Keith Tkachuk Net Worth 2026

Days after the end of the 1992 Winter Olympics, Tkachuk made his NHL debut on February 28, 1992, against the Vancouver Canucks, where he tallied an assist. As early as his second game in the NHL, Tkachuk had a willingness to fight, doing so against Scott Mellanby of the Edmonton Oilers on the faceoff in the neutral zone.^[20] He would finish the season playing with the Jets, scoring eight points in 17 games.^[21] In the Stanley Cup playoffs that year, he scored three goals in seven games. The following 1992–93 season was Tkachuk's official rookie year. He appeared in 83 games and ended the season with 28 goals and 51 points, which included a 12–game point streak from March 9 to April 3.^[22][23] Tkachuk became the team captain the next season on November 3, 1993, two weeks after recording his first hat-trick, against the Philadelphia Flyers. Some of his accomplishments from that season include leading the Jets in goals (41), points (81) and power-play goals (22). The 1994–95 season, which was shortened by a labor lockout, saw Tkachuk earn all-star second-team honors, as well as being second on the Jets in points scored.

By the end of the 1994–95 season, it was clear that the Jets were in a dire financial situation. While this eventually resulted in the franchise being sold to Minnesota-based interests, serious efforts to keep the team in Winnipeg were still ongoing during the 1995 off-season. Tkachuk, a restricted free agent at the time, requested a trade and made it clear he would not re-sign with Winnipeg under any circumstances. While the Jets attempted to negotiate a deal with several teams, a trade could not be finalized.^[24] While the then-new collective bargaining agreement allowed restricted free agents to negotiate directly with other teams, Tkachuk was initially reluctant to sign an offer sheet since Winnipeg would have the right to match it. Eventually however, frustrated by the lack of progress in negotiations, the Chicago Blackhawks persuaded Tkachuk to sign a front-loaded five-year offer sheet worth $17 million, with $6 million due in the first season.^[25] However, to the disappointment of both the Blackhawks and Tkachuk, any assumption that the organization's poor financial situation would preclude them from meeting such obligations quickly proved incorrect as the Jets matched the offer sheet within six hours.^[25]

Due to the contract dispute, Tkachuk was stripped of the captaincy and replaced by Kris King; nonetheless, he set a career-high 50 goals and 98 points, the closest he ever came to reaching the 100-point plateau. Tkachuk also led the Jets in power play goals (20), game-winning goals (6), shots (249) and plus-minus rating (+11).^[26] Going up against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Detroit Red Wings, the Jets lost in six games, with Tkachuk scoring a goal and two assists in the series. After losing Game 6 by a score of 4–1, the final Jets game in the city of Winnipeg before relocating to Phoenix, Tkachuk led the Jets in a final skate around Winnipeg Arena in appreciation of the fans.^[27]

After negotiations to move to Minnesota collapsed, the Jets relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, in 1996. Tkachuk moved with the team, remaining a member of the newly named Phoenix Coyotes. He was also re-appointed captain, replacing Kris King.^[28] Paired with center Craig Janney and winger Dallas Drake on the same line for the 1996–97 season, Tkachuk logged a career-high 52 goals to go along with 34 assists for a total of 86 points and reached the NHL All-Star Game for the first time in his career (his goals and points ended up enduring as the record in the Coyotes era). With a league-leading 52 goals and 228 penalty minutes, he was the first player in league history to lead the league in scoring and have over 200 penalty minutes.^[29][30] He went on to record 40 goals with 26 assists for 66 points in 69 games in the 1997–98 season and made the All-Star Game once again. In that same year, Tkachuk appeared on the front cover of the video game NHL Breakaway '98.

Prior to the 1998–99 season, Tkachuk held out of training camp due to a contract holdout that saw him temporarily suspended before the team increased his salary that would see him paid over $16 million combined over the next three seasons.^[31][32][33] He played in 68 games and recorded 36 goals with 32 assists for 68 points with another All-Star Game selection. In February of 1998, in the first occasion of NHL players being invited to play in the Winter Olympics, Tkachuk was selected to the American team. The team ended up winning just one game against international competition, and Tkachuk was subsequently accused of being one of the key figures in the trashing of a hotel room.^[34][35]

Tkachuk was plagued by injuries in the 1999–2000 season (most notably a sprained ankle) that saw him play 50 games and record 22 goals with 21 assists.^[36] In late December 1999, a deal was nearly struck that would've sent Tkachuk to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Keith Primeau, Dave Karpa and a few draft picks, but Tkachuk's rising salary in the upcoming 2000 season led to the deal being nixed.^[37] After struggling with injuries for the next two seasons, the Coyotes found themselves at a crossroad with Tkachuk, who was now making $8.3 million for the 2000–01 season for a team that was looking to slash payroll.^[38] On October 27 of that season, he scored his 300th career goal on an empty net in a home game versus Dallas.^[39] On March 13, 2001, Tkachuk was traded to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Ladislav Nagy, Michal Handzuš, Jeff Taffe and a first-round draft pick (Ben Eager), where he was reunited with former teammate Dallas Drake, who had signed a free agent deal with the Blues in the summer of 2000.^[40][41] Tkachuk would leave the Coyotes ranking second in all-time goals (323) and first in penalty minutes (1,508), among other records.

