ICYMI: Matthew Tkachuk traded in blockbuster deal on Friday night.

You may have been asleep by the time it all went down, but in the late hours of Friday night the Calgary Flames pulled off one hell of a trade from an unfavorable bargaining position when they dealt their restricted free agent star forward Matthew Tkachuk.

In the end the Flames elected to send Tkachuk, along with a conditional fourth round draft pick, to the Florida Panthers and in return they received quite a haul that includes a pair of elite level players as well as a first round draft selection. Coming back to the Flames are now former Florida Panthers star forward Jonathan Huberdeau, former Florida Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, former Florida Panthers rookie forward Cole Schwindt, and along with all 3 of those players comes a first round draft pick in 2025.

It is truly a blockbuster trade deal and one that comes with considerable risks for both sides, some more obvious than others.

In Matthew Tkachuk the Florida Panthers get an elite forward who brings a truly unique blend of skills to the National Hockey League, a unique blend of skills that are difficult to put a price on. The Panthers did put a price on it though when they extended Tkachuk immediately after signing him to an 8 year deal that carries with it an average annual value and salary cap hit of $9.5 million per season, and therein lies the risk for the Panthers.

Tkachuk is coming off a career best season with 42 goals and 62 assists for a whopping 104 points over 82 games played in the regular season. It was a truly outstanding performance from Tkachuk, but one that was also a significant departure from his previous high of 77 points in a single season. Whether or not the level of play that Tkachuk displayed this season will be one he can maintain over the next 8 years will determine how good of a trade this was for the Panthers.

In Jonathan Huberdeau the Flames are also getting a talented forward coming off a career year, in this case Huberdeau finished the season with 30 goals and 85 assists for a total of 115 points in the regular season. At 29 years old however Huberdeau is considerably older than Tkachuk and, most importantly of all, is already well past the point where unrestricted free agency is on the table. Huberdeau only has 1 year remaining on his contract which means the Flames will either have to work out an extension with Huberdeau over the next year, or find themselves in the same situation they just went through with now former Flames star forward Johnny Gaudreau once again.

In MacKenzie Weegar the Flames also get an elite NHL defenseman and one that is currently on a very team-friendly type of contract. They however run into the same problem they have with Huberdeau in the fact that Weegar, who is 28 years old, will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season meaning a contract extension or a trade is likely on the horizon here as well.

In Cole Schwindt the Flames get a 21 year old rookie who has only 3 games of NHL experience under his belt, all of which came with the Florida Panthers last season. Schwindt spent most of his season in the American Hockey League with the Charlotte Checkers, recording 18 goals and adding 21 assists over 72 regular season games.

This was quite obviously a play on the part of the Florida Panthers to remain competitive for the long term future, getting a player under contract for 8 more years while giving up 2 good players in the final year of their deals. It will probably be quite some time before we can truly determine a winner in this deal.