Brad Treliving provides insight into Tkachuk negotiations... sort of.

All of the talk around the National Hockey League has been on the topic of restricted free agents this summer with big name RFAs dominating the headlines. Most of that talk has centered around Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Mitch Marner but other names have made headlines as well, most notably forward Sebastien Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes who signed an offer sheet with the Montreal Canadiens. 

Surprisingly though one name that has come up very little has been that of Calgary Flames star forward Matthew Tkachuk. In spite of the fact that many predict he will be among the top earners in this year's class of restricted free agents, there has been almost no mention of the ongoing negotiations between the Flames and Tkachuk's management. In spite of players like Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning as well as the aforementioned Marner and Aho being mentioned as the potential target of offer sheets, there has been no such talk around Tkachuk,

There has been speculation that this is due to the fact that Tkachuk himself has informed rival organizations that he intends to remain in Calgary, but that is only speculation at this time. What we do know for certain however is that on Saturday Flames general manager Brad Treliving commented on the ongoing talks between the two sides, although his comments were certainly a little unusual in their nature.

"Saw Mathew was riding a horse the other day… I was trying to run behind him," said Treliving.

Although that response will no doubt produce more than a few chuckles, it also does not shed very much light at all on what will likely be a very difficult contract negotiation. Tkachuk is an usual player in many ways and his intangibles are highly valued around the league, even if it is hard to put a price on the very unique way he plays the game. This has made it very difficult to gauge what his next contract could potentially look like, with some suggestions that it could even exceed the $9 million mark in terms of average annual value. 

"We're still working away at it ... nothing new to report other than the dialogue continues," added Treliving.