The Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames have completed a massive, blockbuster trade.
The teams have each announced the swap: Matthew Tkachuk and a conditional fourth-round pick are going to the Florida Panthers, while Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick will head to Calgary.
With the trade completed, the Panthers announced that Tkachuk has agreed to an eight-year extension carrying a $9.5MM average annual value. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the breakdown of Tkachuk’s contract each season is uniform – a base salary of $1MM and a signing bonus of $8.5MM.
That settles the Tkachuk contract situation and closes off any talk of Tkachuk joining the St. Louis Blues, which had been heavily rumored in the days leading up to this trade.
Overall, this is the sort of trade that we just don’t see all that often. It involves three superstar players, two wingers who crossed the 100-point threshold last season and one late-blooming defenseman who has blossomed into a true top-pairing, all-situations minutes-eater. A trade involving three stars doesn’t happen very often, making this swap all the more interesting to unpack.
For the Flames, the rationale for making this deal was quite simple. The team had barely any time to recover from the loss of Johnny Gaudreau to the Columbus Blue Jackets before Tkachuk informed them of his intentions to test free agency in a year’s time. GM Brad Treliving was backed into a corner, and he needed to find a way to revive his team’s competitive prospects despite his leverage decreasing and assets’ values dwindling. This trade is Treliving’s way of jump-starting the Flames’ hopes for next season after a nightmarish start to their offseason.
One could very easily argue that, on a player-for-player basis, the Flames got significantly better through this trade. Yes, Tkachuk is a superstar, combining incredible skill with physicality and peskiness to provide a package of tools few players can rival. On a line with Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm, Tkachuk smashed past his career highs in 2021-22, scoring 42 goals and 104 points. But in exchange for Tkachuk, the Flames are getting a player who also blew past his career highs and reached new heights in production – Huberdeau. In 80 games, Huberdeau scored 30 goals and 115 points, helping power a Panthers offense that scored at will. And it’s not just offense with him either, Huberdeau also saw nearly two minutes of short-handed ice time per game and has made great strides in refining his 200-foot game.
But that’s not all the Flames are getting. They’re also receiving Mackenzie Weegar, a 28-year-old former seventh-round pick who’s quickly risen to be one of the most reliable, impactful, underrated two-way defensemen in hockey. Weegar scored 44 points this season and averaged 2:46 in short-handed ice-time per game. When Aaron Ekblad was struggling to stay in the lineup, Weegar became a true number-one defenseman on the best regular-season team in hockey, a true feat. It’s fair to call Weegar a number-one defenseman and he should instantly be expected to slot into that role on an already talented Flames blueline.
In addition to Weegar, the Flames are getting prospect center, Schwindt. Schwindt is 21 years old and was drafted 81st overall at the 2019 draft. The former Mississauga Steelheads star has adjusted well to professional hockey, and had 40 points in 70 games as a rookie in the AHL. Schwindt represents the future-oriented part of the return, along with the lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick the Flames also received from the Panthers.
So, for Calgary, this trade works on two levels. On one level, it helps them recover from the loss of Gaudreau and compete for a Stanley Cup next season. They are adding an MVP-level, line-driving, 100-plus point winger to replace their lost 100-point winger. They’re also adding a minute-munching, all-situations number-one defenseman as well. Instantly, their team is better. They also receive a solid prospect to develop at their new Calgary-based AHL affiliate, and a nice first-round pick as well.
The true beauty of this trade for Calgary, though, is on its second level. See, this trade gives Treliving something that is all too rare in today’s flat cap world: flexibility. Let’s say, for whatever reason, Huberdeau and Weegar aren’t great fits. The team could struggle out the gate, and it could become clear that expecting the 2022-23 Flames to compete for a Stanley Cup is unrealistic. Well, if that ends up happening, Treliving will have Huberdeau and Weegar on expiring contracts. He will be able to immediately pivot to a rebuilding planfor his club and jump-start it with two players who will likely be the most coveted assets on the deadline trade market.
