Impact on the blockbuster trade
The recent trade that happened between the Calgary Flames and the Florida Panthers that sent Jonathan Huberdeau to the Flames and Matthew Tkackuk as well as MacKenzie Weegar to the Panthers was definitely a trade that no one saw coming. Matthew Tkackuk now being in the same division as his brother Brady Tkackuk will spark more competition between them.
Huberdeau being a long time Florida Panther and a valuable piece to their organization at the age of 29 is a top 20 winger in the league. The veteran had 30 goals and 85 assists with 115 points in 80 games played last season with the club led the team to be President trophy winners going 58-18-6, but ended up loosing in the second round of the playoffs to the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the previous season he only had 20 goals and 41 assists with 61 points. He improved greatly from the past season to last season having a career high in points and will have a big impact on the Flames offense. Huberdeau has agreed on a long term contract with the Flames which he will make his way to the first or second line in the Flames rotation. Huberdeau is ranked slightly ahead of Tkachuk in fantasy for this season, but each winger should still be considered a top 20 overall player with his change of scenery.
Matthew Tkachuk on the other hand, also being an elite winger whose going into his 7th season, played all 82 games last season scoring 42 goals and having 62 assists. He agreed to an eight-year contract with Florida, that takes the forward through the 2029-30 season, who set a career high with 104 points for Calgary last season. The 24 year old winger was a huge contributor to the team for his individual performance but the team also lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Edmonton Oliers. Tkachuk, who was a restricted free agent finally decided that he didn’t want to sign a long term contract with the Flames and wanted to go to Florida about after a week of thinking where he wanted to go.
Overall, both are great players and both the Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames were both the number one seed going into the playoffs last season. This was a pretty fair trade in my opinion and they both will be on long term contracts with their new team. My take is that the Panthers won the trade, they have a younger and faster winger in Tkachuk who will structure their offense around him with Barkov being secondary. Both players will have a great and important impact on their new teams and be valuable assets to their teams.
