Report: Matthew Tkachuk tells Flames he won’t sign, provides trade list
Anthony Scultore
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The Calgary Flames and their fans have barely gotten off the mat from the gut punch delivered by Johnny Gaudreau leaving via free agency. Not even fully up on one knee, Matthew Tkachuk has sent them crashing back down to the canvas with a knockout blow.
On Wednesday, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford and Hailey Salvian are reporting that Tkachuk has informed the Flames he will not re-sign with the club long term. This now forces Calgary’s hands into a trade or risk watching him become an unrestricted free agent after receiving a one-year award in salary arbitration.
The team filed for club-elected arbitration on Monday. He’s now expected to be moved before that hearing is held in August.
Calgary signed Tkachuk to a three-year deal back in 2019, with an AAV of $7 million.
Matthew Tkachuk won’t sign, provides list of teams
Tkachuk, 24, registered a career-high 104 points on the strength of 42 goals in 82 games last season. He has 382 career points in 431 games since joining the Flames, who selected him sixth overall in the 2016 draft.
There’s no doubt that a lot of teams will be interested, although not many will be able to afford the assets and the huge new contract Tkachuk will want.
However, it’s also being reported that Tkachuk has already given the Flames a list of teams with whom he would sign a long-term contract. Per the report, that includes the likes of St. Louis, Vegas, Florida, Nashville and Dallas. Also noted are New Jersey and the New York Rangers as having past interest in acquiring him.
Tkachuk’s next deal will be for max term and could be between $8 million to $9 million per season. Of the teams he mentioned, the Stars have the most cap space available with $11.4 million. His preferred destination are the Blues, but they only have $625,000 in cap space.
