Making sense of the Panthers/Flames trade: Who won? Who lost? Or was it a mutually beneficial deal?
I'm hard-pressed to think of a bigger blockbuster than the Matthew Tkachuk/Huberdeau-Weegar deal in the last decade. I'm sure there's been a few that have come close, and recency bias is certainly a thing, but there's no denying that the deal completed between the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers last night was a jaw-dropper.
For those of you who heard the news in passing and do not have all of the details, the full deal was:
CGY sends: Matthew Tkachuck and a conditional 4th rounder (2025)
FLA sends: Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and a conditional 1st rounder (2025, lottery protected)
There's definitely a lot to unpack in the deal, starting with the fact that Tkachuk immediately signed an 8-year extension with the Panthers, which carries a $9.5M AAV. This ensures that the Panthers are not going to just lose Tkachuk next summer, much like what was about to happen with the Flames had the two sides reached their arbitration date in August.
Next, we have to look at the status of Huberdeau and Weegar. Both players are set to become unrestricted free agents next summer, so in that aspect of things, the Flames didn't improve their long-term situation. Having said that, signing one of Huberdeau or Weegar to a contract extension definitely balances the deal a little more. Signing BOTH of them to an extension likely tilts the deal in Calgary's favour, especially because they've also landed a prospect and a 1st round pick in the deal.
If neither wishes to re-up with the Flames, they're both going to fetch a premium return at or before the NHL's trade deadline. A player like Huberdeau is likely to return at least a couple of picks and a prospect, while Weegar, a legit, minute munching, top 4, two-way defenseman is probably returning at least two pieces. It's not inconceivable that after all is said and done, the Flames may end up with 3 first round picks, a couple of 2nd or 3rd round picks and a couple of prospects for what would have amounted to one more year of Matthew Tkachuk for them.
So what did each team get? Well, Florida got a young, dynamic, antagonistic, exciting, productive, two-way winger who is just 24 years of age and they were able to lock him up for the entirety of his prime. Meanwhile, the Flames got better on defense, didn't sacrifice any offense in the deal (I'm excluding the Gaudreau departure, because that was a separate event), added a prospect to their stable, and nabbed a lottery protected pick a couple of years into the future.
In the end, since the package for Calgary was so well-rounded, it's hard to consider them the losers in this deal, even though it's arguable that they gave away the best player. The fact that they were bent over a barrel and still got the sort of return they got, maintained a ton of flexibility and added future assets - I'd like to think that it's pretty obvious that the Flames won this one.
I do think it's fair to point out, though, that for all we know, Weegar and Huberdeau had no intentions of re-signing in Florida. I'd imagine GM Bill Zito had held preliminary talks with both about extending already this summer. If the basis of those talks was "we're considering going to free agency", then this really was a no-brainer for Zito as well. And if that's the case, he may have given up a lot, but at least he got a very valuable young player - and locked him up long-term - so perhaps the Panthers aren't exactly losers here, even though the Flames clearly won the trade. It might just be a case of a good hockey deal where both sides made moves to avoid losing something for nothing.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 23 | 439 ANSWERS Making sense of the Panthers/Flames trade: Who won? Who lost? Or was it a mutually beneficial deal? Who is the better winger in the Panthers/Flames deal? | ||
| Huberdeau | 258 | 58.8 % |
| Tkachuk | 66 | 15 % |
| They're both elite | 115 | 26.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
