Was leaving the Calgary Flames for the Florida Panthers the best decision Matthew Tkachuk ever made?

By Zachary Roberts

Modified Jul 07, 2024 15:21 GMT

Matthew Tkachuk spent the majority of his career with the Calgary Flames. He was drafted to play for them, spending six seasons in Calgary.

He then landed with the Florida Panthers, a big change for the star hockey player. After six seasons with only an All-Star Game appearance to his name, Tkachuk has doubled his ASG appearances and added a Stanley Cup Final.

Tkachuk's journey is an interesting one. He spent the first six years of his NHL career as a veteran of one of hockey's most heated rivalries. The Flames and Edmonton Oilers have a great rivalry.

In the Stanley Cup Final, Tkachuk was once again faced with the Oilers, ironically. He and his team persevered, though they nearly blew a 3-0 lead in the process, and won their first Stanley Cup together and the team's first-ever. Was it the best decision the player could have made?

---

Matthew Tkachuk's tough decision paid off

It is always a difficult decision to leave the team that one has spent their entire career with. No matter if it's six seasons, three seasons, or 10, change is hard and moving is difficult. The choice to go from Calgary to Florida was not one Tkachuk had to make lightly, but he did.

It was a decision he didn't really want to make. Recently, he popped back up at Calgary Stampede, and it prompted fans to claim that he never really wanted to leave. Sometimes, it's not as simple as where a player wants to go, and the fans believe he wanted to stay in Calgary.

In fact, most fans put the blame largely on the team for allowing Tkachuk to leave. He could have stayed for a long time, perhaps a whole career, but things didn't turn out that way.

It paid off in an almost immediate fashion. The 2022-2023 season resulted in another All-Star Game for Matthew Tkachuk, though the Panthers were defeated in the Stanley Cup Final by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Matthew Tkachuk's move to Florida paid off (Imagn)

In sports, it can be very difficult to overcome a championship loss. There's a hangover and most teams don't get back there immediately. Tkachuk and the Panthers did, and they used their experience to fend off the Oilers despite Connor McDavid's best efforts.

That alone makes it a fantastic decision for Tkachuk. There's always a risk in these moves, and he took it by moving very far away and starting over.

It would have been fairly successful just based on the 2022-2023 result, but he and the team cemented the move's brilliance by winning it all in 2023-2024. Tkachuk's legacy is one to be remembered now, and it's partially thanks to his Florida move.