It’s the kind of trade that only cooks at the bar, and almost certainly not before midnight. It’s only then and there that the right kind of desperation can be tuned in, as fans of whatever team try to live in denial for just a little longer that their window of contention hasn’t slammed shut. There is always one more move or signing that can extend hope for another year. Sure, you may have already lost one of the best wingers in the game. And another has said that she puts on her taillights as soon as he gets the chance, which means they have an awkward season together at best. But chances are, you know that your team has to make as much profit as it can get, even if it’s no more than 60 cents on the dollar (or 60 cents on the Canadian dollar, as the case may be).
You concoct all sorts of hopeful scenarios in your head that will keep your team right where it’s been after losing their missing star(s), but deep down, in places that only rumble ominously, you know it’s It’s likely to be over and you’ll be going back to the MIDDLE soon enough for an unending, indeterminate sentence.
Except sometimes, from time to time, weird things happen. This is hockey after all. And maybe you will find another team whose GM has become Dr Rockso, and not only do you get more than 60 cents for that dollar, but you also get more for that dollar. That’s where Flames fans found themselves last week when they were able to pack up Matthew Tkachuk for god’s waiting room and the Panthers sent Jonathan Huberdeau and McKenzie Weegar (along with a prospect and a protected first-round pick) back to Alberta. He is the most successful trade in the NHL in some time, and completely unexpected.
Because Tkachuk had made it clear that he wouldn’t be signing a long-term deal with Calgary, it was assumed that the already-tagged Gaudreau Flames would have to accept some additional package from a team taking full advantage of their lack of clout, and I really started to think. if it was time to move on from this iteration of Flames which, quite frankly, hadn’t done that much. Or just suffer together one last season of staying together until the kids graduate. After all, Gaudreau and Tkachuk hitting the bricks would take 219 points from last season with them.
Instead, the Panthers returned 115 points in the form of Huberdeau, and possibly the first matched D-man the Flames haven’t really had in Weegar. The latter is the key to this whole matter. Weegar racked up 44 points last year from the back with only a smidgen of power play time. He also has some brilliant analytical numbers, with Corsi percentages and expected goal percentages in the high 50s (albeit with some very skewed offensive zone starts last year, but the previous two seasons he still had brilliant nerdy numbers while starting most their shifts off the field). offensive end). The light of caution is that Weegar racked up most of those numbers along with Aaron Ekblad, and the Flames don’t have an Ekblad. Perhaps Rasmus Andersson can make a passable impression, since he’s only 25 and has shown himself to be the real thing on occasion, but that’s still in the hope file rather than the expected one.
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The Huberdeau-Tkachuk interchange is more obvious. The Flames were probably thrilled to bring back a genuine frontline winger for Tkachuk, although Huberdeau isn’t as complete a player as Tkachuk. With Huberdeau as close to unrestricted free agency as Tkachuk, there were some in South Florida who took issue with Huberdeau after a one-point performance in 10 playoff games last year. And his metrics dropped significantly once he started the postseason, going from 0.86 xG per game to 0.55 and 12.4 net attempts per game on equal terms to 10.6. That happens sometimes, especially when you run into Lightning and a team of Caps who are well versed in fixing things and keeping it slow and steady. How much someone wants to read that is up to them.
Most have been obsessed with the impending free agency of both Huberdeau and Weegar, while Tkachuk immediately signed an eight-year extension with the Cats for $9.5 million per year. But it’s still a net win for the Flames, who would have only had a year with Tkachuk anyway and got two players in return. Huberdeau will almost certainly command as much, if not more, than Tkachuk, and if Weegar prospers, it won’t be cheap either. But the Flames will lose the demonic anchor of a Milan Lucic deal after next season, and they’ll have enough players entering the final year of their contract that they can probably move to keep both Huberdeau and Weegar if they choose. If they really want to get spicy, they can find a new home for Jacob Markstrom and his $6 million salary and hand things over to golden boy Dustin Wolf on the net.
As for the Panthers, you can see the logic in getting the younger, more complete Tkachuk for probably a little less than Huberdeau would have gotten had he racked up another 100 or so points next season. However, if playoff performances were a concern for Huberdeau, Tkachuk was really nowhere against the much worse Oilers after that bananas Game 1 when the Flames inexcusably crashed in five games. But, that was just a series and all that. Still, the Panthers have a very dodgy Ekblad health-wise and not much else on the blue line, and they actually got a decent playoff performance from Sergei Bobrovsky and were pretty embarrassed. Will that happen again?
They have a shitty hard cap, while the Flames still have about $9 million to play with and more flexibility on the way. The Panthers have none of that, and they’re still in a split with the Lightning and the Leafs. The Bruins will still have Patrice Bergeron, and the Red Wings may no longer be a doormat. Sure, they’ve got Tkachuk locked up, but locked up for what, exactly? Oh, and they’ve hired a total foot-brain as a coach.
It’s still impressive that the Flames were able to get out of what seemed like a no-win situation and remain favorites for the Pacific Division, and with options (Nazem Kadri is still available). The story is supposed to be that star players leave Canadian teams for US dollars and everyone bemoans the fact that players don’t want to freeze their balls in a place that smells like horse shit most of the year. It’s the natural state north of the 49th. The Flames were able to turn that around and, at the very least, get one more season to roll the dice in a shitty division in a thin conference. There are many worse ways to be.