The Florida Panther made headlines a few days ago by trading for former Calgary Flames standout Matthew Tkachuk. The franchise shipped off Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar in exchange for the 24-year-old. Upon arriving in Florida, Tkachuk agreed to an 8-year deal worth $76 million. He is coming off the best year of his career and leaves the Calgary as the franchise leader in games played (671) and points (613). Tkachuk has quickly found a way to endear himself to the fans and took a jab at the franchise's rival Tampa Bay Lightning under a week into coming to his new team. As he put it:

“I hate Edmonton, but I hate Tampa more now” he continued, “I'm excited for those games,” Tkachuk said. “They're the team to beat. It seems like for us we're going to have to go through them at some point, so I'm excited for that challenge. They know what it takes to win, and were going to learn that.”

It is important to note that the Lightning has won two out of the last three Stanley Cups. They also knocked the Panthers out of the previous two playoffs. Matthew Tkachuk is coming from a hockey-crazed franchise to one with much less of a following and this is something he hopes to change.

The Panthers are very excited about the confidence and ability he brings to the team and for good reason. It obviously is still to be determined how the fit will be on the ice, but it is awesome to see Tkachuk putting himself out there already. His addition to the team will certainly make the Battle of Florida more interesting and expectations have increased for the Panthers this season.

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Matthew Tkachuk, Brandon Montour and Sergei Bobrovsky in image, Stanley Cup in background, FLA Panthers logo, hockey rink in background

Colin Gallant ·