Calgary Flames general manager, Brad Treliving, appeared on Sportsnet’s Hockey Central at Noon on Thursday afternoon to provide a Matthew Tkachuk contract update.
The Latest on the Matthew Tkachuk Contract Negotiations
The segment started off slow, with host, Jeff Marek, asking Treliving about the, lower than expected, salary cap.
“It wasn’t a big surprise [seeing the cap land at $81.5 million],” Treliving opened up, “We’ve been modeling at different numbers, obviously a little bit higher than 81.5, but always knowing that there could be [a cap] lower or higher [than we anticipated]”
That $81.5 million salary cap has caused all sorts of problems for teams trying to sign their young RFAs to extensions. Matthew Tkachuk represents one of those players and Calgary is working hard on an extension.
The RFA Market
The market for this year’s crop of marquee RFAs, that includes Matthew Tkachuk, has not yet been established. Other RFAs around the league are seemingly waiting for somebody else to set a precedent. This is something that Treliving says is part of the process.
“I think everybody is still trying to figure out what that [RFA] market is,” Treliving described, “You start to have a better sense [of the price-range for RFAs] as things start to settle in”
Many players around the league have an eye on Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner. Marner’s negotiations with the Leafs have turned ugly and fellow RFAs might be waiting to see what the end result of that saga is.
Dialogue between Tkachuk & Flames
Talks between Tkachuk and the Flames seem to be progressing well. When asked, Treliving only had positive things to say.
“[Tkachuk] and his representatives have not shy’d away from engaging with us at all,” Treliving said, “It’s been productive dialogue and we are just trying to get to a place [in negotiations] that makes sense for [Tkachuk] and makes sense for [The Flames]”
Like most people involved in the Flames organization, Treliving is aware of Tkachuk’s importance to the franchise.
“We’ve got a really good player that is a really big part of our team now and is going to continue to be [a big part],” Treliving continued, “We’re just trying to get something that gets [Tkachuk] looked after and fits within our structure and we’d like to do it sooner rather than later”
Looking Ahead
The fact that Treliving was confident enough to go on the radio to talk about current negotiations shows that there is optimism from the organization.
Unlike other RFA negotiations around the league, it seems as though Tkachuk’s saga is closer to the end.
Main Photo: CALGARY, AB – MARCH 10: Calgary Flames Left Wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) kneels to score on Vegas Golden Knights Goalie Malcolm Subban (30) to make it 5-3 for the Calgary Flames during the third period of an NHL game where the Calgary Flames hosted the Vegas Golden Knights on March 10, 2019, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB. (Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
