Flames select Matthew Tkachuk at sixth overall

After a first few picks that went a little bit differently than most predicted, the Calgary Flames had a really good player fall into their laps at the 2016 NHL Draft. After teammate Olli Juolevi went (surprisingly) to the Vancouver Canucks at fifth overall, the Flames nabbed London Knights forward Matthew Tkachuk at sixth overall.

After tons and tons of trade chatter over the last 36 hours, the Flames ended up getting the player they likely wanted the most after heavily scouting the Memorial Cup in Red Deer rather heavily.

The son of longtime NHLer Keith Tkachuk, Matthew is an excellent skater, a tremendously dangerous offensive player – he put up great numbers at the Memorial Cup despite having an ankle injury – and an absolute pain in the butt to play against. He scored the game-winning goal in overtime to capture the Memorial Cup for London.

To put it bluntly? Expect him to turn out better than 1997 sixth overall pick Daniel Tkaczuk. He’s a great complement to the existing young Flames core.