Flames elect to take Matthew Tkachuk to arbitration
The Calgary Flames and Matthew Tkachuk will meet in arbitration after all.
The Flames announced Monday afternoon that they’ve opted to take the 24-year-old to arbitration, one day after Tkachuk elected not to go that route.
The Flames have filed for club-elected salary arbitration with Matthew Tkachuk. This provides us the opportunity to continue to work with his representatives towards a contractual resolution while removing the possibility of an offer sheet.
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) July 18, 2022
“The Flames have filed for club-elected salary arbitration with Matthew Tkachuk. This provides us the opportunity to continue to work with his representatives towards a contractual resolution while removing the possibility of an offer sheet,” the club wrote in a tweet.
Tkachuk, who was second on the Flames in scoring last season with 104 points (42 goals, 62 assists) in 82 games, did not elect to go to arbitration before Sunday’s deadline. Fellow restricted free agents Andrew Mangiapane, Oliver Kylington, and Matthew Philips did elect to go that route.
He is no longer eligible to receive an offer sheet from any of the other 31 NHL teams.
The club-elected arbitration comes less than a week after Calgary lost Johnny Gaudreau to the Columbus Blue Jackets via unrestricted free agency. Gaudreau told the Flames the night before that he’d explore the open market.
The Flames sent Tkachuk a one-year, $9 million qualifying offer one week ago, and he’s the team’s top priority to get inked to a long-term deal.
He is no longer eligible to sign that qualifying offer after the announced arbitration move, and Calgary must offer at least $9 million as their figure for arbitration as a result of the qualifying offer. As a result, Tkachuk could end up with a one-year contract worth in excess of his $9 million contract offer.
A one-year term could still see Tkachuk, potentially, become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Tkachuk has 152 goals and 382 points in 431 career NHL games, all with Calgary.