Tkachuk made an immediate impact on the Blues, scoring six goals and eight points in the final 12 games of the 2000–01 season.^[42] In the Stanley Cup playoff run, he had two goals and seven assists with 20 penalty minutes as the Blues made it all the way to the Western Conference Final before losing to the Colorado Avalanche, the eventual 2001 Stanley Cup champions. For the 2001–02 season, he played in 73 games and recorded another 30-goal season with 38 to go along with 37 assists and 117 penalty minutes.^[43] He was selected to the American roster for the 2002 Winter Olympics hockey team, which made it all the way to the gold medal game against Canada. The Canadian team beat them 5–2, but the American team was awarded the silver medal for their first medal in men's hockey since 1980.^[44]

In July 2002, he accepted a $8.3 million qualifying offer for the 2002–03 season and on September 12, 2002, he agreed to a four-year contract for $40 million with a club option for a fifth year.^[45] He had 31 goals in just 56 games that season. In February 2003, he received a four-game suspension without pay for hitting Minnesota forward Wes Walz in the head with his stick.^[46] The following month saw him suffer what was reported to be a sprained right wrist that had miss nearly a month of the season; Tkachuk later stated that he actually had a partial tear in his wrist, which he tried to play through for the subsequent playoff action against Vancouver that saw him score one goal in the seven-game series loss.^[47][48]

In the 2003–04 season, he had 33 goals and 38 assists in 75 games while being named to the NHL All-Star Game. In the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, held just before the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Tkachuk had five goals (four coming against Russia in the quarterfinal game) but America lost in the semifinals to go without a top-three finish.^[49] When the league was preparing to return in the 2005–06 season, Tkachuk reported to training camp 25 pounds overweight and failed his physical, which saw him briefly suspended by the team.^[50] He played in just 41 games and had 15 goals with 21 assists.

In the training camp for the 2006–07 season, he reported to camp around 30 pounds lighter than he was in the previous year's training camp.^[51] He responded by having 27 goals with 31 assists in 79 games, which wound up being spent with two teams.

Tkachuk was set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2007, and the Blues, who picked up his $3.8 million option, sought to trade him with the team in a rebuilding year. With interest from the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, and the Atlanta Thrashers, the Blues traded him to Atlanta on February 25, 2007, doing so in exchange for Glen Metropolit, a first-round pick in 2007, a third-round pick in 2007 and a second-round pick in 2008. At the time of the trade, he had 20 goals on the season (it was noted that if Atlanta managed to re-sign Tkachuk, the Blues would get a first-round draft pick).

With Atlanta, he had seven goals with eight assists in 18 games as the Thrashers made it into the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs. He had assists in the first two games and a goal in Game 4 but Atlanta was swept by the New York Rangers.^[52][53]

On June 26 of the same year, St. Louis reacquired Tkachuk, along with a conditional fourth-round draft pick, in exchange for a conditional first-round pick in 2008, doing so days before the July 1 deadline where he would be an unrestricted free agent.^[54] Since the Blues acquired exclusive negotiating rights with Tkachuk and re-signed him to a two-year deal, Atlanta received a conditional fourth-round pick in 2008.^[55] Tkachuk signed a new, two-year contract with the Blues for $8 million on June 30. Upon re-signing, Tkachuk said of the Blues, "I see a lot of good things happening... They're going to be very active in making this a better hockey team."^[56] Tkachuk was paired with newly-signed left winger Paul Kariya and Brad Boyes on the same line to start the season.^[57]

The 2007–08 season saw Tkachuk reach a few milestones in playing his 1,000th career game and reach 500 career goals. On the final day of the regular season on April 6, 2008, he scored his 500th NHL goal, doing so on the road against the Columbus Blue Jackets.^[58][59] He became the 41st player to reach the milestone and only the fourth American to reach 500 goals in NHL history.^[60]

On November 30, 2008, Tkachuk scored his 511th goal, which combined with his 489 assists gave him 1,000 NHL points for his career. He became the sixth American, and 72nd overall, to achieve that milestone; it came in his 1,077th NHL game. Prior to the March 2009 trade deadline, Tkachuk was narrowly traded to the Boston Bruins, which reportedly would've seen Phil Kessel go to the Blues, but the trade was scuttled.^[61] Tkachuk signed a one-year contract extension with the Blues on June 19, 2009.^[62] On April 7, 2010, Tkachuk announced that he would be retiring from hockey at the conclusion of the 2009–10 season. In his final game two days later against the Anaheim Ducks in St. Louis, Tkachuk provided two assists in the third period as the Blues rallied to win 6–3.^[63][16]