitted a salary arbitration request to Tkachuk on Monday, which eliminated the possibility of an offer sheet. Initially, the move was supposed to buy time to negotiate a long-term extension, however, since that apparently doesn’t interest the player it ultimately means buying Calgary some extra time to trade Tkachuk’s rights or work out a sign-and – trade. Players are only eligible to sign eight-year contracts when they re-sign somewhere, according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The NHLPA has confirmed that Tkachuk’s arbitration hearing has been set for August 11. As I’ve reported over the past few days, Tkachuk will be traded immediately. Telling the Flames several days ago that he would not be signing an extension prompted the two sides to begin working to land him somewhere where he would be open to signing an 8-year extension. — Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) July 20, 2022 (2/2) The Flames can still negotiate a new contract with Tkachuk until his arbitration date. However, negotiations are no longer allowed after the hearing has started. The Flames could also sign and then trade him. Accepting his QO or signing an Offer Sheet is no longer an option. https://t.co/QxbemWmyx1 — CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 20, 2022 The 24-year-old American is coming off a three-year, $21 million deal and a season in which he scored 42 goals and 104 points in 82 games, adding 10 points in 12 playoff games. Tkachuk submitted to Calgary brass a list of teams he would be willing to sign with long-term. There were reportedly five or six teams on the list, however, it remains unclear exactly which teams Tkachuk included. With that in mind, here’s a selection of teams we expect to show interest in Tkachuk regardless of whether they’re on the player’s official wish list. (All contract details and amounts below courtesy of CapFriendly)
St. Louis Blues
Longtime Blues reporter Jeremy Rutherford confirmed to 101 ESPN St. Louis on Wednesday that “the Blues are on the list,” which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Tkachuk is no stranger to the city and surrounding area having grown up there. His father, Keith Tkachuk, hit 543 of his 1,201-game NHL career with the Blues. Keith works as the organization’s director of player recruiting. DailyFaceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported earlier this month “Blues GM Doug Armstrong has quietly explored the potential of the mobile (Torey) Krug.” There is a decent amount of money and tenure on the St. Louis blue line. Krug, Justin Faulk and Colton Parayko have AAVs of $6.5 million. Krug, 31, and Faulk, 30, are signed through 2026-27 and Parayko, 29, through 2029-30. Nick Leddy, 31, is signed at $4 million AAV over the next four years. Those four defensemen each have no-trade clauses in their respective contracts, though they don’t kick in until at least 2025 (Parayko’s in 2028), so they’re movable assets. Vladimir Tarasenko previously requested a trade from St. Louis. The skilled winger has one year and an AAV of $7.5 million remaining on his contract, plus a no-movement clause (NMC) that he would have to waive. Ryan O’Reilly has an identical one-year, $7.5 million hit to come off the books at the end of the 2022-23 campaign. St.Louis currently has the oldest 20-man roster in the Western Conference with an average age of 28.8, so adding Tkachuk would help lower that average — though perhaps they should include a younger player like Jordan Kyrou for example, to catch a star like Tkachuk. The Blues keep all of their own draft picks from 2023-2025, except for a second rounder next year.
Vegas Golden Knights
It would take quite a bit of effort from Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon to work out a deal that would see Tkachuk reunited with former USNTDP teammate Jack Eichel. McCrimmon has been battling the NHL’s flat cap throughout the offseason, unloading Max Pacioretty and Evgenii Dadonov without getting anything significant in return. The Golden Knights already have more than $71 million committed to the 2023-24 cap hit and haven’t finished signing all of their RFAs. Keegan Kolesar, Nicolas Roy and Nicolas Hague are RFAs in need of new deals and Brett Howden and Nolan Patrick are set to become RFAs next summer. Vegas may be the second youngest franchise in the league, yet they currently have the seventh oldest roster. Alec Martinez, 34, Brayden McNabb, 32, Jonathan Marchessault, 31, Reilly Smith, 31, and William Karlsson, 29, all have modified no-trade clauses, while Eichel, 25, Alex Pietrangelo, 32 and Mark Stone, 30, have full NMC. Vegas has first-round picks in each of the next three years. Zach Dean, Daniil Chayka, Brendan Brisson, Daniil Miromanov and Pavel Dorofeyev are among the notable prospects in the Vegas system. At the end of the day, though, would Calgary really consider trading Tkachuk to the Pacific Division?
