Matthew Tkachuk reveals he was supposed to play for the Oilers

The Florida Panthers won their second consecutive Stanley Cup earlier this week. The turning point in the team’s rise was undeniably the acquisition of forward Matthew Tkachuk from the Calgary Flames in return for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar. Tkachuk’s arrival in Florida seemed to change everything, as he brought exactly what the Cats had been missing to make a deep playoff run.

But things could have turned out very differently, as it’s now been revealed that Tkachuk was originally supposed to end up with the Edmonton Oilers—the very team he’s now beaten twice in the Final.

Tkachuk himself admitted that he was expected to be drafted fourth overall by the Oilers, not sixth by the Flames during the 2016 NHL Draft.

So why did he slip down to the Flames?

That’s apparently because the Columbus Blue Jackets caught everyone off guard by selecting Pierre-Luc Dubois third overall instead of Jesse Puljujärvi — a move no one saw coming. Stunned by Dubois’ selection, the Oilers’ front office panicked as Puljujärvi was suddenly available and completely changed their plans. Even though they already had a Tkachuk jersey ready at their draft table.

Here’s how Tkachuk recalled the story:

Going through the draft in 2016, it was either between Edmonton and Calgary. I remember vividly seeing my name on the back of an Oilers jersey… My mom and I both looked at [Oilers owner] Darryl Katz. He gave us a head nod like they were going to draft us. Dubois went third, and that kinda threw a wrench into things and I just think they panic picked.”

This revelation is bound to infuriate Oilers fans even more, now that Tkachuk has personally denied them a Stanley Cup twice.

Choosing Puljujärvi over Tkachuk goes down as yet another blunder in the long list of missteps under Peter Chiarelli’s tenure as Edmonton’s general manager!

Imagine a top six with McDavid, Draisaitl, and Tkachuk. That would’ve been absolutely lethal!