Florida Panthers' Best Trade Of The Past Year

Seeing as the Florida Panthers have only made four trades over the past year and one of them was a blockbuster in which they are greatly benefiting from, it was an easy decision to say that acquiring Matthew Tkachuk was the best trade of the past year for the Panthers.

Though losing Weegar wasn't ideal, Brandon Montour has stepped up into that key role and done a great job with it. Now in terms of comparisons between Tkachuk and Jonathan Huberdeau, Tkachuk is far and above him at this point. Tkachuk has 35 goals and 97 points so far this season while Huberdeau has 14 goals and 50 points.

While Huberdeau has declined by an astonishing amount overall this season due to the team, linemates, and coach, Tkachuk has only gotten better and is four years younger. He is on a better contract and the contract was already signed as part of the trade whereas the only reason the Panthers had to give up a prospect (Cole Schwindt) and a first round pick is because Huberdeau and Weegar were without new deals and each were headed into their final season. Once both were locked up, many were thinking that the Flames won the deal until the season got underway and everyone saw the impact Tkachuk had vs the two Flames.

Not only has Tkachuk done much more offensively, he is a pest and a physical player, perfectly suited for the postseason, which was what the Panthers had hoped to get out of the trade after a weak 2022 postseason. This deal appears like it's only going to get better for Florida as more time passes.