Welcome to Top-Shelf Takes, a weekly series from staff writer Mary Clarke all about the NHL. Lace up your skates as we dive deep into the epic highs and lows of this little sport called hockey.
At the time of the Matthew Tkachuk trade over the summer, I knocked the Florida Panthers for paying the steep price of three players and a conditional first-round pick to get the best upcoming free agent last summer. And so far, Tkachuk has proved me quite wrong!
We’re now well into the second month of the 2022-23 NHL season, which is a pretty fair time to look at some early returns from the offseason’s biggest trade. Back in late July, the Calgary Flames traded Tkachuk to the Panthers in exchange for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a conditional 2025 first-round pick. The move came after Johnny Gaudreau left Calgary at the start of free agency, breaking up a Flames core that had been together since 2016-17.
When the trade went down late on a Friday night, many first reactions — mine included! — handed the Flames the unconditional victory at first blush. After all, the Panthers gave up a king’s ransom for Tkachuk. Last season, Huberdeau outpaced Tkachuk in points (115 to 104) and Weegar netted a career-high 44 points as a defenseman in his age 28 season. That was a lot to give up for Tkachuk, who bypassed his previous career high by 27 points last season with no real promise he’d hit those same peaks on a new team without Gaudreau by his side.
So far, however, Tkachuk’s been everything promised and more for the Panthers. After 14 games played, Tkachuk has five goals and 20 total points and is playing at a 113-point pace, which would exceed his career high set last season. While Carter Verhaeghe currently leads the Panthers in goals (10), Tkachuk is Florida’s best points producer in the early goings of the year.
There’s no doubt that Tkachuk is a phenominal hockey player, but there were questions as to his effectiveness in a new lineup after how much success the Flames top line had last season. After the first month of the season, though, it’s fair to say Tkachuk has settled in quite nicely on the Panthers top line alongside Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov.
As for the Flames, things haven’t worked out as well for their two newcomers in Huberdeau and Weegar. Huberdeau only just recently returned from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for three games. The forward also only has two goals and seven points in his first 12 games of the season. Weegar’s been one of Calgary’s best defenders this season, but his offense has suffered with only four assists in 15 games.
Both Calgary and Florida are fighting for wild card spots as of mid-November, with both teams looking a bit lackluster at times as American Thanksgiving looms large next week. Of course, one month into a season is too early to make definitive statements, but at the moment Tkachuk is providing far more value to the Panthers than Huberdeau and Weegar are for the Flames.
If Tkachuk can continue to be the Panthers most lethal offensive threat all season long, there should be no more doubters to Florida’s offseason plan.
Three stars
3. Hank Green becomes part of the hockey family in hilarious way
Speaking of Tkachuk, the Panthers forward was also in the news this past week for a wholly unrelated reason. Author and general internet celebrity Hank Green was indoctrinated into the hockey family after tweeting — then deleting — about his immense dislike for Tkachuk. Hockey fans immediately gravitated towards Green after the tweet went viral, who then embraced the attention with open arms.
Going viral on hockey twitter is surprisingly fun. Everyone is mean but in a nice way.
— Hank Green (@hankgreen) November 15, 2022
Welcome to the chaos, Hank Green!
2. Cale Makar closes in on NHL history
It feels like I’ve hardly talked at all about the Colorado Avalanche after their Stanley Cup winning celebrations this past summer. The Avalanche have been good so far this season, having only recently just shaken off the haze of a short offseason. But you know who has been incredible all year long so far? Cale Makar, who is just two points away from making NHL history by scoring 200 points before playing 200 games.
Cale Makar is now down to needing just 2 points in his next 7 games to be the first defenceman in NHL history to record 200+ points before he plays 200 games. https://t.co/1ur3X8YIm2
— Andrew Berkshire (@AndrewBerkshire) November 15, 2022
As of Wednesday, Makar has 18 points in 14 games and is third on the Avalanche in overall points. What an incredible rise Makar has had over these last few years.
1. Connor McDavid continues to do Connor McDavid things
It’s hard not to be amazed at what McDavid continues to do in the NHL. In 16 games played this year, McDavid has 32 points and is producing an average of a full two points per game. That’s absurd!
Not only that, McDavid is on pace for 164 points this year, which would tie Wayne Gretzky’s season from 1980-81 and be the highest single-season point total since Nikita Kucherov’s 128 in 2018-19. Soak this in, hockey fans, because something like this doesn’t happen every season.
Connor can't be stopped 🥵
30 points for McDavid this season pic.twitter.com/I5BN6IPJZA
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 11, 2022
Overachiever of the week*
Philadelphia Flyers
Look, this one is overdue. I’ve been a staunch Flyers naysayer since their terrible offseason but October was quite kind to Philadelphia as the team went 5-2-1 to start the year. November, however, has been more like what fans expected, as the team has lost six of its last eight games — with four straight defeats — and have since plummeted out of playoff position. Plus, you know things are bad when John Tortorella’s breaking out the Tortorella-isms.
It’s clear by now that the Flyers overachieved significantly in October and have returned to their likely status quo in November. With Tortorella at the helm, the Flyers likely won’t be a complete disaster, but they are no where near as good as their October record indicated.
What to watch
Golden Knights vs. Oilers – Saturday, November 19
Could this be a preview of the Western Conference Final? The Golden Knights have been one of the hottest teams so far this season with Jack Eichel’s reemergence, but you can never count out McDavid either. This one should be a good one on entertainment factor alone.
Flames vs. Panthers – Saturday, November 19
This will be the first time the Flames and Panthers have played one another since the Tkachuk trade this summer. Sadly, Tkachuk’s return to Calgary won’t be until the end of November but this should still be a good primer to the main event in a few weeks.
Islanders vs. Maple Leafs – Monday, November 21
John Tavares is on a heater and he’ll be facing his former club when they visit Toronto on Monday. Don’t worry, Islanders fans, Tavares already scored his 400th career goal earlier this week so you’re off the hook for that.
Quick hits
- Are we finally seeing the end of the Capitals and Penguins dominance? Both teams are in a major slump right now (3-5-2 and 2-6-2 in their last 10, respectively) and nothing’s going right for either team. It’s strange to count out Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin so soon, but the gap in the Metropolitan Division isn’t getting any shorter with how well the top teams are playing. There’s trouble afoot in Pittsburgh and Washington, that’s for sure.
- Also in danger are the Senators, who are last in the Atlantic with a 5-9-1 record. Even worse for Ottawa is that all of their losses have been close, either by one goal or by two with empty netters. I’m not sure what’s worse, getting blown out each game or coming oh so close to a victory only to fall short.
