Calgary's Arbitration Filing Suggests Matthew Tkachuk Likely to be Traded

It has been a brutal few months for the city of Calgary & their beloved hockey club. After losing in the Conference Semi-Finals to the hated Edmonton Oilers, the Flames lost star F Johnny Gaudreau to free-agency, and now they face the harsh reality that they might be without Matthew Tkachuk next season as well. While the team filed for club-elected salary arbitration, that doesn't mean he suits up for the Flames next season.

After missing out on Gaudreau, the Flames need to decide how to manage Matthew Tkachuk & his rather large incoming contract. Sign him to a one or two-year deal, only to usher him into unrestricted free-agency or trade him now while his value has never been higher.

Eric Francis of Sportsnet believes the latter is most probable:

Flames fans know all too well about their top players walking for nothing. This year it was Johnny Gaudreau, but Flames fans will always remember Jerome Iginla leaving for nothing & Mark Giordano going in the expansion draft. Management appears to get the hint now: if a player won't sign a long-term extension in Calgary, it is probably best to trade that player for a viable return rather than letting him leave for nothing.

That seems to be the case with Matthew Tkachuk. After the team elected for arbitration, optimists believed that a deal could be made & everything would be peachy. But that is not really the case. The main reason Calgary opted for arbitration was to buy themselves time & fend off offer sheets. But Tkachuk commands a $9M qualifying offer, and he has not shown much interest in signing any sort of long-term extension. Which, frankly, is more than you can say for Gaudreau.

And so, even if a deal does get struck, it likely won't be a good one for either side & Tkachuk will be only that much closer to UFA status. Ipso facto, a trade appears the most likely outcome for him. The big questions at that point become: who & what for?

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