Matthew Tkachuk is back in Calgary's spotlight as Ryan Huska's Flames face another reminder of the 2022 trade.
Calgary sent Tkachuk to Florida in July 2022 and received Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and a lottery-protected first-round pick.
At the time, the return looked substantial. Huberdeau had just posted a 115-point season, while Weegar gave Calgary an established NHL defenseman.
The problem is the deal never developed the way Calgary expected. Huberdeau didn't reproduce that Florida production, and Schwindt barely became part of the Flames' picture.
Now the alternate package is what stings. Carolina was also in the bidding, and the Hurricanes' offer reportedly centered on younger pieces and draft capital.
That matters because Calgary wasn't choosing between a strong offer and a weak one. The Flames were choosing between two very different roster-building paths.
Carolina's offer changes the Tkachuk debate
“When Matthew was traded to Florida at the end it was Florida and Carolina,” Elliotte Friedman said. “Carolina's package was [Martin] Necas, [Alexander] Nikishin…”
Friedman also indicated Calgary would have needed to absorb Jake Gardiner's money, with one or two first-round picks included in the framework.
That package carried more uncertainty in 2022. Necas and Nikishin were not finished products, so Calgary would have been betting on development instead of immediate star power.
But the hindsight case is hard to ignore. The Florida deal pushed Calgary toward a more expensive veteran core and left the organization with a tighter margin for error.
Weegar has been the steady part of the return, yet the trade is still judged by the centerpiece. That has kept Huberdeau tied directly to Tkachuk's exit.
For Calgary, that's the painful what-if: the Hurricanes' proposal offered a different timeline, more flexibility and the chance to build around assets with room to rise.
Four years later, the question isn't whether Calgary received value. It's whether the Flames picked the wrong kind of value when Tkachuk forced the decision, with consequences still following them today.
Did the Flames choose the wrong Matthew Tkachuk return?
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