The Flames have already had a rough offseason. They’ve watched Johnny Gaudreau decline a long-term extension to stay in Calgary and instead, head elsewhere. Now, the club is likely losing another star forward.
RFA forward Matthew Tkachuk has reportedly told the team that he will not sign a long-term extension to stay in Calgary. The team filed to take the 24-year-old to arbitration earlier this week. Tkachuk is coming off a 104-point season. Despite helping lead the Flames to a Pacific Division win, he could be heading out of Alberta.
There are only two options left on the table for Calgary: Trade the rights to Tkachuk now and have another team sign him to an eight-year extension, or go to arbitration where he’ll get a one-year contract and trade him later on. Given Sportsnet’s Eric Francis said on 101ESPN, a radio station in St. Louis, that a trade is coming within the week, the former seems much more realistic.
It’s a tough blow for the Flames organization, losing two elite players because they do not want to commit long-term to Calgary. However, at least now GM Brad Treliving can re-coup some assets for Tkachuk, unlike he was able to with Gaudreau.
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With a Tkachuk trade likely coming, here are four destinations that he could acquire the Flames forward.
Four trade destinations for Matthew Tkachuk
1. St. Louis Blues
The first team that makes the most sense in terms of personal fit for Tkachuk is the Blues. He’s a St. Louis kid, growing up near the city when his father, Keith, was playing in the NHL with the team.
However, the Blues only have $625,000 in cap space, according to CapFriendly. That means some moves definitely will need to be made in order to clear room for the power forward.
Vladimir Tarasenko’s trade request remains intact, and if the Blues could find a suitor for him, that would take his $7.5 million cap hit off their books. The Blues would have to give up a good young player, perhaps Jordan Kyrou, in the deal to get Tkachuk and that would clear enough space to sign him. Add in a prospect like Jake Neighbours or Zachary Bolduc, a couple of picks, and it could work.
2. New Jersey Devils
After missing out on Johnny Gaudreau in free agency, the Devils still look like a bottom-tier team heading into the season. Sure, they signed Ondrej Palat, but the 31-year-old does not put up the kind of numbers like Gaudreau or Tkachuk and is at least three years older than both.
While I don’t think it immediately makes them contenders, getting Tkachuk and signing him long-term makes New Jersey’s future even brighter. The Devils have plenty of cap space for the Flames forward, with just over $9.5 million for this season.
They still need to sign RFA Jesper Bratt, but he could potentially be going back the other way in the trade with the Flames and use the money they would have given him for Tkachuk’s deal. They could also dump a contract from a younger player like Andreas Johnsson or Damon Severson. New Jersey has the prospects and draft capital needed to entice Calgary in a deal. Alexander Holtz, Arseni Gritsyuk or Shakir Mukhamadullin could be options in a trade.
Oh, and GM Tom Fitzgerald is cousins with Tkachuk’s dad. You can never rule out those connections.
3. New York Islanders
Speaking of teams that came out on the losing end of the Gaudreau sweepstakes, the Islanders are left with just the Alexander Romanov trade as their only addition this offseason. They currently have over $11 million in cap space with Noah Dobson and Romanov needing new deals.
New York has an older group, but the intriguing option to dangle to the Flames is Mat Barzal. He has one year left on his deal before he’s a UFA and if I had to guess, I don’t see him wanting to return. However, that would mean the Islanders are left without a true No. 1 center to play with Tkachuk.
If not Barzal, the Islanders are limited in their trade bait. They have an extremely weak prospect pool and I would imagine they would like to keep top prospect Aatu Raty. Anthony Beauvillier is a young rostered player who has been in trade rumors before and could be included, but the Isles would need to add more in draft picks and a mid-tier prospect.
There’s not a ton for GM Lou Lamoriello to offer, but Tkachuk would be a sensational get for a team in desperate need of offensive production.
4. Buffalo Sabres
When looking at the teams with available cap space and product, none stood out to me more as a better fit than the Sabres.
Buffalo has over $19.5 million left in cap space, plenty of room to not only bring in and sign Tkachuk, but they also don’t need to worry about dumping contracts. They do have some RFAs next season to worry about in Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens, but the team has been built around players on entry-level deals and veterans on short-term cheap deals, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
In terms of prospects, the Sabres have a ton. Want a forward? Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka and Isak Rosen are all top-end talent. Need a goalie? How about having the choice of three in Devon Levi, Erik Portillo and Ukko-Pekka Luukonen. This doesn’t even include Owen Power, Peyton Krebs or their three first-round picks from 2022.
The Sabres have been building to get to the point where they can afford to send off prospects in order to gain back legit NHL talent. Kyle Okposo’s deal ends after next season. Now seems like the perfect time to grab an immediate scoring forward like Tkachuk to help further the rebuild.
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