Matthew Tkachuk explains why he left the Flames.

The Calgary Flames have undergone a major shakeup this offseason seeing two of their top stars leave the team in the form of Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, only to have the team turn around and retool, seemingly on a dime, by adding star forward Jonathan Huberdeau, a top-2 or top-4 type of defenseman in MacKenzie Weegar, a rookie forward in Cole Schwindt and an additional first round pick in the future.

Much of that retooling though happened off the back of a trade involving what was at the time Flames restricted free agent forward Matthew Tkachuk. The decision by Tkachuk to leave the team after Johnny Gaudreau had already left rocked the Flames organization and the city of Calgary, but recently Tkachuk explained his decision.

To be quite honest with you his explanation was perhaps the least interesting part of the comments he made regarding his decision to leave the city, but for the sake of closure here's what Tkachuk had to say when it comes to why he left:

"There’s a lot that went into it," admitted Tkachuk as per Flames insider Eric Francis. "There’s no single reason why I left. At the end of the day, I wanted to re-evaluate where I’m at, and after talking to a few teams I did that, and kind of came down to that conclusion."

The real juice though came when Tkachuk admitted that after the Flames, and more specifically Flames general manager Brad Treliving, had shown belief in him that it was important to him that he not leave the team high and dry. Tkachuk explained that the call to inform Treliving of his decision to leave was one of the hardest things he had ever done in his career.

"It was the hardest phone call I’ve ever had in this sport at any level,” admitted Tkachuk. “Nothing even comes close to rivalling it. It was a very real conversation. Pretty emotional for me, some of the most emotions I’ve had. And he was too. It was like two friends. We really respect one another."

Perhaps, at least in part, due to that emotional phone call, Tkachuk made it clear that it was important for him to work with Treliving on a good solution for all parties involved.

“I wanted to make sure I worked with him and not leave them dry," stated Tkachuk.

At no point did Tkachuk make mention of former teammate Johnny Gaudreau, other than to state that his decision had nothing to do with Gaudreau's departure, but it's hard not to notice the contrast between how Tkachuk handled his departure and how Gaudreau handled his own. I suspect that the two players will be viewed differently by the Flames' fan base as a result, something that Tkachuk himself seemed to realize when he admitted that he could have gone about things very differently.

“I could have kept this decision close to me and gone about this a different way, whether it was signing a one-year deal and putting them in a tough spot," said Tkachuk who did nothing of the sort.

At the end of it all Tkachuk got the deal he wanted with the team he wanted so he's happy for sure, but his decision to work with the Flames has also drastically reversed the fortunes of the Flames organization. At the end of the day, it seems that it was important to Tkachuk that everyone walk away from this with something.

“We worked together and it was really seamless. [Treliving] did an unbelievable job. He’s one of the most respected GMs in the league for a reason. ... We worked through it and I think we’re both happy with how the results came," admitted Tkachuk.

It was a tremendous, open and honest interview from Tkachuk and one that I think will do him a lot of favors with his fans in Calgary. Especially since he took one final parting shot at a bitter rival before ending the interview.

“I was looking back and reflecting about my draft day, I knew nothing about Calgary. ... Leaving there I hope they can consider me the type of player the people of Alberta can be proud of. Well, in Calgary, not the people up north."