Four years later, the Matthew Tkachuk deal still looks like one of those trades that keeps branching into new storylines.
The Florida side of it has already been written. Tkachuk landed with the Panthers and became a centerpiece right away, helping them reach the Stanley Cup Final in three of his four seasons there and win it twice. For Florida, that part of the story is settled.
Calgary’s side has been anything but.
The Flames sent Tkachuk to Florida after he had just signed an eight-year, $76MM extension, and they got Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, a conditional 2025 first-round pick, and Cole Schwindt back in the deal. A few weeks later, Calgary locked up Huberdeau on an eight-year, $84MM extension, betting that his offense could help keep the team competitive even after moving one of its biggest scorers.
That made sense at the time. Calgary had just finished first in the Pacific Division in 2021-22 and reached the Second Round of the playoffs before the Edmonton Oilers eliminated them in five games.
Huberdeau had also just come off the best season of his career with Florida, putting up 30 goals and 115 points in 80 games with a +35 rating while averaging more than 19 minutes per night. He wasn’t Tkachuk physically, but he had outscored him by 11 points that season.
The production in Calgary never matched the price tag. Over four seasons with the Flames, Huberdeau has 65 goals and 194 points in 291 games, along with a -49 rating.
That works out to 18 goals and 55 points over an 82-game pace. Useful numbers for a second-line forward, sure.
Not the kind of return that fits one of the league’s highest-paid players.
Weegar, though, gave Calgary a real win in the deal. He later signed an eight-year, $50MM extension and became what might have been the Flames’ best defenseman.
In 304 games with Calgary, he scored 35 goals and 151 points while averaging 22:48 of ice time per game. He also brought something valuable that not every defenseman can offer: he could play both sides of the blue line well.
Even so, Calgary’s rebuild eventually pulled him out of the picture. This past season, the Flames traded Weegar to the Utah Mammoth for Olli Määttä, forward prospect Jonathan Castagna, Utah’s 2026 second-round pick, the Rangers’ 2026 second-round pick, and Ottawa’s 2026 second-round pick.
That’s where the trade tree really started to sprawl.
The first-round pick from Florida became Cullen Potter, taken 32nd overall in the 2025 NHL Draft. Potter is now at Michigan State after spending two years at Arizona State University.
Calgary also turned Utah’s 2026 second-round pick and its own 2026 third-round pick into Nashville’s 2026 second-round pick in a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, then used that selection to draft goaltender Tobias Trejbal 42nd overall at the 2026 NHL Draft.
The Rangers’ 2026 second-round pick wound up in a larger trade with the New Jersey Devils. In that move, Calgary sent defenseman Étienne Morin, the Rangers’ pick, Colorado’s conditional 2028 first-round pick, and Vegas’s conditional 2027 first-round pick to New Jersey for Simon Nemec and Maxim Tsyplakov.
Ottawa’s 2026 second-round pick became forward Alan Shaikhlislamov, who was taken 55th overall.
And Määttä didn’t stay long either. Calgary used him as a throw-in in the Blake Coleman trade with the Minnesota Wild, bringing back Jacob Middleton, a 2029 second-round pick, a 2027 third-round pick, and a 2028 fourth-round pick.
It’s tough to trace every current asset all the way back to Tkachuk because so many later deals layered in other pieces. But the line still runs back to that 2022 blockbuster. Whether Calgary intended it or not, moving Tkachuk to Florida set off a rebuild that has been unfolding ever since.
In Other News...
Panthers Bring Back Mikulas Hovorka As Blue Line Debate Heats Up
Mikulas Hovorka is staying in the Florida Panthers organization after signing a one-year, two-way contract for the 2026-27 season, a move that keeps another young defenseman in the pipeline as the blue-line picture continues to take shape. Hovorka just finished his two-year entry-level deal and got a brief look with Florida last season, making his NHL debut while also spending most of the year with the Charlotte Checkers.
The 6-foot-7 defender logged extensive minutes in the AHL and turned in his most productive season there, giving the Panthers another option to monitor as they sort through depth on the back end. For now, the deal reflects the kind of organizational bet Florida has made well before on players who can help in both leagues, even if the next step for Hovorka is still to be determined. [Read more 🡒]
On This Date The Panthers Made The Move That Changed Everything
July 22, 2022, is one of those dates Panthers fans can point to as the moment the franchise tilted in a new direction. Florida landed Matthew Tkachuk from Calgary in a blockbuster that sent Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and a first-round pick the other way, a move that instantly changed the look and feel of the roster. It also came in the same summer the Panthers brought in Paul Maurice behind the bench, giving the organization a new voice and a noticeably different style.
The results have been hard to argue with ever since. Florida went from a team trying to find its footing to one that reached three straight Stanley Cup Finals beginning in 2023, then captured back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025. For a franchise that spent years searching for the right mix, that summer now reads like the turning point that made everything else possible. [Read more 🡒]