Treliving would be able to, essentially, orchestrate an auction for Huberdeau and Weegar’s services next season and accumulate a significant stockpile of draft picks and prospects in the process. When added on to the prospect and draft pick already received in this deal, it’s not a bad way to begin an organizational reset, especially when it comes at the cost of a player who had already communicated his intentions to leave in free agency. So for Treliving, this trade gives him and the entire Flames organization the flexibility to be able to effectively pursue either a cup-or-bust competitive window or a future-oriented reset.
Yes, there is some risk for the Flames, there’s no doubt about that. If a rebuild is, in fact, off the table, then adding two players with just a single year of team control each as the main return for Tkachuk is a gamble. If Weegar and Huberdeau both leave as free agents next summer, and the Flames don’t win a Stanley Cup, the initial good feelings generated from this trade could evaporate. But for a Calgary team that badly needed optimism and direction after such a bad month, this is the sort of gamble they’re prepared to make.
From the Panthers’ side of the equation, the motivations behind making this trade are a bit less immediately clear. This is a team that just won the President’s Trophy, so swapping one superstar winger for another at the cost of a top-pairing defenseman might not seem like the wisest choice, especially when they need to surrender a talented prospect and a first-rounder for their trouble. But one look at the Panthers’ cap sheet can give a bit more insight into why GM Bill Zito and the Panthers made this swap.
With major cap hits for Aleksander Barkov, Sergei Bobrovsky, Ekblad, and Sam Reinhart already on the books, the Panthers were looking at a very realistic scenario that either Huberdeau, Weegar, or even both would leave as free agents next summer. That was seen as a necessary risk for a team intent on winning the Stanley Cup, of course, but Zito seemingly decided that that risk was too much to bear. So, he decided to trade both Huberdeau and Weegar at a time when they were still extremely valuable assets in order to secure a younger superstar winger who he can lock into a long-term deal.
With Weegar gone and Tkachuk swapped for Huberdeau, it’s difficult to say that the Panthers are an improved team for next season. But if this trade as well as the departure of interim head coach Andrew Brunette tells us anything, it’s that the Panthers were extremely displeased with their second-round loss at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers clearly believe that they need a change in how their group plays, to play with more physicality, fire, and passion. There are few 100-point wingers who offer those three attributes more plentifully than Tkachuk, and even at this steep price, it’s easy to understand why Zito wanted him in Sunrise. If his presence in the lineup and locker room can help augment their team’s identity, it’ll be assets well spent.
This trade will be an extremely interesting one to track, and the storylines it creates could dominate the hockey headlines for months to come. Tkachuk is now in the same division as his brother, Brady, who captains the Ottawa Senators. The Flames have recently had to deal with questions over their ability to retain star players, and they’ve now added two star players who will, in just a year’s time, be free agents. Will the Flames be able to keep them? Will the new-look Flames be as good as last year’s club? Will Zito’s no-holds-barred chase of superstar talent, at the cost of the team’s first-round picks for the next three seasons, result in a Stanley Cup victory for the Panthers?
Those are definitely questions to ponder, and it’ll be extremely interesting to see how they end up answered.
Sportsnet’s Eric Francis was first on the trade. Pictures courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
No state income tax matters.
When you are earning that kind of coin it makes virtually no difference if they have a competent accountant
It still makes a big difference
what the fu-
Huberdeau gone? OOOOOOF
Let me speak for all the blues fans, F**K!!!!!!!!!!
@gdbyers – Even those of us with no vested interest were hoping he’d land there. I sympathize. But, we should all realize, that CGY’s winters prevent you from really working on that out-of-summer tan. South FLA can’t be beat there.
Good lord this is such an awful trade for Florida. They think this is fantasy hockey
Is there a salary cap in your fantasy league? Because the NHL has one.
Flames now have the best top 4 D and should have Z and Kylington as 5-6 which is pretty good. Markstrom is the big winner of this trade
pretty fair trade overall.. both teams got better
ESPN’s hypothetical offer, FWIW, was Verhaeghe, Hornqvist, Weegar, and a 2nd.
