Friday’s trade that saw the Flames send winger Matthew Tkachuk to Florida along with a 2025 conditional fourth-round pick for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick certainly was a blockbuster one that dramatically shakes things up for both teams. Here are some additional news and notes from the swap.
- The swap was completed as a sign-and-trade which meant Tkachuk re-signed with Calgary before being traded to Florida. That means that Florida doesn’t get the second buyout window that they would have received had Tkachuk signed with the Panthers. That said, had Florida signed him, they’d have been limited to a seven-year term because he wasn’t on their reserve list at the trade deadline. Calgary will still get their second buyout window once RFAs Matthew Phillips, Andrew Mangiapane, and Oliver Kylington re-sign.
- Per CapFriendly (Twitter link), the condition on the fourth-round pick that Florida is receiving is tied to the lottery protections on the 2025 first-round selection. If the Panthers’ pick in 2025 is in the lottery and thus doesn’t convey until 2026, the fourth-round pick will also be moved to 2026.
- According to TSN’s StatsCentre (Twitter link), this swap is only the second one in NHL history that sees a pair of 100-point players from the previous season being traded for each other. The other was the move that saw Wayne Gretzky go to Los Angeles back in 1988 with Jimmy Carson going to Edmonton as part of the swap.
- Prior to the trade, the Panthers had held extension talks with Huberdeau, reports George Richards of Florida Hockey Now. There had been an expectation he’d sign a long-term agreement close to the $10MM that Aleksander Barkov is receiving next season as his new deal kicks in but clearly, GM Bill Zito preferred to allocate that money to Tkachuk instead.
I get it. I’ve read a lot of opinions about this trade. I see both sides. But I still cannot understand why FL had to include a first round pick, even if it is lottery protected.
If Florida keeps finish near the top of standings they will pick near the bottom of the draft. Majority of those players end up being 2-3 years away from helping. Better to flip for help now when you are close
My guess is due to the age difference would have played into the draft pick compensation
clearly the 1st was a requirement from any team by Calgary and with Hubie and Weeger both having the option to walk end of season, Calgary probably wasn’t willing to waive that condition as it could leave them with one 3rd round prospect long term for Tkachuk.
I guess after review it appears Florida gets worse in the short term but better in the long term (Tkachuks deal will age better than Huberdeaus next contract). But they were at worst going to open the upcoming season with top five Stanley cup odds. I don’t know if that’s still the case. A team that is championship caliber doesn’t come around very often, and I fear they took themselves out of that window. And on top of that, their ability to add other pieces through picks and prospects is quickly drying up as well.
My gut reaction was that Florida didn’t shut their immediate window, but it’s now a lot shorter. If it was say 2021-2026, it’s now 2021-2023. After that they’re not a sure fire tank job, but I’d say they’re more like the Predators and Capitals of the current world: good enough to reach the playoffs, not more than that.
Too many changes in Florida now and too much lost talent. I can’t see Tkachuk compensating for it, as talented as he is. Florida will still be good next year but they sure gave up a lot .