Tkachuk responds to reports that Flames tried to trade him for Eichel

In case you missed it, the Buffalo Sabres finally managed to pull the trigger on a long-awaited Jack Eichel trade, shipping their former captain to the Vegas Golden Knights along with a 3rd round pick in exchange for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a 1st round pick and a 2nd round pick.

Check it out:

What's most interesting to me about this deal is the fact that multiple insiders were reporting yesterday evening that the Calgary Flames were close to acquiring Eichel and that the return package included star forward Matthew Tkachuk and multiple 1st round picks. 

ESPN NHL insider Kevin Weekes reported that the Flames' offer to the Sabres was Tkachuk, a 1st round pick, a former 1st round pick and two additional prospects.

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Obviously that trade never came to fruition for whatever reason and now Tkachuk is left wondering where he stands with the Flames. Calgary Sun reporter Kristen Anderson managed to get Tkachuk's thoughts on the matter during this morning's press availability prior to the Flames' game this evening against the Dallas Stars.

"I'm sure it's different for everybody but I had a hard time believing it was true, so I went about my business like I normally do the night before the game to get prepared for tonight."

"Honest to God, it's out of our control, all of that stuff. If (the Eichel) trade would have happened here, it would have affected some guys you're probably close with. We've all dealt with players that have been traded. Teammates... it's just part of the business. You don't deal with that stuff until it happens and you don't think about it, you don't speculate, you don't plan accordingly. You just go about your business. Things are going great for our team now. We're playing well, we're enjoying it, we have a great group of guys. Obviously (Eichel) got traded to a Division rival that we've had some battles with and I'm sure we'll have battles with him soon. That's just part of the business, guys get traded all the time.

Matthew Tkachuk

Obviously we'll never know exactly what happened in trade talks, but if Tkachuk was actually floated to the Sabres as an option in a hypothetical Eichel trade I have a hard time believing that the Sabres would have turned down that offer. Thoughts, Sabres fans?