Matthew Tkachuk comes from quality stock. His father, Keith, had a stellar NHL career in which he scored 538 goals and accounted for 1,065 points. A 6-foot-2, 230-pound left winger with every tool in the book and a nasty streak, Keith was no fun to play against and the definition of a true power forward.
And his 19-year-old son is a chip off the old block. The younger Tkachuk and sixth overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft has already served notice that he’s picking up where his dad left off.
My first viewing of Matthew came on TV in the championship game of the 2014 World Under-17 Challenge. He was part of an incredibly talented team of 1997-born players from the United States, which included Auston Matthews, Noah Hanifin, Charlie McAvoy, Zach Werenski and Luke Kunin. The USA beat Team Pacific 4-0 and outshot the BC-Alberta team 52-12. It was obvious that was a special group of players and Tkachuk belonged right alongside them.
The following year Tkachuk was superb at the World Under-18s and recorded 10 assists in Team USA’s gold medal win. In 2015-16, he notched 107 points in 57 OHL games with the Memorial Cup champion London Knights, alongside Mitch Marner and Christian Dvorak to form one of the best CHL trips in recent memory.
But when I got to witness him live at the Memorial Cup in Red Deer, I saw what an impact the fesity forward can have. In the first game of the tournament, the host Rebels were surprisingly taking it to the heavily favoured Knights. That’s when Tkachuk showed what he does in big moments.
| PLAYER | PENALTIES TAKEN | PENALTIES DRAWN | PENALTY PLUS/MINUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Gaudreau | 1 | 5 | plus-4 |
| Matthew Tkachuk | 6 | 10 | plus-4 |
| Micheal Ferland | 1 | 3 | plus-2 |
| Troy Brouwer | 0 | 2 | plus-2 |
| Kris Versteeg | 0 | 1 | plus-1 |
First, he became engaged with Haydn Fleury after a whistle and drew the Rebels’ best defenceman into a penalty. Half a minute later, he set up Aaron Berisha for the first goal of the game and before the period was out, London had taken a 3-0 lead — they went on to win 6-2.
Tkachuk is a game-changer. The Knights went on to dominate the tournament until the final against Rouyn-Noranda. Tkachuk opened the scoring, but London needed a late third-period goal from Christian Dvorak to extend the game to overtime — just 7:49 into the extra frame, Tkachuk scored to lift the Knights to championship glory.
Tkachuk was born to be a hockey player. He grew up around the game at the highest level and it shows with his high hockey IQ and the subtleties in his game. And while he has great skill, it’s that understanding of how to be a good player in all three zones that allowed him to step right into the NHL and make a huge impact on the Flames’ best line with Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik.
As we know, Tkachuk put up 13 goals and 48 points as a rookie and he plays on the edge every night — he’s never met an opportunity to agitate and get under an opponent’s skin that he didn’t like.
He is one of those players you love to have on your side, but can’t stand if he’s on the other. Off to another good start offensively with eight points in 10 games, Tkachuk continues to agitate and draws penalties regularly — more than making up for the ones he takes himself.
Sometimes that edge can backfire, though. In a game against Carolina last week, Tkachuk took a needless penalty at the end of the second period and Justin Williams scored on the ensuing power play, leading to a 2-1 Flames loss. To his credit, Tkachuk owned it and blamed himself for the loss, which showed the maturity of a player much older than he is.
He was trying to spark his teammates, but this time it worked the other way. With an emotionally invested player like Tkachuk, sometimes the line will be crossed. But the Flames will take the good with the occasionally bad.
The Flames are lucky to have a player like Tkachuk. He is the kind of player you win with, who rises in big moments. He has a history of doing just that and when this Flames team do step up and make their mark on the NHL, Matthew Tkachuk will have his mitts all over it.
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