Holy wow…. Good for Calgary
That’s a pretty good get for Calgary, with Huberdeau, Weegar and a 1st round pick in a loaded draft
Huberdeau ALONE should carry the same weight, if not more, as Tkachuk in terms of value. And that’s before one considers he still has term left on his contract, where Tkachuk is RFA and was just taken to Arbitration by Calgary.
Adding Weeger and a 1st ON TOP of that to get Tkachuk is insane.
Zito just got fleeced hard. Not only did he give up the best player in the trade to acquire a lesser player, but he completely throws sanity out the door by adding a top 4 defenseman and a 1st round pick in a stacked draft class to acquire said lesser player.
Oofda.
1st round pick is in 2025
FIFY: Top 2 defenseman
Tkachuk is my favorite player hands down but there is no way he is worth Hubey let alone the other pieces. Florida has lost its mind
hubey is 29 and coming off a career year
Tkachuk is 24 and does that on the reg
… the hell?
Tkachuk’s 2022 point total was exactly equal to his previous two seasons *combined,* and more than DOUBLE his career average.
Huberdeau’s been well over a point a game each of the last four seasons.
If you like a winger that has three times as many assists as goals, then you will love Jon Huberdeau.
Like it or not, that winger contributed 115 goals last season
Well put. Totally agree. I always thought of Zito as a sharp GM, Anna my opinion is now completely the opposite. There must be more to this than meets the eye….
I believe you mean 115 points. 30 goals and 85 assists from a LW. Huberdeau has had a pass first mentality since the day he arrived in Florida. He will be a center for the Flames and do well. Play him at wing and be ready for plenty of extra passes.
For this past year’s playoffs, 1G 4A. in ten games. I hope he does better for the Flames.
Agreed huberdeau alone i would think has the higher value. The fact that florida had to add is insane.. huberdeau is in the prime hes a consistant line driver and a quiet superstar. I would take 35g 85ast over 42g 60ast. anyday. And i cant see him wanting to stay there in a rebuild so unless calgary changes the team fast hes most likely walking next year.
Just in time for the quebec player returning home to habs to start hahaha.
Agreed huberdeau alone i would think has the higher value. The fact that florida had to add is insane.. then again this is the same team that gave up a decent prospect and a unprotected 1st rounder for chariot..lol. still crazy tho. huberdeau is in the prime hes a consistant line driver and a quiet superstar. I would take 35g 85ast over 42g 60ast. anyday. And i cant see him wanting to stay there in a rebuild so unless calgary changes the team fast hes most likely walking next year.
Just in time for the quebec player returning home to habs to start hahaha. Come home to the habs in 2023 hubey
Exactly
No, I meant 115 goals. His play contributed 115 goals to his team, assists and goals.
If he doesn’t pass, there isn’t goals.
1. To give or supply in common with others; give to a common fund or for a common purpose.
Sounding very collectivist, komrade
So, you ever collect unemployment? Plan on collecting Social Security or Medicare? You ever drive a car on a public highway? How about that COVID shot you had? The police and firefighter protection you enjoy? That’s all socialism, buddy: the pooling of common funds for the common good.
Your idea of socialism and mine are much different. Police and fire are government functions, as are the roads.
Have I or plan to collect those benefits? Better question, do I have a choice to pay into them or not? Now THAT is socialism.
What a trash trade for the panthers. Holy sh*t.
I think it’s actually a good deal for them. Granted they gave up their top player, but MT fits well with what they have and helps Florida in a physical division.
So giving up your best player and a top pairing D for someone who was a passenger on Johnny Hockey’s line for the last four years is a good deal?
Oh and a first rounder?
Agreed! This is exactly what the Panthers need. Zito has been the best GM we’ve had in a long time.
@cheer – yes. Ever think MT enabled Johnny?
Barkov is a better player than Huberdeau overall.
Only 2 years on Huberdeau’s contract so some risk here but they got a great haul
Huberdeau and Weegar are UFAs after this season. Maybe Zito grabs Tkachuck, then resigns both next summer!?!
