Could Matthew Tkachuk be the next Calgary Flames captain?

How soon could MatthewTkachuk become the next Calgary Flames captain?

The mantle of captain was passed on to Mark Giordano just over seven years ago. At the time Giordano found the news to be humbling and a bit surprising saying, “It’s a big responsibility obviously and it’s pretty cool that the organization feels that way about me.” Looking back, it is hard to imagine it any other way. Now with young talent on the Calgary Flames rising, could it soon be time for Giordano to pass it on to none other than Matthew Tkachuk?

Through the last few seasons, Flames fans have taken notice of the young stars on the team and put in their own speculation as to who may fill the skates of Giordano when the time comes. No one wants to put an expiry date on Giordano’s career by any means, but passing on the “C” may be something seen in Calgary in the near future.

Around the time he signed his contract extension, Sean Monahan was among the talks of future leadership roles for the Flames. In the past few seasons, he has been an alternate captain, there is no denying he earned it, but the role of captain seems to be falling naturally towards Tkachuk.

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While Matthew Tkachuk can be considered public enemy number one to the likes of opposing teams or Drew Doughty, in particular, his natural leadership ability cannot be ignored.

He is a player you love to have on your team and hate to play against. Who else comes to mind when you think of that? Brad Marchand. This style of play is not one that the average player can maintain and requires a thick skin when it comes to criticism from opposing players and members of the media.

These types of players feed off the energy and take the negative comments as fuel to their fire. You won’t see Tkachuk or Marchand losing sleep over a comment made about them.

If you watched the last few games in the Flames and Stars playoff series, you can see from the press box how much it bothered Tkachuk to not be on the ice with his team.

Before his injury that was later disclosed as a concussion, Tkachuk was wearing down his opponents and drawing penalties to do anything he could to put his team in a position to win.

While his production was not what he had hoped for, he took full responsibility for where he lacked when he was on the ice and told the media to blame him for not scoring and not his teammates who were under scrutiny such as Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. A classy move nonetheless and the sign of a great teammate.

As of late, number 19 has been establishing himself in unique roles and growing as a player among some of the best games of his career thus far. The 2019-20 season in particular, Tkachuk was on sports highlights for most of the season with his between the leg game-winning goal over the Nashville Predators in October.

He recreated this skilful goal again in February against the San Jose Sharks. Tkachuk also punched his ticket to his first all-star game in St. Louis where he grew up. He participated with his brother Brady and was accompanied by his father and former NHLer Keith Tkachuk.

Tkachuk was also tested physically in the last season. His on-ice aggregations turned into drama within the Alberta media over a play that got Zack Kassian suspended in the highly anticipated Battle of Alberta that occurred in January. With the turnaround of the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames playing so soon after that, many heads were turning towards Milan Lucic to stand up for his forward and be the enforcer in this situation.

That didn’t end up being the case. Tkachuk stood up for himself and fought Kassian later that month when they found themselves facing each other once again. Tkachuk fought a handful more times in the rest of the regular season games and against Blake Wheeler and Corey Perry in the postseason. Another tactic he was able to stir up to lift up his team and do his part when the production just wasn’t enough.

The traits Matthew Tkachuk brings to his team can very well be tied to the roles the veteran leaders have on his team. Many current members of the Flames that have talked about the way Giordano runs a locker room and have absolutely raved about him as a player and a person. He takes all the guys under his wing and makes sure he runs a great program.

This is exactly why Giordano has continued to be recognized in recent years for not only his leadership efforts on the ice but also off the ice and in the community as well. The Flames Foundation is a key component of charity work in the City of Calgary and it is great leaders that help keep that system thriving. Tkachuk has been around long enough to understand the role the C on your jersey carries and with a mentor in Mark Giordano, he would carry it well.

Tkachuk is one of those all-out players that will elevate his game night in and night out and played a key role in the success of the Flames in the last couple of seasons.

In the future, he is sure to be part of the difference-makers on the team that determine how far the Flames can make it to the postseason in coming seasons and hopefully get them over the hump of their previous first round exits in recent years. It will be interesting to see the timeline on if and when the mantle of captain is passed on to Matthew Tkachuk.