What a way to begin your morning.

The long RFA saga of @Matthew Tkachuk is over, with multiple reports coming out this morning that he has signed a three year contract with the @Calgary Flames worth $7 million per season. Our friends at TSN had all the details first.

With @Brayden Point and @Brock Boeser inking three year deals recently and the pre-season calendar nearing its end, word is the Flames and Tkachuk’s camp saw talks heat up and conclude earlier this morning. The deal is basically Point’s deal, but with the value bumped up slightly – in theory to compensate for the different tax climates in each market.

Tkachuk’s deal makes him the highest paid player on the club, making $25,000 more against the cap than @Johnny Gaudreau and @Mark Giordano. Per TSN’s Darren Dreger, Tkachuk will make $9 million in salary in the third season of the deal (2021-22), which would make his qualifying offer for 2022-23 worth $9 million.

We’ll have more on this deal and the salary cap implications soon.