Oh damn you’re right.. only 1 year left. I hope they feel confident in him signing
Hubredeau was enough honestly to change your identity but to add a first with weager flames won hands down this one hurts for the Florida faithful
*insert joke about how panthers faithful don’t exist here*
Understandable but Huberdeau was the #2 behind barkov in the turning point of the franchise “insert joke about someone trying to get a laugh but failing horribly”
“you must be new to hockey if you think this funny”
-doghockey
@jawman74 – Not anymore… their exhaust fumes turned into vapor trails from the Skunkworks’ Mach 9 Special…
Panthers faithful here. Just wait until you watch Weegar the human turnover machine and become increasingly frustrated as the season goes on. Huberdeau plays wing but will act as a second center on whatever line. For your sake either Sutter will either play him at center or do the impossible and teach him to shoot first as a winger.
Kinda amusing that Tkachuk had MORE turnovers than Weegar did. Just sayin’.
What bothers you more, turnovers from a winger or a defenseman?
When the winger has the third most turnovers in hockey last year, I’d find that pretty damn bothersome.
The panthers have fans?
You need to come up with new material and not the 20 year old jokes.
A turnover in the offensive zone is not nearly as harmful as one in your defensive zone
Colonel Bob it is clear you actually watch the Panthers play! Comments are pretty much spot on.
Why so? The goals you give up because of a turnover in the defensive zone don’t magically count more than the goals you don’t score because of a turnover in the offensive zone.
Logically, turnovers closer to your own net are more likely to go in than turnovers in the opposite zone.
I think we’re almost all of us in agreement that “logic” and your posts have little to do with one another.
If you cannot agree that the opposition taking control of the puck closer to your net has a greater chance of turning to a scoring chance as opposed to a turnover near the opposition’s net where the opponent then has to skate much farther tells me that you do not understand the game of hockey.
Guessing Calgary tries to rope in Kadri now.
Klingberg
Don’t think Klingberg is a fit, they’d only do that if they’re flipping Weager and Kylington and would still basically be the bottom paring or 4th d and pp specialist. Cause he isn’t bumping Tanev or the Hanifin Anderson paring
Beyond that, Calgary can’t afford Klingberg … unless they’re willing to take him INSTEAD of Mangiapane.
It looks to me that the flames won this trade by a landslide I mean wasn’t there a lot of issues with Tkachuk behavior on and off this ice (I could be wrong) I know he’s hothead
What a punch in the sack for the Panthers. Calling it now they pull a Vegas and don’t make the ploffs and Calgary wins the pacific. Suck on that one.
What the f…Now that is a massive block-buster trade! don’t like this trade at all for Florida
Just my opinion but as a Panthers fan I’m ecstatic. Huburdeau is an elite player but he’ll always have a pass first mentality, will always play a finesse game. Weegar is ok but gets pushed around in front of the net and in the playoffs he was a liability. Tkachuk brings the goals plus the physicality that we desperately need. Just my opinion but when I saw this trade I was shocked, couldn’t be happier.
We’ll see how many goals he scores without Johnny ham and cheese
I think he’ll do great things with Barkov tbh. Barky and Huby are both passive players, each of them needs to be paired with an aggressor. On paper this looks like a good fit.
As an avid Panthers fan this could be a good trade. Tkachuk is younger and tougher. Weegar was bad at times last year, going to be expensive to keep. Huberdeau did little in the playoffs, imagine Barkov’s numbers if he actually has a top winger.
Weegar graded as a top 5 dman last year on his score card. He’s going to crush it in Calgary.
Please. It’s in his DNA. He’ll score without Johnny. Hell, I think his play enabled Johnny.
Tkachuk is not the physical presence that Florida fans may believe he is. The Panthers better have guys like Milan Lucic, Erik Gudbranson, and Nikita Zadorov watching his back or he’ll get his clock cleaned by guys like Michael Raffl. Tkackuk’s speciality is opponents Swedish and Finnish cupcakes.
