If you were nervous about the Calgary Flames’ ability to sign Matthew Tkachuk to a long-term deal after losing Johnny Gaudreau to free agency, Monday’s news that they were filing for club-elected salary arbitration probably didn’t too much to ease your anxiety.
Let’s walk through the different scenarios for how this situation could play out.
Tkachuk gets a one-year deal
Without arbitration, Tkachuk had the ability to simply accept his one-year, $9 million qualifying offer on before 3 p.m. MT on Friday and get a deal that could walk him to free agency. If you’re the paranoid type who thinks Tkachuk wants out of town pronto, accepting his qualifying offer was perhaps the most expedient way.