The trade
Panthers get: Forward Matthew Tkachuk and a conditional fourth-round pick
Flames get: forward Jonathan Huberdeau, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, forward Cole Schwindt and a conditional 2025 first-round pick
House of Luszczyszyn: Wow.
Wow! Wow! Wow!
This is a blockbuster in every sense of the word with two absolute superstars in every sense.
We’ve been told all year that Jonathan Huberdeau was an MVP candidate, but it took several additions to make him worth an actual MVP candidate: Matthew Tkachuk.
BREAKING – Matthew Tkachuk has been traded to the Florida Panthers, a source confirmed to @jprutherford.
He has also signed an eight-year contract extension worth $76 million. pic.twitter.com/MtziQmF7Qo
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 23, 2022
We can debate all day about which player is worth more, but the fact is Tkachuk is younger and has a more complete game; it makes sense that Florida would want him for their future.
At the same time, Huberdeau PLUS Mackenzie Weegar is a bridge too far. I don’t think it’s controversial to say that Tkachuk is the most valuable asset (especially in terms of contract considerations), but to also add a legitimate pair defender is absolutely wild. Calgary, without leverage, did incredibly well here considering the circumstances. Yes, both Huberdeau and Weegar have a year before unrestricted free agency (UFA), but together they have more value than Tkachuk alone. Tkachuk’s extension helps, sure, but oh well. That’s a lot.
It speaks to the value the league shares for all three of Tkachuk, Huberdeau and Weegar. But at the end of the day, Florida had a superstar power forward for eight years, and Calgary also had two exceptional players. Both did well depending on how you look at it.
Calgary Grade: A + Florida Grade: B
Corey Pronman: Huberdeau was one of the best forwards in the NHL last season. He is a player with elite skill, creativity and vision who can run a power play with the best of them. He’s a competitive striker whose only real drawbacks are his lack of a dangerous top gear and not being overly physical. I don’t think Florida was 100 percent confident they could re-sign Huberdeau, although it was a likely possibility. He was also pretty disappointing in the playoffs last season.
Weegar developed very well with Florida after being a mid-round pick. It’s a very smart puck mover with great mobility and a high motor. He’s a legitimate first-line defenseman who, like Huberdeau, is a pending UFA in 2023.
Cole Schwindt is a good-sized forward with some skill and scoring ability as well as a solid work rate off the puck. His skating is the big limitation with him. He produced a lot of offense this season in the AHL considering he didn’t get any power play time. He has a good chance to be a bottom six forward.
Tkachuk is one of the best young stars in the league. He is an extremely skilful and creative winger who also has an elite work rate. He is fantastic in front of the net, wins a lot of battles and has an edge in his game. His only negative is the lack of true dangerous NHL speed, but everything else in his game is top notch. He has a game that works very well in the playoffs as well.
Such a big part of qualifying this deal will be Calgary’s ability to extend Hubderdeau and Weegar or both. If they can, they’ll get back into business as the NHL’s top team for several years, adding two high-end NHL players after losing two in Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau. If they don’t, they go back to where they started. I’m going to assume for the sake of this article that they are capable of working out extensions for at least one of their two new Canadian stars.
Florida takes care of the pending UFA situations for Huberdeau and Weegar, where both were unlikely to sign, and they are able to turn that into an elite, young power forward. In doing so, they move another first-round pick (next to see the Panthers on the podium in the first round in 2025 or 2026), but they’re clearly fully committed to this core of players and still looking like a Stanley Cup. contender for next season.
Today, Calgary improved their team more than Florida. In the long run, Florida probably improved their club more while remaining relevant as a contender.
This is one of the most fascinating trades of the salary cap era and will be analyzed for years to come. Aim for both clubs for creativity and courage.
Calgary Flames: A-Florida Panthers: B+
Shayna Goldman: I’m really trying to wrap my brain around this. I expected Tkachuk to be traded, but in St. Louis or Dallas. Even Vegas felt possible because the Golden Knights always buy and then drop players later to eliminate the cap. But Florida! Hello!
An elite player on the move, in this economy?
