Matthew Tkachuk discusses his name being brought up in Jack Eichel rumours
The Jack Eichel saga is official over, with the pivot having been dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, but there is one individual who was impacted to some degree in all of this due to some inaccurate reporting in Calgary Flames winger Matthew Tkachuck.
Tkachuk had found his name in rumours linking him to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday in a potential Eichel deal in a report from Kevin Weekes on Twitter. But while many players may have allowed their emotions to get the best of them, Tkachuk took everything in stride.
"I'm sure it's different for everybody but I had a hard time believing it was true, so I went about my business like I normally do the night before the game to get prepared for tonight," Tkachuk said to the media on Thursday.
"Honest to God, it's out of our control, all of that stuff. If (the Eichel) trade would have happened here, it would have affected some guys you're probably close with. We've all dealt with players that have been traded. Teammates... it's just part of the business.
"You don't deal with that stuff until it happens and you don't think about it, you don't speculate, you don't plan accordingly. You just go about your business. Things are going great for our team now. We're playing well, we're enjoying it, we have a great group of guys."
Tkachuk has been the subject of much speculation over the last year and change. He is coming up to the end of his current deal, which carries a cap hit of $7M, though his actual salary is $9M for this season - meaning that his qualifying offer will be north of that number in the summer, unless the Flames and the Tkachuk camp can strike a deal that allows for a longer term at a slightly lower salary.
Tkachuk's younger brother Brady recently signed a deal that fits that description with the Ottawa Senators last month. His deal was 7 years at more than $8.2M. It will be interesting to see whether Matthew lands in that ball park or whether he comes in at or above his qualifying offer.
