Carolina Hurricanes
Tkachuk Nearly Went to Different Eastern Conference Contender in Trade
Matthew Tkachuk was nearly traded to a different contender in a move that could have changed the NHL landscape.
The Florida Panthers may still have become a Stanley Cup champion, but according to one NHL insider, they might have had to do so without the services of forward Matthew Tkachuk. The largest trade in recent years almost went very differently.
The Panthers have become the NHL’s most dominant dynasty, making three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances and winning back-to-back championships. Central to that success has been superstar winger Tkachuk, whose arrival in Florida came via a trade with the Calgary Flames. But, Tkachuk was close to going somewhere else.
The Hurricanes actually came down to the wire to acquire Matthew Tkachuk before he was ultimately dealt to the Panthers ?
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) July 22, 2025
The NHL could look very different right now ? (w/ @frank_seravalli) pic.twitter.com/TG9IcrPVja
According to NHL insider Frank Seravalli, it was the Carolina Hurricanes who were neck-and-neck with the Panthers in the final hours before Tkachuk was traded to Florida in 2022.
“There were varying points throughout that day the Hurricanes thought they might be able to get it done,” Seravalli said. “And he ends up landing in Florida and changing his life and that franchise forever.”
What Would the Hurricanes’ Offer Have Been for Tkachuk?
The Flames received Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar in the deal with the Panthers. What Carolina was offering wasn’t made clear. One would have assumed Martin Necas or Andrei Svechnikov would have been in the mix, as might one of Brady Skjei or Brett Pesce.
Tkachuk has since haunted Carolina, helping eliminate the Hurricanes in two of the past three Eastern Conference Finals. Meanwhile, Carolina has tried to find different wingers that would stick. They traded for Jake Guentzel, but lost him to Tampa Bay in free agency. They landed Mikko Rantanen, but then had to trade him to Dallas when he refused to sign a long-term deal. This summer, the team signed Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year, $51 million deal.
Next: Cap Crunch: Maple Leafs Could Land $3M Scorer from Panthers
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