Matthew Tkachuk is worth a lot, like $15.1 million per season. This is a very good contract for a player who should make a big impact in Florida. pic.twitter.com/njc5zhGShM
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) July 23, 2022
The Panthers saw his “all-in” moves at the deadline and somehow brought it up. They bring in an elite winger, legitimately one of the best in the league, and extend him for eight years. The Panthers keep their forward group stacked with a player who gives them more short- and long-term value in Tkachuk. So, obviously, they walk away with this win. Still, Panthers front office gave up a lot here and is shedding assets to deal with the rest of Florida’s roster.
The first question I had was where did Huberdeau leave off and his next deal in a year. Well, he leaves it in Calgary!
The Flames are seemingly determined to stay in the playoff picture after losing two of their best forwards. Now, Calgary adds another elite passer and a high-end defenseman. The fact that the former isn’t exactly a defensive stalwart should be fine in the Flames’ system. If they can’t extend Huberdeau, this would be a very good bet when they probably could have added safer players elsewhere. But since it’s not the only asset here, it makes it that much more enjoyable. Instead, it’s Weegar, a first-round pick and a prospect — that’s absolutely a win for the Flames when they didn’t have as much leverage after it was established that Tkachuk’s time with the team would be limited.
Calgary grade: AFlorida grade: B+
Sean Gentille: We’ve written thousands of words about Tkachuk’s future here over the past few days. Thousands more scheduled to run Saturday morning had to be scrapped. At no point, from me, Dom, Hailey Salvian, Jeremy Rutherford, pick a name out of a hat, did anyone chain “Maybe Brad Treliving can win this trade.”
And yet, here we are, in the middle of the night. It turns out that Treliving could win the trade. Turns out, Treliving won the trade. It is a general rule that whoever gets the best player gets the advantage. Rules were made to be broken. Tkachuk is better than Huberdeau. Tkachuk is better than Weegar. Tkachuk is better than Schwindt. Tkachuk is certainly better than a conditional first-round pick.
But Tkachuk is no better than the Flames’ all-around return. And frankly, it might not be that close. That’s not to say Florida lost here; Tkachuk immediately signed for less than he could have fetched on the open market, during the remainder of his prime. It certainly doesn’t mean Tkachuk lost; he’s on a better team, in a state with no income tax. The signing of Huberdeau and Weegar was a no-brainer, especially considering Florida’s (previous) head situation. Tkachuk is signed, sealed and delivered until he turns 30.
And the Calgary dub doesn’t come without problems; Huberdeau, as productive as he is, isn’t a complete player on par with Tkachuk. He’s a UFA after next season, and whether he stays is an open and very compelling question. Same goes for Weegar, but facts are facts. Huberdeau is an elite first line. Weegar is a first pair guy. The risk of losing them is worth the chance to sign both, especially for Treliving, who looked, shall we say, on the edge of the hot seat. Unreal work A worthwhile bet. Calgary, in some ways, should still be a playoff team.
Calgary Grade: A+ Florida Grade: B+
Hailey Salvian: Brad Treliving was put in an unenviable position this week: trying to win a trade with a player like Tkachuk walking out the door. But it could have, at least in the short term. Yes, he’ll have to try to retain Huberdeau and Weegar (both UFAs next summer), but with his hands tied and little leverage with Tkachuk, he went out and brought in a legitimate MVP candidate and a top-pair defenseman. Not that anyone has forgotten, but this offseason, the Flames also lost Johnny Gaudreau, who finished second in league scoring tied with… Huberdeau. This is the Tkachuk trade, but if the Flames were looking for a playmaking, point-producing wing to fill a hole on the left side, they only got one.
Huberdeau can run the show in Calgary. His defensive impacts aren’t huge, but Calgary coach Darryl Sutter has helped in that area before and should be able to do so again. On the defensive end, the Flames, under Sutter, pride themselves on limiting chances against and being tough to play against. Adding a solid two-way defense in Weegar should only help with that identity. Not to mention that bolstering the blue line should have been a priority this offseason after the terrible showing without Chris Tanev in Round 2 against Edmonton, but that need fell on the to-do list behind Gaudreau and Tkachuk.
This deal should give Calgary at least one more year to try to contend with a core built around Huberdeau, Weegar, Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane and Jacob Markstrom, to name a few. And if contract talks, or the season, don’t go well, they might try to flip one (or two) at the deadline to get even more assets in the Tkachuk trade tree. A sneaky part of this to watch out for is any side moves…