The Florida Panthers acquired forward Matthew Tkachuk in a blockbuster deal with the Calgary Flames on Friday night, then immediately signed him for an eight-year extension. The deal is valued at $76 million, a source told The Athletic.
The Flames also sent the Panthers a conditional fourth-round pick. In exchange, Calgary acquired left winger Jonathan Huberdeau, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, center Cole Schwindt and a conditional first-round pick of 2025.
Calgary filed arbitration with Tkachuk in mid-July. But he informed the team he would no longer sign a long-term contract, The Athletic reported on Wednesday. Last season, Tkachuk set career highs with 42 goals, 62 assists and 104 points. He also had an average ice time of 17:54 and was a 57 plus.
A source close to the situation had previously said that for months, Tkachuk’s list of preferred destinations included the St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars, although that may not be the official list he gave Calgary. The New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers were also among the other teams that have expressed an interest in the past.
Read our trade reviews on this deal here.
Here’s everything you need to know about the situation:
Why did Tkachuk want out of Calgary?
It’s probably a combination of things, but it would undoubtedly start with Johnny Gaudreau’s departure as a free agent last week. Tkachuk spent most of the early part of his career playing left wing on the second row, mostly alongside Mikael Backlund, as Gaudreau played left wing on the front row, mostly alongside Sean Monahan.
Last season, Calgary coach Darryl Sutter put Tkachuk on the right wing up front almost from start to finish, using the theory of putting all the points in one basket. It worked. Largely because Gaudreau created so many opportunities with his speed and vision, Tkachuk had a career year, and many analysts considered this top line, centered on Elias Lindholm, to be the best line in the NHL. Without Gaudreau, the desire to play long-term in Calgary was greatly reduced.
Then there’s the Canadian dilemma: it seems that teams like Calgary are increasingly ending up on a no-trade list of players, which is worrying. Part of that may be because you’re playing in an older building. In part, this may be the review of playing in a Canadian market. And part of that may be the fear of playing for a demanding, old-school coach like Sutter. But once a player weighs all the pros and cons of playing in Calgary, they may decide they’d rather be somewhere else.
Did the Flames get a good return on Tkachuk?
Calgary were in a difficult position here, not only because they traded an All-Star winger in Tkachuk, but also because they lacked leverage. Teams knew the Flames needed to move Tkachuk, who told Calgary he would not be staying long-term. The teams also knew they would get Tkachuk because he wanted to be there.
Despite all that, Calgary did very well here. Sure, both Huberdeau and Weegar have a year left before UFA – but bringing them in will help the Flames minimize the damage done by losing Tkachuk (and Gaudreau) and give the club a chance to building on their excellent 2021-22 season and giving them at least one more year to try and fight. It’s a clean piece of work for general manager Brad Treliving, to say the least.
Why didn’t the St. Louis Blues get Tkachuk?
The Blues weren’t a barrier to landing Tkachuk, but it seemed promising. Ultimately, Florida put together a better package than Blues general manager Doug Armstrong could likely put together. St. Louis’ Jordan Kyrou is talented, but his 75 points last season don’t match Huberdeau’s 115 and the Blues didn’t offer a defender like Weegar, who finished eighth in Norris Trophy voting two years ago.
Those are a few reasons why Tkachuk isn’t a Blue, along with the fact that they probably had a hard time clearing the salary cap space. The club have 10 players with some sort of no trade clause and that probably presented a challenge as to who could be treated. It would have been a fitting and wonderful story if Tkachuk had followed in his father’s footsteps in St. Louis, but in the end Florida won the sweepstakes with a huge package.
Why Florida traded against Tkachuk
The immediate justification? “Matthew Tkachuk is the best player that was involved in the deal.” And there’s certainly something to that; Tkachuk is a rare combination of skill, height and skating, and he wanted to be in a place like Florida. There is nothing wrong with him as a hockey player. That doesn’t quite justify the price though – Huberdeau was just a Hart finalist and Weegar is a highest-paid defender.
The catch with Florida, however, is that they would likely struggle to sign both next summer. Might as well be, logic seems moot, to pack them up for eight years of Tkachuk. I’m not sure if I agree with that, but I get it.
What expansion means for Florida’s future
In the short term, that means Florida has to pay out some salary early in the season and/or put Anthony Duclair on long-term injured reserve, then sort things out when he returns from his Achilles injury. In the longer term, it locks them into a core of elite center Aleksander Barkov ($10M AAV by 2030), elite defender Aaron Ekblad ($7.5M by 2026), Tkachuk and, uh, goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (10 million US dollars by 2026). Pretty good.
It’s also worth noting that if the Panthers lost the trade, it had nothing to do with Tkachuk’s overtime. To have him on this number for so long is a bargain.
Why did the Flames choose to bring Tkachuk to arbitration?
The team said via tweetthat going to arbitration gives Calgary “an opportunity to continue working with[Tkachuk’s]representatives toward a contractual settlement while eliminating the possibility of an offer sheet.” Essentially, it would have given the Flames more time to negotiate a long-term deal with him, or possibly find him a trading partner before the arbitration period expired, if things got that far. We’ve explained in detail why the Flames would choose to arbitrate with the 24-year-old.
What influence did Tkachuk have on the Flames?
Losing Gaudreau was already hurting the Flames. The loss of Tkachuk that same summer might have been seen as a nail in the coffin for the team’s cup competition aspirations, but the Flames could still be in the mix thanks to their return to trade and their depth in the playoffs.
Tkachuk is a unicorn in this league, an extremely rare blend of skill and snarl, finesse and bite, scoring and passing, offense and defense. He can do it all and is currently in the prime of his career as one of the league’s most valuable players. This is a guy who scored 42 goals and 104 points last year while pushing the game to an elite level at both ends of the ice. Tkachuk is a superstar.
Matthew Tkachuk is a unicorn. Every single team should bet on him. pic.twitter.com/vqDmaOhwid
— dom (@domluszczyszyn) July 20, 2022
By the numbers, he’s expected to be worth 4.4 wins, trailing only a few players in the league: Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand, Mitch Marner, Cale Makar, Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews. This is an elite winger who is a force in the five-on-five game with his playful, skillful hands and positive defensive impact.
Tkachuk plans to stay at this high level for some time. He is expected to have 26 wins over the next seven seasons. The only question about his influence going forward is how he will manage without his elite linemate Gaudreau. Calgary are already reeling away, so losing both game-changing wingers would be absolutely devastating – especially since they don’t have any other wingers who come close to matching this pair.
(Photo by Matthew Tkachuk: Candice Ward / USA Today)