When Matthew Tkachuk was growing up, his playground was the St. Louis Blues dressing room.
“There is something to be said about being able to bring your kid down to the rink and being in an NHL locker room,” former NHL star Keith Tkachuk told USA TODAY Sports. “He may not have realized it at a young age, but that helped him a lot.”
The impact the Blues dressing room had on Matthew Tkachuk will be more clear Friday when he could be chosen as early as No. 4 overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL draft in Buffalo.
Even if he isn’t chosen by the Oilers, he will unquestionably go earlier than his father, a Massachusetts native who was selected 19th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 1990. He went on to score 538 NHL goals.
“(Matthew’s) hockey sense offensively is off the chart,” said Dan Marr, the NHL’s Director of Central Scouting. “He’s able to read the ice, and make plays quickly and react to things quickly to take advantage of any scoring opportunity. He’s really at an elite level.”
NHL scouts are projecting Tkachuk will play a power forward style reminiscent of how his father played during an NHL career that lasted from 1991 to 2010, and covered tours of duty with the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, plus a partial season with the Atlanta Thrashers and nine seasons with the Blues.
“(Matthew’s background) shows up in his approach,” Marr said. “He knows what it takes to be a pro. He knows how dedicated you have to be. He has the right attitude. He know it’s not easy and no one gives you anything. He understands that you have to put in the time and effort.”
That attitude was instilled in him by his father. The advice he handed out was always the same.
“Whenever we drove home after practice, or talked about hockey, he would just always say compete hard and be a good teammate,” Matthew Tkachuk recalled.
Keith Tkachuk certainly sees some similarities in his son’s game and the way he used to play. “He has identified that you have to be willing to play in the tougher areas around the net, on the goal line and in the corners,” Keith said. “He has done a good job of developing the will to do that.”
After playing two seasons in the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, the young Tkachuk played for the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League and scored an overtime goal to help them win the Memorial Cup.
“Whenever I’ve seen him play over the last four years, there has never been a game when he wasn’t one of the most readily identifiable best players on the ice,” Marr said.
The elder Tkachuk said his son has benefited from having quality coaching all the way up his climb, starting when he played for former NHL player Jeff Brown in St. Louis. He played on the same youth team with Logan Brown, Clayton Keller and Luke Kunin.
It was clear early that Matthew Tkachuk was mentally invested in hockey.
“Whenever the NHL Network was launched (in 2007), he would get up early before school to watch all of the highlights,” Tkachuk said. “I think if a kid wants to be a hockey player, the best thing to do is watch a hockey game.”
Of course, Matthew Tkachuk had the added benefit of being able to ask questions of Blues players whenever he wanted. The Tkachuks always opened their home to new players, and David Backes and Lee Stempniak were among the house guests who used to play ball hockey with Matthew at the Tkachuks.
“By then, I was getting too old to get on my knees to play shinny hockey,” Tkachuk said, laughing.
Tkachuk recalls that his son used to try the moves he learned from playing with Blues players and watching the highlights on TV. “Lot of kids would go out on a Friday night, but Matthew would stay home and watch hockey,” Keith recalled.
Keith Tkachuk said the family that billeted Matthew in London, Ontario, told him the only vice his son had was that he stayed up too late to watch NHL games on the West Coast.
Most families would be anxious heading into the draft because they have no idea where their son will end up. But neither Matthew, nor the Tkachuk family, is worried about what comes next.
“It’s irrelevant where he ends up,” Keith said. “It’s the NHL. That’s what matters.”
As an American, the young Tkachuk is still happy to play for Edmonton, or Calgary or Vancouver or any other destination.
Said Matthew: “My dad ended up playing in Canada and it worked out great for him.”