The Panther fan will be happy if Tkachuk will shoot the puck and not try to tie a ribbon around a play. Huberdeau will try to make a fancy pass instead of shooting the puck. Flames will do well to play Huberdeau at center.
I don’t think you can give up Huberdeau in that deal, if that’s what it had to take then no deal. You give up (one of) your homegrown 2 way superstars for a guy that just forced his way out of town. We’ll see how it works out for them.
Huberdeau and Weegar are UFAs after this season. Maybe Zito grabs Tkachuck, then resigns both next summer!?!
doubt it. can’t imagine Zito didn’t talk to Hubie and his agent and their asking price and felt a long term Tkachuk at likely a similar AAV is worth more due to his style of play and being younger.
maybe if Hubie has a bad year they could bring him back but if he’s a 80-100 point guy, he’s getting 8M min from someone
gets to play his brother a bunch now. this should be fun
So Florida gets the worse forward, but they get him for longer. In the meanwhile, they give up a top D man who just might well be one of the most underrated players in the league. And on top of that, a first? Make it make sense.
Hubrdeau , good player , pass first , fizzled in the playoffs, Weegar good, mistake prone at times , like everything about M.T , and like 6 years younger , than Hubie, and come on plays with some balls that the Panthers didn’t have ! I’m sure Zito isn’t finished, cause it frees up some $$$$.
Huberdeau Dubois = rouge, blanc et bleu
Tick tock tick tock
People were guaranteeing MT was going to St.Louis and Johnny Hockey was going to Philly, just like this. So, best to be proactive!
I don’t think I saw anyone guaranteeing Gaudreau to Philly lol. If anyone even said JG to Philly they got shot down immediately by people saying “cap space”
Huberdeau AND Weegar AND a 1st? That’s just plain smoking whacky weed on Florida’s part, especially when the results leave them $4MM above the cap. They’re going to have to do salary dumping, and that’ll weaken the team more.
I can’t imagine how any Panthers’ fan is justifying this, beyond the “Ooooo, shiny new toy!” fantasy draft mentality. Huberdeau is not a flash in the pan: he’s an elite scorer who’s BEEN an elite scorer for several years now, and you just might imagine that a guy who’s played ten seasons for Florida and re-signed with them twice just might have been loyal enough to the club to do it a third time. (More loyal than the fans waiting to throw under the bus a 2nd Team All-Star who finished second in the league in scoring and led the team to its best record ever by far, anyway.)
not the biggest hockey fan in the world so tell me if I am wrong but for everybody who says Florida got hosed. was huberdeau or weegar locks to resign? they could of been lost for nothing a year from now. and if Florida stays competitive 3 years from now losing a late 1st isn’t gonna hurt that much.
Huberdeau had already re-signed twice with Florida, and he’d been there ten seasons. Probably a safe bet to re-up there, yeah.
why was it a safe bet. he’d want to be paid. was likely looking at Tkachuk money at 5 yrs older.
Makes you wonder if this was as much about buying a future favor downstream for Bill Zito as the trade itself. Hard to imagine what that would be at the moment, though.
Also, there’s a certain irony here, when just three or so hours ago, I suggested one of the top-shelf PHR authors gets a scoop of scoops. Even though I suggested Naz, this definitely checks the box for scoop! Well done, @Gavin!
This is absolutely mental.
Not sure who won this trade just yet, but I’m shocked that MT went thru all of this only to not end up being a Blue at the end off it all.
All that and Florida’s still $3M over the cap
Please show me your math please . . .
Check capfriendly.
Puckpedia’s showing the same. How about checking the math yourself before you pop off, CB?
Huberdeau and Tkachuk will earn about the same next year. Weegar earns about $5M. That says to me that the Panthers cleared $5M of cap space.
Let me help you out some. Tkachuk signed for $9.5MM. Huberdeau, as it happens, makes $5.9MM. Weegar, as it happens, makes $3.25MM.
That says, to anyone who bothers to look things up, that Florida in fact ADDED a third of a million worth of cap hit.
