[News] With the 2016 6th OA pick Flames select LW Matthew Tkachuk

[stone156]

That is a great vid, nice to have a big body in front of the net with hands. His skating looks a little suspect though. That Marner looks really good too, great skater, maybe a little small.

[Chell_King]

Originally Posted by devo22

more points = better player. Oilers logic.

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

Nylander is gonna be a better player. 1 fewer goal and 20 fewer assists than tkachuk but on a team that scored 100 less goals.

DiracSpike speak to me...

Can't handle someone who speaks like this. There are intangibles in every type of sport that people bring to the team. For example baseball teams need a good CHRPer at 1st base to ensure that the other team knows when the tone is set.

I would love to hear your defense of this claim. Yakupov had pretty good stats too and he turned into the 2nd biggest degen that I know.

Stand up for yourself...

[Enoch Root]

Just catching up with the draft and trades... can't believe some people would rather have Nylander.

I get that Bennett needs line-mates, and I get the pairings thing, and that's all good.

But I am still surprised that no one has suggested him for the top line - they would be almost identical to his ridiculously dominant line in London.

Gaudreau is a better version of Marner.

Monahan is the big sniper up the middle, like a better version of Dvorak.

And Tkachuk would bring the same (missing) elements that he brought to that line: physicality, board play, good hands down low, off-side one-timer...

Bennett needs him, but he is tailor-made for the Monahan line.

Shinkaruk and a UFA (and eventually Poirier or Prybil) should fill the void on Sam's line.

[Bunk]

I totally agree, but wonder if this year Tkachuk as a rookie could handle top line responsibility, ice time and difficult matchups. Would it be prudent to shelter him a bit this year on the Bennett line and transition to the top line in the next year or two?

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Just catching up with the draft and trades... can't believe some people would rather have Nylander.

I get that Bennett needs line-mates, and I get the pairings thing, and that's all good.

But I am still surprised that no one has suggested him for the top line - they would be almost identical to his ridiculously dominant line in London.

Gaudreau is a better version of Marner.

Monahan is the big sniper up the middle, like a better version of Dvorak.

And Tkachuk would bring the same (missing) elements that he brought to that line: physicality, board play, good hands down low, off-side one-timer...

Bennett needs him, but he is tailor-made for the Monahan line.

Shinkaruk and a UFA (and eventually Poirier or Prybil) should fill the void on Sam's line.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by Bunk

I totally agree, but wonder if this year Tkachuk as a rookie could handle top line responsibility, ice time and difficult matchups. Would it be prudent to shelter him a bit this year on the Bennett line and transition to the top line in the next year or two?

Yeah, last season teams were really keying in on that first line. Deploying Tkachuk against easier competition and allowing him some space to develop and giving Bennett a talented linemate to find chemistry with is two birds with one stone.

[Crumpy-Gunt]

I see him as a great playmaker. Extremely good vision. His skating isnt bad, its just not great. Its average for a junior player and underaverage for a top 5 pick. This was his rookie season in the OHL, I think he will get a lot better at skating much like Morgan Klimchuk who worked a lot on his skating in Regina and now he is a great skater.

I really want him back in London. Looks like it will be a good team again even though they will be minus Marner and Dvorak. Juolevi likely goes back. Parsons in net. Likely see Pu, Jones and a few other forwards get bigger roles.

I can see Matthew really benefiting from one more OHL season to be the go to / primary guy on his team for a whole season, put on another 10lbs and work on his skating. Unless he destroys prospect camp and main camp and basically smashes the door down for a chance, I hope we send him down for another 100 point season in the OHL and a chance to be a captain on a team with a legitimate chance to repeat.

After that we may have a little monster on our hands.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Bunk

I totally agree, but wonder if this year Tkachuk as a rookie could handle top line responsibility, ice time and difficult matchups. Would it be prudent to shelter him a bit this year on the Bennett line and transition to the top line in the next year or two?

Yeah I don't disagree. Also, Bennett has no one this year.

But longer term, I think Tkachuk would look good with Gaudreau.

Shinkaruk/Mangiapane and Poirier/Pribyl could be answers for Bennett

[djsFlames]

Tkachuk setting up Bennett with quick passing behind/around the net as opposed to Bennett doing most things by himself should help Sam rack up 25 or 30. That's what he was doing so well for his linemates all year long. He seems great down low though. Speed doesn't look half bad on some of those breakaways either.

[CGY12]

I agree with most that Tkachuk would look good on a line with Monahan and Johnny, but I really think the Flames need to build two dynamic lines that create chaos for opponents. Thus I want to see the Flames try and build what Monahan and Johnny have, with Tkachuk and Bennett. Then I think you experiment and plug in guys who work well with those duos (i.e Hudler types).

From what I remember Chicago has done that in the past with Kane/Saad & Panarin and Toews/Hossa, and plugged in players who had chemistry with those players.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by flylock shox

It leaves me wanting though in terms of what he can do on his own. About a third of those goals are total gifts from his linemates, and another third rely on passing plays catching the goalie moving right to left (or vice versa) - again products of good team passing. Not a lot of individual creativity in the package.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. A guy who can be a good trigger man is worth a lot, particularly paired with a disher like Gaudreau for example. But I wonder if he'll get that many open opportunities against an NHL defence even after he has a chance to mature.

