I think Huberdeau is as shocked as anyone. He loved living in SoFLA, that much is obvious. I think he is probably going through stages of grief right now. He absolutely was willing to stay here, I think the team saw an opportunity to get younger on a known contract and blindsided him with it.
As for the move itself, I'm probably not high enough on Tkachuk to like it. Huberdeau was a known commodity and was worth a lot of points in the regular season just on account of his ability to dominate 3vs3 overtime with Barkov. The Panthers had a stupidly good OT record the last couple of years and it was pretty much entirely because opposing teams simply couldn't handle those two in 3vs3 situations. I also don't think Huberdeau is a playoff problem as some have suggested. He was excellent in the previous series against the Lightning, and the entire team suffered in this season's playoffs (coaching).
I think Weegar has proved beyond a doubt that he's a second pairing guy, and even something of a liability in big game situations, so I have no issue with the team trading him. I'm glad they did, to be honest. I understand that the team is probably better off taking 25 year old Tkachuk on a firm contract than having 31 year old Huberdeau asking for even more money, but I'm concerned about trading away yet another first round draft pick. I also wonder if this could hurt the locker room.
Unless the Panthers find a way to move Hornqvist and get Chychrun (pipe dream, IMO), they're flat out gonna be worse in 2022-23 in order to try to extend the window beyond that. Duclair is probably pretty difficult to trade right now due to his achilles injury, but he'd be the absolute next guy I'd look to get rid of. He's worthless in playoff hockey, and the Panthers certainly have enough regular season scoring.
As for the move itself, I'm probably not high enough on Tkachuk to like it. Huberdeau was a known commodity and was worth a lot of points in the regular season just on account of his ability to dominate 3vs3 overtime with Barkov. The Panthers had a stupidly good OT record the last couple of years and it was pretty much entirely because opposing teams simply couldn't handle those two in 3vs3 situations. I also don't think Huberdeau is a playoff problem as some have suggested. He was excellent in the previous series against the Lightning, and the entire team suffered in this season's playoffs (coaching).
I think Weegar has proved beyond a doubt that he's a second pairing guy, and even something of a liability in big game situations, so I have no issue with the team trading him. I'm glad they did, to be honest. I understand that the team is probably better off taking 25 year old Tkachuk on a firm contract than having 31 year old Huberdeau asking for even more money, but I'm concerned about trading away yet another first round draft pick. I also wonder if this could hurt the locker room.
Unless the Panthers find a way to move Hornqvist and get Chychrun (pipe dream, IMO), they're flat out gonna be worse in 2022-23 in order to try to extend the window beyond that. Duclair is probably pretty difficult to trade right now due to his achilles injury, but he'd be the absolute next guy I'd look to get rid of. He's worthless in playoff hockey, and the Panthers certainly have enough regular season scoring.