NHL | Matthew Tkachuk traded for Jonathan Huberdeau

Late thunderbolt in the NHL. Matthew Tkachuk was traded to the Florida Panthers for star forward Jonathan Huberdeau.

Tkachuk immediately agreed to terms on an eight-year, $76 million contract with the Panthers.

The Flames also get top defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt and a 2025 first-round pick. The Panthers also acquired a conditional fourth-round pick in the trade.

“Matthew is a tenacious, tough player with a unique talent,” Panthers GM Bill Zito said. He is an elite offensive player and has become one of the most complete and dynamic young players in the NHL. We are happy to add generational talent to our roster. »

This is the end of the saga Tkachuk, who had let the Flames know that he refused to agree long term with them. He had subsequently sent a list of teams to which he would agree to be traded. It’s also a balm on an off-season that promised to be miserable in Calgary after the departure of the team’s other star, Johnny Gaudreau, for the Columbus Blue Jackets. In short, the Flames pulled off a masterstroke to make the best of a bad situation.

Clearly, Panthers GM Bill Zito sees in Tkachuk a player with style and talent that is nearly unmatched in the NHL, and on whom he wants to build the future of the team. It is after all not innocent to use the expression “generational talent”. In Tkachuk, the Panthers are looking for a star forward who scored 42 goals and 104 points last season, it’s true, but who also hits his opponents like a train. His differential of +57 makes him a class leader in this regard. An almost perfect prototype, at only 24 years old.

Still, the price to pay is spectacular. In Huberdeau, the Florida team had one of the best playmakers in the NHL, as evidenced by its season of 30 goals and 115 points, the second total in the league. The Quebecer also had a last year on his contract, at the modest cost of 5.9 million. It was, however, becoming evident that he would checkout sooner rather than later.

The Flames made a superb operation by also adding Weegar, perhaps the best defender of the Panthers, who came back from a season of 8 goals and 44 points. In his case too, after a final contract season at 3.25 million, he was promised a future full of dollars.

It will now be necessary to keep an eye on the next financial decisions of the Panthers. The specialized site CapFriendly places them at more than 3 million above the salary cap. Zito will also have to find a way to navigate a structure where $37 million under the cap will only pay four players (Tkachuk, Aaron Ekblad, Sergei Bobrovsky, Aleksander Barkov) for at least the next three years. He will at least have settled the issue of the huge contracts he should have offered to Huberdeau and Weegar.

For the Flames, they certainly have the latitude to offer the moon to Huberdeau and, or, to Weegar before they become free agents. Finding a way to offer a contract to the two players would be a home run that could make them, despite everything, the big winners of the transaction.