I disagree with you here. I think it's those guys with the flashy moves that have a hard time transitioning. Those "junior moves" that we make fun of the Oilers for doing all the time (and which Bennett still tries too often).

Watch Tkachuk solely as the play develops and you'll see a guy who is in exactly the right spot to make the play click, whether it's drawing guys to him and leaving one of his line mates open, or finding the open lane at the precise moment his line mates want to dish.

There are a couple great plays in tight where he catches the entire opposition going one way and he passes back across the seam for a tap in.

You don't throw around the term "elite" hockey sense very often and a lot of smart hockey people have called him that.

The only thing that could hold him back next year is lack of space or skating. He's NHL ready otherwise.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yeah I don't disagree. Also, Bennett has no one this year.

But longer term, I think Tkachuk would look good with Gaudreau.

Shinkaruk/Mangiapane and Poirier/Pribyl could be answers for Bennett

Longer term Bennett might be the better fit with Gaudreau as well? Monahan could be more of the second line shutdown C with Bennett being the flashy number 1 C

[StrykerSteve]

Keith Tkachuk will be live on Fan960 at 7:45am, I believe.

[icecube]

I'd want both Nylanders for Tkachuk. It's not even close for me between the 6th and 8th pick.

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

In Atlanta, his Dad wore #8.

Did his dad play for Hartley? If so, I wonder if that is where the "finally got a good coach" comment originated.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

Did his dad play for Hartley? If so, I wonder if that is where the "finally got a good coach" comment originated.

Yes Keith played 22 games for Bob Hartley. Thrashers acquired him as a rental for a playoff run.

[Vinny01]

The Flames have been so fortunate during these rebuilding years to have such a great player fall slip down to them.

2013 thanks to the emergence of Drouin and Carolina liking Lindholm the Flames were able to snag Monahan 6th overall

2014 thanks to the Oilers coveting size, in addition to an injured Sam Bennett failing to do a pull up at the combine the Flames were able to snag the number 1 rated player by central scouting with the 4th pick

2015 after a surprising playoff year the Flames were not picking top 10 but thanks to the Bruins cap situation, bitterness to their former GM, and Treliving stockpiling picks the Flames were able to turn a mid first and 2 mid/late seconds into 22 year old Dman Dougie Hamilton.

2016 thanks to the Blue Jackets who went a little off the board at number 3 the Flames were able to get Tkachuk who likely would have gone 4th if things went according to the script.

The true icing on the cake of this rebuild has been having our 2008 and 2011 4th rounders develop into elite players at their positions. Brodie is a legit top pairing Dman and Johnny would go first overall in a redraft 5 years later.

Lastly having our veteran top 4 blueliner elevate his game to elite 2 way Dman once given the C has really helped develop a hard working culture amongst the team.

The Flames have amassed a very impressive young core of 7 players with only 1 top 5 draft pick. The team up north have drafted in the top 10 in 9 of the last 10 drafts, top 5 in 6 of the last 10 drafts, top 3 5 of the last 10 drafts and first overall 4 of the last 7 drafts. Looking at both teams it is very hard for anyone up north to argue they are in a better spot or have a more complete team than the Flames

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yeah I don't disagree. Also, Bennett has no one this year.

But longer term, I think Tkachuk would look good with Gaudreau.

Shinkaruk/Mangiapane and Poirier/Pribyl could be answers for Bennett

I'm not sure we as fans even know what we really have in Bennett yet. Quietly he had a great rookie year on a really terrible team and could potentially be one of, if not our best player in a year or two. As the new coach has said, surround your talented players with other quality players and give them the best chance to succeed.

I don't think that surrounding Bennett with AHL players is going to be a recipe for success for him. Personally, I'd go with the Monny/Johnny + Tkachuk/Bennett + Frolik/Bennet duos and see how that plays out before I consider throwing Tkachuk into the fire on the top line.

[djsFlames]

Well starting at roughly the same age
Monahan had 34 points then 62...
Bennett had 36 points...

So yeah, pretty much take your best guess. I'm guessng 55-60 and anchors the second line by season's end.
He was also really unlucky not to have a few more goals this season.

[heep223]

My sense is that the best teams have a top nine with pairs of high quality players that complement each other, and then rotate others through as they find chemistry.

Gaudreau/Monahan/X
Tkachuk/Bennett/X or Tkachuk/X/Bennett
X/Backlund/Frolik

If Tkachuk and Bennett come even close to their ceilings, that is simply an excellent core of a top 9 forward group.

Colborne, Shinkaruk, Mangiapane, Poirier, Pribyl, Ferland, Jooris, Hathaway, Jankowksi, Chiasson, Stajan...those guys either develop into the "X" roles or they can play the "X" roles now. Rotate them through as they find chemistry. Or sign a quality UFA when the team is ready to contend.

On D, the team has a fantastic top 3 and pretty good depth, with good prospects coming up as well.

And they just acquired a starting goalie, with another potential #1 in the wings, a year away.

Well this post probably is in the wrong thread at this point, but I just got really excited about this team.

[red sky]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

Did his dad play for Hartley? If so, I wonder if that is where the "finally got a good coach" comment originated.

I think his comment was more along the lines of the time it took to hire a coach since Hartley was canned.