It is the brand new approach of the NHL world, the place there actually are solely two decisions anymore in case you’re operating a staff. Either go all in. Or all out.
There’s little room for something in between. Me? I favor the all-in crowd.
It takes bravery to observe that path as a result of outcomes come quick and livid — and as everyone knows, just one staff is ever really glad on the finish of the season, the staff that lifts the Stanley Cup. As a supervisor, happening the rebuilding rabbit gap buys you time. Trying to win, in contrast, places your head squarely on the chopping block. There’s a sure braveness wanted to enterprise down that path and on Friday night time, you noticed two groups tackle the problem.
We’re speaking a few commerce between the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers. The Panthers formally acquired Matthew Tkachuk and a conditional 2025 fourth-round decide for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt, and a lottery-protected first-round decide in 2025.
Few NHL trades ever make you cease in your tracks and say, what simply occurred?
But Friday’s deal did simply that.
It pressured you to, to start with, learn the main points over twice as a result of it appeared like a commerce which may occur in fantasy hockey circles, however not often in the true NHL world. A reminder, too, that these two groups, the Panthers and Flames, comfortably received their respective divisions final season — Florida producing a league-high 122 factors and Calgary not too far behind with 111, sixth general.
In brief, these have been good groups with championship aspirations that disappointingly misplaced within the second spherical of the playoffs to groups that completed behind them within the common season standings.
There are some ways of assessing the commerce, however let’s begin with a statistical appreciation of who’s coming and getting into Calgary.
Two gamers tied for second place within the NHL scoring race behind the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid final season. One was Johnny Gaudreau. The different was Huberdeau.
The Flames misplaced Gaudreau to the Columbus Blue Jackets as an unrestricted free agent final week after providing him an $84 million extension. On Friday, they changed Gaudreau with Huberdeau. One 115-point scorer went out the door. The different 115-point scorer is coming in.
That’s only a completely weird, fully out of left subject flip of occasions. Just a stunner.
There’ve been larger trades in NHL historical past earlier than — Wayne Gretzky to Los Angeles, Eric Lindros to Philadelphia — however you possibly can go all the best way again to the Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais for Jean Ratelle and Brad Park deal to discover a commerce involving gamers of that stature. The league’s second-leading scorer was swapped for its eighth-leading scorer (Tkachuk). Maybe NBA followers are used to that form of volatility, however it doesn’t occur a lot within the rabbit-scared NHL.
What Florida was after right here was evident. They have been searching for an edgier ahead within the hopes of doing higher injury within the playoffs subsequent yr than they did final yr after they misplaced within the second spherical to their state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning. By getting Tkachuk signed to an eight-year contract, they now have value certainty. Sure, it got here at a excessive value — $9.5 million per season — however it’s locked in now. Tkachuk’s a part of their core alongside Aleksander Barkov, although there’s an opportunity he’ll find yourself taking part in in Huberdeau’s spot five-on-five, which was totally on the second line, with Sam Bennett, a former teammate of Tkachuk’s in Calgary.
A number of Calgary followers questioned if Bennett shouldn’t have gotten a higher alternative to play a top-six position with the Flames; and if he’d had been provided that, he and Tkachuk might need developed some chemistry. Now, we could get an opportunity to seek out out.
Paul Maurice is the brand new Panthers’ coach. He’s aware of Tkachuk and his influence from his years teaching the Winnipeg Jets. Tkachuk has by no means produced distinctive playoff scoring numbers, and his skating — by the modern-day NHL requirements — could be very a lot middle-of-the-pack. But he’s a disrupter, a catalyst, and possibly an injection of these qualities into the Panthers’ ahead combine would be the lacking ingredient, a mandatory next-step spark.
Meanwhile, for Calgary, the uncertainty revolves principally round Huberdeau’s and Weegar’s long-term futures with the staff. Both are a yr away from turning into unrestricted free brokers. Huberdeau, at $5.9 million, has been a terrific discount for years. A playmaker extraordinaire who led the NHL in assists final yr, he’ll doubtless be searching for a contract in the identical vary as Tkachuk’s or Gaudreau’s ($9.75 million). It’ll be attention-grabbing to see if he can get it, and from whom. Weegar, in the meantime, has, over time, turn out to be one of many extra dependable defencemen within the NHL after beginning out as a seventh-round draft alternative of the Panthers.
Weegar is a right-shot defenceman who performed on the left facet of the No. 1 Florida pairing final yr, alongside Aaron Ekblad, when Ekblad was wholesome. In all likelihood, he’ll play the proper facet in Calgary, deepening an already respectable proper facet that additionally contains Chris Tanev and Rasmus Andersson. A spot on the proper facet opened up after Erik Gudbranson left Calgary to hitch Columbus as a UFA.
Acquiring Huberdeau and Weegar is an indication {that a}) Calgary isn’t about to observe the collective recommendation of social media and tear down its basis, and b) reveals that it’s attainable to make the very best of a nasty scenario.
Nowadays, so many elite-level gamers have no-trade safety — and can nearly at all times train that no-trade safety to maintain themselves away from Canadian groups. So it’s a inventive answer that buys the Flames time to remain aggressive within the 2022-23 season and possibly even past, relying upon how they resolve the contract questions that encompass Huberdeau and Weegar.
As beforehand famous, the Pacific Division has no genuinely nice groups in comparison with the opposite three divisions and thus is there for the taking once more. At $3.25 million for subsequent season, for one yr anyway, Weegar will likely be one of many nice bargains within the NHL.
The Flames nonetheless have a few restricted free brokers to signal which are heading in direction of wage arbitration — most notably Andrew Mangiapane up entrance and Oliver Kylington on the blue line — however they now have cap flexibility to make that occur and possibly even a bit of extra.
Calgary pressured Tkachuk’s hand a bit of by submitting for wage arbitration, which might have assured Tkachuk a $9 million wage subsequent season. As it’s, they get the 2 gamers, Huberdeau and Weegar, for a mixed $9.15 million. It’s a short-term monetary alternative and will even imply they don’t must ditch both Sean Monahan or Milan Lucic now, given how costly it appears to be to maneuver cash in right now’s NHL. Monahan, who completed the yr on injured reserve following hip surgical procedure, earns $6.375 million whereas Lucic is at $5.25 million. Both are getting into the ultimate years of their respective contracts and thus come off the books following the 2022-23 season, which opens up new monetary prospects for the Flames.
It’s a sophisticated, ever-changing equation, one half monetary, one half hockey associated, and in the long run, it can create totally different dynamics for each groups. Winning is the last word purpose. The incontrovertible fact that they’ve the heart to strive is each unusual — and commendable.
(Photo: James Carey Lauder / USA TODAY Sports)
