On Thursday the Calgary Flames announced Matthew Tkachuk would be sticking around for the long haul.
He rewarded the Flames for keeping him past the nine-game mark by scoring a pair of goals, including the game-winner, in a 3-2 victory over arguably the best team in the Western Conference.
A performance like that will surely make the Flames more confident in their decision to keep him but I think it was the right move regardless.
Tkachuk's minutes have been somewhat limited in an effort to protect him but his underlying numbers have been fantastic to date and certainly suggest he's ready to be a full time NHLer.
At 5 v 5 Tkachuk has played a little more than 100 minutes this season. In those 100 minutes the Flames have out attempted, out shot, out chanced and out scored their opponent by wide margins.
With Tkachuk on the ice the Flames are controlling ~57% of the shot attempts, which puts him 1st on the team among regulars. The Flames are also controlling ~61% of the shots (1st), ~56% of the chances (1st), ~64% of the high danger chances (1st) and are out scoring opposing teams 7-2.
Playing primarily with a pair of very responsible players in Michael Frolik and Mikael Backlund certainly helps insulate Tkachuk, and let him do what he does, but his numbers are remarkable nonetheless.
When you factor in he has also brought a physical presence to the table, gotten under the skin of the opponents, and that the Flames are short on wingers who can make any sort of impact, keeping Tkachuk seems like a no brainer.
Tkachuk is expected to be a big part of the team's future and, apparently, the future starts now.
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