Will Matthew Thatchuk play the year with the flames?

[Bunk]

He said some great things on his interview on the Fan. Definitely a confident guy. Said he very much hears the same things Monahan did about his skating coming out of his draft, believes he can work hard to improve his speed to make the team.

I could see it, he's probably physically mature enough and obviously very driven.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

confidence

Kristen Odland @Kristen_Odland
Treliving on sitting with Tkachuk in his office a few weeks ago. "He said ‘If you’re going to draft me, I’m going to make your team.’"

I think he might will himself on to the team

Sounds a lot like Bennett.

[MarkGio]

Not going to happen. He turned 18 in December, and he was a rookie on the hottest line in the OHL, playing alongside two of the OHL's best.

He might have the mass, but its not fair to say his game is NHL ready. I think the Drasaitl analogy is great. Drasaitl was rushed and then eventually put down into juniors, even after a year was burnt. Tkachuk might go into the dirty areas in juniors, but he's only 6'1", which isn't big in the NHL

[btimbit]

Was doing some research and saw that Craig Button said he feels Tkachuk was one of four guys in this draft that are NHL ready now.

[BrownDrake]

Not sure if this has been read by everyone but a good article from scouts on the Dubois versus Tkachuk decision.

I think we got a great piece at 6

https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-draft-p...uk/c-280963710

[Chonger]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

confidence

Kristen Odland @Kristen_Odland
Treliving on sitting with Tkachuk in his office a few weeks ago. "He said ‘If you’re going to draft me, I’m going to make your team.’"

I think he might will himself on to the team

I was thanked out by 3pm today. Thanks for this

[OmegaV4]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

confidence

Kristen Odland @Kristen_Odland
Treliving on sitting with Tkachuk in his office a few weeks ago. "He said ‘If you’re going to draft me, I’m going to make your team.’"

I think he might will himself on to the team

Love that confidence. Good Game.

[Gaudfather]

When he came to visit Calgary after the combine, he apparently told Treliving that if Calgary drafted him he intended to make the team out of camp. Treliving told him the important thing was not how fast you make the team, but how good you are when you do. Still got to like the kid's ambitions - seems just like Bennett in that way.

[StrykerSteve]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

Not going to happen. He turned 18 in December, and he was a rookie on the hottest line in the OHL, playing alongside two of the OHL's best.

He might have the mass, but its not fair to say his game is NHL ready. I think the Drasaitl analogy is great. Drasaitl was rushed and then eventually put down into juniors, even after a year was burnt. Tkachuk might go into the dirty areas in juniors, but he's only 6'1", which isn't big in the NHL

He's 6'2, 202.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I think he has sky-high IQ, is large enough, and skilled enough to step into the NHL. I always heard he would be able to contribute in the NHL right away.

No guarantees, and no disappointments if he doesn't make it either - he is only 18 after all. I would bet he does make it though. Just depends on how long he takes to recover and get training (which is probably not very long as I didn't notice him walking with a limp at all).

[T@T]

He seems very intelligent and at over 200lbs he's physically ready for the NHL. I think he'll know his weaknesses after development camp and will work his ass off to fix them before main camp.

I'll say a 75% chance he sticks.

[Poe969]

I think he'll make it. He's good and going to get better, him and Bennett are just going to start developing chemistry and I think BT will get a good vet to play with the. Like Lucic or Perron and he'll just keep getting better.

I'm willing to bet he plays this season in the NHL

[polak]

Originally Posted by CedarMeter

Don't think so, no need to rush him. If he plays his ass off in the first 10 games then who knows. Really happy he's ours though. Didn't think he would fall to 6th. Flames have been lucky picking 6th so far.

Unless we get a free agent or a surprise at camp, we kinda do need him as the team is full of holes and desperately need a player like him to be a competitive. Especially if Gaudreau and Monahan get bridge contracts.

Obviously if he's not ready then he's not ready but this team needs to start being competitive.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Chonger

I was thanked out by 3pm today. Thanks for this

I actually think the "thanks" have been turned off to ease the strain on the servers. If anyone saw the usage chart that photon posted earlier in the day, you'll understand how close this forum came to shutting down.

[Sylvanfan]

Keep him out of the NHL unless he absolutely forces his way on the team. There's another exapansion coming in the future, so if you can keep him from burning one of his years this year, you should be good for not worrying about protecting him. Hopefully in 2 years...the Flames will have more than 8 players in the organization that you absolutely want to keep who have more than 2 years pro experience.

[Par]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

Not going to happen. He turned 18 in December, and he was a rookie on the hottest line in the OHL, playing alongside two of the OHL's best.

He might have the mass, but its not fair to say his game is NHL ready. I think the Drasaitl analogy is great. Drasaitl was rushed and then eventually put down into juniors, even after a year was burnt. Tkachuk might go into the dirty areas in juniors, but he's only 6'1", which isn't big in the NHL

I not get this size thing, most players in the NHL are 6'1"-6'2", people want 7'0" like Yao Ming. And he has the summer to add weight.

[Par]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Keep him out of the NHL unless he absolutely forces his way on the team. There's another exapansion coming in the future, so if you can keep him from burning one of his years this year, you should be good for not worrying about protecting him. Hopefully in 2 years...the Flames will have more than 8 players in the organization that you absolutely want to keep who have more than 2 years pro experience.

Players with 2 years or less of pro are expemt from the draft.

[locsofblu]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Maybe!

[BrownDrake]

Probably done all he can do in Junior and correct me if I'm wrong but the Knights are probably losing quite a few players next year, if his body is ready play him sheltered minutes on the third line and if he seizes the opportunity play him on the second.

[Street Pharmacist]

There's no way he makes it imo