- The Washington Times - Sunday, May 28, 2023

The Florida Panthers have had to wait longer than expected to find out who they’ll meet in this year’s Stanley Cup Final. After sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes to come out of the East, Florida has gotten to sit back and watch the Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars battle — with the Stars ripping off two straight to force Monday’s Game 6. 

The Panthers’ break was well-earned. And it likely wouldn’t have been possible without a bold, franchise-changing trade made months earlier in the offseason. 

Florida’s acquisition of winger Matthew Tkachuk was the kind of blockbuster trade that has been rare in the NHL — a league that generally does not see the dynamic player movement that has become commonplace in rivals like the NBA. To land Tkachuk, a 25-year-old star with dazzling skating skills, the Panthers sent star winger Jonathan Huberdeau, top defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwidt and a 2025 first-rounder to the Calgary Flames. 

The package was undoubtedly a lot to give up. But as the Panthers wait to play for the Stanley Cup, it’s worth wondering if other NHL teams will now try to emulate Florida’s path to contention by being more aggressive in their efforts to land top-tier talent. 

Is there a lesson, for instance, to be learned for a team like the Washington Capitals — who haven’t advanced past the first round since winning it all in 2018 and are looking to retool this summer after missing the playoffs this past season? 

“We’ll look at some things for sure,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said last month, when asked if the Capitals are willing to shake up their core. “Sometimes making change just to make a change is not right, but we’re going to look for opportunities. Opportunities present themselves in free agency and the trade market as we go towards the draft.” 

MacLellan has a difficult task ahead of him. This offseason, the Capitals will attempt to capitalize on their veterans’ remaining years, while also seeking to get younger. That’s a tightrope, and MacLellan admitted he couldn’t think of another team off the top of his head that has successfully provided a blueprint for the Capitals.

But the Panthers’ overhaul arguably shows that it can be worth swinging for the fences. After all, acquiring Tkachuk wasn’t a move that Florida had to make. This was a group coming off a season in which they held the league’s best record in 2021-22. Huberdeau, with a career-high 115 points, even finished fifth in MVP voting. 

Still, the Panthers disappointed in last year’s playoffs. After beating the Capitals in six games, Florida was swept in the second round by the Tampa Bay Lightning.  The postseason exit played a factor in not only the Tkachuk trade, but also in Florida’s decision to hire coach Paul Maurice over interim Andrew Brunette. Maurice’s arrival is another reason why the Panthers have advanced as far as they have. 

The Panthers wouldn’t be in the finals without Tkachuk. The 24-year-old has built on his 40-goal, 109-point regular season. He’s shined in the postseason with nine goals and 12 assists in 16 games.

Players of Tkachuk’s caliber, of course, rarely become available. The main reason the Panthers were in the position to trade for Tkachuk is that he told Calgary that he would not sign a new deal with the Flames and wanted out — which led the franchise to explore the market for the then-restricted free agent. It was only until Tkachuk got dealt that he signed a new eight-year, $76 million contract.

That said, the Panthers still had to be willing to take a risk to get a deal done. The trade, too, almost didn’t pay off in Year 1. As impressive as Florida has been this postseason, the Panthers narrowly made the postseason as they clinched the East’s last wild card spot partly because of the Pittsburgh Penguins losing.  

But the Panthers got in. And they’ve been a powerhouse in the postseason, overcoming a 3-1 deficit to knock off the top-seeded Boston Bruins, dominate the Toronto Maple Leafs and sweep the Hurricanes.  

Who wouldn’t want to try and copy that? 

• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.

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