The trade the Calgary Flames should have accepted for Matthew Tkachuk.

In July of 2022 then Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving pulled off what many believed to be a spectacular trade at the time when he dealt Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers, but hindsight may not be looking so favorably upon that trade.

The Deal That Turned To Disaster.

While many were initially impressed with the return Treliving secured for Tkachuk, with the Flames receiving Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau, Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, Panthers prospect Cole Schwindt and a lottery protected first round pick, the trade has looked less and less favorable over time.

While Weegar performed well enough for the Flames, Schwindt would only play 4 games for the organization while the centerpiece of their return was Huberdeau who was coming off of a career high 115 point season for the Panthers. Treliving and the Flames quickly signed Huberdeau to an 8 year deal at an average annual value and cap hit of $10.5 million per season, a contract he has never lived up to since joining the Flames.

Huberdeau hasn't come close to that 115 point mark since, producing just a combined 107 points across his first two seasons as a Flame. It didn't get any better from there, Huberdeau had just 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points over 50 games for the Flames this past season, a career low.

The Other Option On The Table.

What you may not know is that Flames actually had another trade for Tkachuk on the table when they eventually sent him to Florida, an offer from the Carolina Hurricanes that in hindsight may have been the better deal. While it has been speculated for some time that the Hurricanes had made an offer, it wasn't until this summer that NHL insider Elliotte Friedman laid out exactly what that offer looked like.

"When Matthew was traded to Florida at the end it was Florida and Carolina," revealed Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. "Carolina's package was [Martin] Necas, [Alexander] Nikishin, I think the Flames had to take Jake Gardiner's money and one or two firsts were part of it."

The Flames of course could not have known what Necas and Nikishin would develop into down the line, but it's hard to imagine they wouldn't be in a better position today had they chosen to take the Hurricanes offer.

Necas is coming off of a spectacular season in which he had 38 goals and 62 assists for a total of 100 points over just 78 games last season. Looking like at 27 years old he could be what the Flames had hoped Huberdeau would be for them.

Nikishin on the other hand played 18 minutes a night for the Hurricanes during the regular season, and nearly 15 minutes a night during their run to a Stanley Cup championship this past season and is likely set to earn a big raise on a new contract this summer as a result of his stellar performance.

Did the Flames and general manager Brad Treliving choose the wrong package for Matthew Tkachuk?