If you’re not trying to troll us, I’d recommend retaking 2nd grade math.
“A third of a million” would be $333,333.00 and not $3,250,000. The difference between the two is 3 million. Panthers still added cap space as none was retained, no?
Sure, at the time of the trade they cleared $9.1M in cap space off their books.
They then signed MT to a contract with $9.5M AAV… Which immediately consumed all the cap space they cleared and then some.
My fundamental point, which I’ll spoon feed to you since connecting dots doesn’t appear to be your thing, is that they still have to make at least one other move to become cap compliant as this trade didn’t help their cap situation.
@ fburner88: Yeah, he just seems constitutionally incapable of either admitting that he had no idea what he was talking about, or just dropping the stick and walking away. Time to stop feeding the trolls.
Anthony Duclair is going to have hip surgery and go on LTIR. $3M off the books, albeit temporarily.
And you assume that the Panthers will make no more moves before the start of the regular season . . .
That said Flames pick up two players on their contract year, and the Panthers have a winger 5 years younger.
Calgary gets one more shot….then it’s oopsie daisy we have no all-stars and it’s rebuilding time.
Nice when you get the better player plus a top-4 RHD, a first and a decent prospect. Calgary went from rebuild back to potential contender.
Simple. Florida was not good enough to win the Cup. Had to shake things up and get tougher.
If anyone on this site had proposed this trade yesterday we all would have laughed at them. Admit it. I would have.
If i’m right, Panthers are 2,75M over cap. But with Duclair to miss atleast parts of the season, that will cover it from THE beginning. Am I right?
My understanding — and someone correct me if I’m wrong — that while teams can put people on LTIR the moment the season starts, they need to be cap compliant before they can actually do so.
No one seems to correct you about this, and I’m sure you know this better than me. So you mean Florida has to get close to 3M of the books? What about for example Vegas that accuired Shea Weber, even if he’ll never play again?
link to sportingnews.com
Like most…at first, I thought Bill Zito had lost his mind. He did not. There was a logic here. But, it still might not have been the right move.
The Panthers weren’t going to be able to extend Huberdeau AND Weegar both, so he turns them into a better asset. That makes sense on some level. Best player in the trade wins the deal, right? Well…
EXCEPT when you paint yourself into a corner, cap yourself out and create multiple holes in your roster that you might have a hard time filling. All of these issues stem from the Bob contract, though. That’s the root of the their problem.
But, as we sit here today, the Panthers are a worse team than they were yesterday. Let’s see what else they do.
A week ago, Treliving was the GM having the worst off season. What a gift for him IF…
A) He can extend both. That should be his priority.
B) He can trade both for good returns if he can’t.
Plan A is much better for the Flames than Plan B. But, short of botching those trades….he’s already won here.
And really, next offseason doesn’t look bad for the Flames. They’ve a lot better chance of getting Huberdeau and Weegar to re-up if they look like contenders, and hey, look: Monahan and Lucic’s contracts will come off the books in 2023. They’ll have no other impact player to re-sign except Vladar. Losing Gaudreau and Tkachuk could’ve been a disaster, but they look like they’re going to weather this pretty well.
If they play it right…
When I say he should try to extend them, I mean THIS WEEK and if they don’t want to be Flames trade them now when each has a full season to offer and all of the teams who might want to be in on them can be in on them instead of limiting your options at the trade deadline.
this is why the Kadri rumours are circulating. he’d fill a #1/2 C role and they still would have the cap room for weeger and Hubie next year.
the one praise I have for reliving before this move was he has ensured they have no long term deals handcuffing them
He would, but here’s the rub: do you want Kadri, or do you want Mangiapane AND Kylington?
This trade is won by FLA , hands down, if Hueby and Weegar become FA’s next year. Now the Flames have a glut of D-men they need to trade for a scoring winger!
Three good Canadien boys should have no trouble in the change in weather.
Treliving still has alot of work to do.
