Flames Matthew Tkachuk back in the fold I want to win in Calgary

CALGARY Following a strong 2018-19 regular season, a challenge was laid before Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving: keep the team's core together and re-sign restricted free agent Matthew Tkachuk without exceeding a lower-than-anticipated salary cap. It took until the final week of training camp, but Treliving managed to get it done. After several long nights Trajan Bandy Jersey of negotiations, the that carries an AAV of $7 million. The deal makes Tkachuk, who recorded 34 goals and 77 points in 80 games last season, the highest-paid player on the roster and ends a complicated summer where Calgary tried to lock in a core player without losing key pieces from a team that finished second overall. Our two goals for the summer were number one to sign Matthew, and number two to keep our team intact, Treliving told reporters at a Wednesday pre s conference. And when you say 'keep your team intact,' you're always going to have some change. But what we wanted to eliminate was a distre sed transaction where we were in a situation where we had to throw a body under the tarmac to create space. NHL FREE AGENCY 2019: According to Tkachuk, the original preference was exploring a lengthy deal with the Flames Treliving noted that the two sides spent days, hours, and months discu sing long-term but the team's cap situation and market forces steered them towards a shorter term by late August. Both sides were on the same page in terms of avoiding having to move any of Tkachuk's teammates Logan Cunningham Jersey out to make the math work. You obviously want to get his situation resolved, said Treliving. But it could not, would not and did not result with the elimination of a teammate. And that's what Matthew said to me at the beginning of this proce s, and it goes to the type of individual that we're dealing with here. While the 21-year-old mi sed the first two weeks of training camp, he spent the last Michael Balistreri Jersey week skating with his former junior club, theOntario Hockey League's London Knights. A likely scenario is for Tkachuk to dre s for Calgary's final preseason game against the Edmonton Oilers as he preps for the regular season. I would've liked to be here a little bit earlier, but I'm here and it's an exciting time to be a Calgary Flame, Tkachuk said. We were a 100-point team last year in the regular season and basically everybody's back. . . . Having the finish we had last year made it KJ Hill Jersey even more clear to me that I want to win more with this group. I want to win in Calgary. Matthew Tkachuk casually sniping between-the-legs, top-shelf beauties Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) What took so long for this deal to get done? A very complex negotiation period that saw the cap rise much le s than expected, labour uncertainty until mid-September and an evolving market that saw RFAs coming out of entry-level contracts getting sizable raises that led to league-wide salary woes. , Calgary isprojected to be $658,000 over the ceiling: they will either have to carry fewer than 23 players or place injured blueliner Juuso Valimaki on the long-term injured reserve to stay cap-compliant. Ultimately, though, Treliving expre sed confidence that the club has the flexibility to maneuver throughout the season. We'll continue to work at it, but this was the big piece of busine s that needed to get done, said Treliving. If we had to start today, we're able to start today and not start with a skinny roster. That was Hayden Dunhurst Jersey the goal, and now we continue to look at ways that we can get better and do it in a manner where I don't' feel like we're a distre sed seller. Tkachuk's new deal expires following the 2021-22 season, coinciding with the end of Mark Giordano and Johnny Gaudreau's current contracts. With their most important players signed for the next three seasons, the club's focus shifts tothe ice as it tries to avenge adisappointing first-round exit.