Good things have happened for the Calgary Flames this season, and a lot of that has been thanks to their first line. Johnny Gaudreau has had a Hart-level campaign, Elias Lindholm has gotten plugs for the Selke, and then somehow, there’s Matthew Tkachuk who’s been right up there albeit with less hype and league fanfare.
To state it simply, at just 24 years old, Tkachuk is having one of the quietest 100-point seasons in recent memory, and reaching the mark by absolutely crushing his previous career-highs. He is now the 10th player in Calgary Flames franchise history to join the NHL’s 100-point club.
Tkachuk’s season has been phenomenal
Let’s first take a look at his regularized adjusted plus-minus charts from Evolving-Hockey.com.
Calling his season elite is an understatement.
Through 81 games played, Matthew Tkachuk has tallied 41 goals and 62 assists for 103 points. Matthew Tkachuk’s 103 points is currently tied for seventh in league scoring alongside Tampa Bay Lightning centre Steven Stamkos. Matthew Tkachuk now also stands as a member of just seven players in franchise history to join the 40-goal and 100-point season club within a single season. This group includes:
| Player | Season |
|---|---|
| Kent Nilsson (C) | 1980–81, 1982–83 |
| Hakan Loob (RW) | 1987–88 |
| Mike Bullard (C) | 1987–88 |
| Joe Mullen (RW) | 1988–89 |
| Theoren Fleury (RW) | 1990–91 |
| Matthew Tkachuk (RW) | 2021–22 |
| Johnny Gaudreau (LW) | 2021–22 |
Adding to this statistic, this is only the third team in Calgary Flames franchise history to have at least three 40+ goal scorers together in a single season:
| Season | Players |
|---|---|
| 1987–88 | Nieuwendyk (51), Loob (50), Bullard (48), Mullen (40) |
| 1993–94 | Roberts (41), Fleury (40), Reichel (40) |
| 2021–22 | Lindholm (42), Tkachuk (41), Gaudreau (40) |
Adding on to this top-line goodness, the Calgary Flames have become just the second team in the past 25 years to in fact feature three 40-goal scorers. The last team to achieve this was the 2018–19 Tampa Bay Lightning when Steven Stamkos (45), Brayden Point (41), and Nikita Kucherov (41) all did so.
Now turning back to Tkachuk, where has his performance placed him in the ranks among the Flames and the NHL? Here’s a quick breakdown.
Flames all time plus-minus leaders
| Player | Season | Plus-Minus |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Johnny Gaudreau | 2021–22 | +65 |
| 2. Elias Lindholm | 2021–22 | +62 |
| 3. Matthew Tkachuk | 2021–22 | +58 |
| 4. Joe Mullen | 1988–89 | +51 |
| T-5. Brad McCrimmon | 1987–88 | +48 |
| T-5. Theoren Fleury | 1990–91 | +48 |
As we stand right now, Matthew Tkachuk looks to be the sole owner of third all-time of the Flames plus-minus record, where he currently sits at +58.
NHL plus-minus leaders over the past 30 years
| Player | Season | Plus-Minus |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Johnny Gaudreau | 2021–22 | +65 |
| 2. Elias Lindholm | 2021–22 | +62 |
| 3. Vladimir Konstantinov | 1995–96 | +60 |
| 4. Matthew Tkachuk | 2021–22 | +58 |
| 5. Mario Lemieux | 1992–93 | +55 |
| 6. Scott Stevens | 1993–94 | +53 |
As we stand right now, Matthew Tkachuk looks to also be the sole owner of fourth on the NHL’s league-wide plus-minus record over the past 30 years, just surpassing Mario Lemieux, where he currently sits at a +58 rating. Adding to this, the entire Flames top-line just trails only Wayne Gretzky‘s plus-minus rating of +69 from the 1986–87 season.
Flames all-time even strength points leaders
| Player | Season | Even Strength Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Johnny Gaudreau (LW) | 2021–22 | 90 |
| 2. Kent Nilsson (C) | 1980–81 | 78 |
| 3. Matthew Tkachuk (RW) | 2021–22 | 74 |
| 4. Johnny Gaudreau (LW) | 2018–19 | 72 |
| 5. Joe Mullen (RW) | 1988–89 | 68 |
Matthew Tkachuk currently stands third on the Flames all-time single season even strength point leaderboard.
Greatness across eras
Applying the lens of era-adjusted, pro-rated single season statistics, courtesy of Hockey-Reference.com‘s model, Matthew Tkachuk is currently having the fourth best single season in Calgary Flames franchise history only trailing Johnny Gaudreau’s 2021–22 and Jarome Iginla‘s 2001–02 and 2007–08 campaigns.
| Player | Season | All-Time Era Adjusted Single Season Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Johnny Gaudreau | 2021-22 | 115 |
| 2. Jarome Iginla | 2001-02 | 110 |
| 3. Jarome Iginla | 2007-08 | 107 |
| 4. Matthew Tkachuk | 2021-22 | 103 |
More Tkachuk goodness
Assuming Matthew Tkachuk dresses for all 82 games this season, he is on pace for 104 points, consisting of a potential 41 goal and 63 assist season by week’s end. Just incredible.
After the season he had last year that was well in the depths of disappointment, this isn’t just a rebound season for Tkachuk, this has been a career year.