What the f just happened here? How did Calgary get so much in return for a player they owned the rights to? Also florida is paying Tkachuk 9.5 million with that type of length for a power forward? I can’t believe this trade it blows my mind. Calgary fleeced Florida on this one. They also got a prospect I mean wow
Everyone:”Calgary is having the worst off-season in history”
Florida:”Hold my beer”
You might want to update your post about the extension.
link to twitter.com
I love the trade. Need to figure a way to deal Bob. Pay 1/2 his salary and throw in a prospect. Give the net to Knight. Creates cap room.
Soooooo, you want to pay 1/2 of Bobrovsky’s salary, give Knight an extension, AND pay another goaltender to back up Knight.
You must like seeing the Panthers with dead money on their books.
Makes no sense to retain $5,000,000 and pay a backup $2-$3,000,000. Bob has been OK, not great or worth his contract, but kind of stuck with him. Most of the penalty for Yandles buyout are off the books after next season, extra $4,000,000 there.
Bobrovsky had a .911 save percentage in the playoffs and .913 in the regular season. Better than previous seasons but fans get stuck on that first season.
The first TWO seasons, that is; Bobrovsky was below league average in 2021 too. Now last year was certainly a good season. Not $10MM worth, but still. It’s still twice as much money as he’s worth.
Not that Florida can do anything about it. Problem is, Iron, that Bobrovsky has a full no-movement clause until 2024. Buying it out hits them with over $6MM of dead cap space a year. And given that, they just might as well keep him.
Arizona has a ton of cap space and needs a goalie. Convince Bob that they will give him 65-70 starts and not have to look over his shoulder worrying about Knight. They can eat all of the salary if the Panthers deal a couple of prospects and takes back a couple of 6th round picks. The Tkachuk deal is better than losing Huber and Mac for nothing by waiting 1 year. Plus they get a lot younger. They are playing with the hand they brought upon themselves. What would everyone else do in this situation?
Panthers just recently traded their first round picks for the last year’s draft and the next two. Any prospects they have they are going to need to keep.
Bob has a NMC. Why would he want to go from contender to bottom feeder?
Why should Bobrovsky care how many starts he has or worry about Knight? He’s getting paid all the same, and he’ll keep ON getting paid for four more years. The contract will take him to retirement age anyway, he’ll have lifetime earnings of over a hundred million, and he’s earning it in a low-tax state.
(Beyond that, you’re misguided as far as Arizona goes. They’re going to spend to the cap floor and not one cent higher; they don’t WANT to spend money right now, what with their gate and ad revenues being gutted.)
What would everyone else do in this situation? If I were Florida’s GM (god forbid), I’d suck it up and accept that Bobrovsky’s contract was a terrible one, that we were stuck with it, that he’s a good enough goalie that it’s cheaper to keep him than buy him out, and that was the end of it.
Hi Gavin,
Can you fix the word ‘planfor’? It should be ‘plan for’ not ‘planfor’. Please & thank you.
“He will be able to immediately pivot to a rebuilding ‘planfor’ his club”
(wonders, offhand, if this is a record for comments on a single post)
Didn’t see Devils being able to match. What I’m most pissed about is if our GM can’t convince his cousin to come to NJ (agree to only extend with Devils or simply playout his last RFA year), then why does he still have a job.
That said, he can keep it if he finds a way to bring Timo Meier (countryman of Devils Captain Nico Hischer).
Devils: RW Timo Meier ($6M) & their 2023 2nd.
Sharks: RW Alexander Holtz (played with their 1st rounder Eklund), RD Damon Severson (trade asset with 1/$4.16M), LW Tomas Tatar (1/$4.5M – retain $1.5M), and a their 2023 1st.
Realize I would have to change my Login Name, but is this realistic?
No, but move that second round pick to the other side of the ledger and I think you might be close.
Devils: RW Timo Meier ($6M)
Sharks: RW Alexander Holtz (played with their 1st rounder Eklund), RD Damon Severson (trade asset with 1/$4.16M), LW Tomas Tatar (1/$4.5M – retain $1.5M), and a their 2023 1st. & their 2023 2nd.