New Jersey Devils
You understand that Tom Fitzgerald was frustrated by Gaudreau’s withdrawal from negotiations with New Jersey. So, would the Devils GM, who happens to be Tkachuks cousin, once again turn his attention to another Flames forward? Even after signing Ondrej Palat to a $30 million contract, the Devils have cap space available to bolster the team’s upside. The Devils have missed the playoffs in nine of the last 10 years, including the last four seasons, but Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton have been locked up long-term and 2022 second overall pick Simon Nemec has already signed its basic level. contract. Damon Severson, Ryan Graves, Tomas Tatar, Erik Haula and Andreas Johnsson are expected to become UFAs after next season. Beyond those five players, the Devils have a variety of under-26 skaters and a healthy pool of prospects. Jespers Boqvist and Bratt plus Miles Wood are RFA’s without contracts for 2022-23.
New York Rangers
The Broadway Blueshirts look set to go into full win-now mode with one of the deepest rosters in the Eastern Conference plus the reigning Vezina Trophy winner between the pipes. If you’re Tkachuk, why aren’t you looking at the Rangers? What if the Flames asked for K’Andre Miller or Ryan Lindgren? Would GM Chris Drury be willing to put a dent in his own defensive corps to make his forward team more intimidating? Maybe an up-and-coming forward like 2023 RFA Filip Chytil? The Rangers added Vincent Trocheck in free agency, but have otherwise been fairly quiet following the team’s first trip to the conference finals since 2015.
Ottawa Senators
Pierre Dorion has been aggressive this summer. They added Alex DeBrincat, Claude Giroux, Cam Talbot, got rid of Matt Murray and signed Josh Norris to an eight-year extension. The team has plenty of cap space to take on salary — in case Calgary wanted to unload a bad Tkachuk contract. Giroux is Ottawa’s only forward with an NMC. Defensemen Nikita Zaitsev and Nick Holden have modified no-trade clauses. Ottawa has an extra second-round pick in 2024. Tkachuk’s younger brother, Brady, is the team’s captain and is signed there for another six years.
Nashville Predators
David Poile has shown little aversion to getting a blockbuster trade over the years. The trade of Seth Jones for Ryan Johansen in 2016 and the three-team deal involving the Avalanche and Senators in 2017 are proof of that, however, the team hasn’t won a playoff series in four years and could use a metaphorical kick in the pants. Poile bolstered the back end with the signing of Ryan McDonagh earlier this month and the team added Nino Niederreiter on Thursday, but the team has otherwise been quiet. Nashville is always cap-friendly, so money isn’t an obstacle. Predators captain and perennial Calder Trophy candidate Roman Josi isn’t going anywhere, and Filip Forsberg just signed a new deal to keep him in Nashville through 2030. In addition to those two franchise cornerstones, Poile he should be willing to move anyone in the organization if there’s a legitimate chance to land a player of Tkachuk’s caliber in his prime.
Dallas Stars
GM Jim Nill has more than $11 million in cap space, but needs to give RFAs new deals Jake Oettinger and Jason Robertson – especially Oettinger, who many see as a future Vezina candidate. Beyond that, Dallas is in relatively solid cap space to make a major move given that both sides agree on what will go back. One would think that Rob Hinch or Denis Guryanov would be forwards that Calgary could look to replace some of the forwards Tkachuk would lose.
Detroit Red Wings
There’s no reason why Steve Yzerman shouldn’t give the Flames a phone call and a serious pitch. Detroit has an extra second-round pick in 2023 acquired from St. Louis at the trade deadline and only a handful of players signed beyond 2024, including offseason additions Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot and Ville Husso. RFA Filip Zadina, the sixth overall pick from 2018, needs a new contract before next season and could be a target, plus…
