CORAL SPRINGS, Fla – Jonathan Huberdeau joked at one point he was going to cry, and MacKenzie Weegar looked like he just might at one point.
Returning to the Florida Panthers’ practice facility, in which they evolved into NHL players, brought out a wide range of emotions for the two new Calgary Flames on Friday, less than 24 hours ahead of their homecoming matchup.
An hour earlier, Matthew Tkachuk, the man whose trade was responsible for radically altering all their lives, calmly insisted he’d already closed the book on Calgary.
Easy for him to say, said Darryl Sutter who tied a stick-rack full of storylines together without a hint of malice or message-sending.
“You look at Jonathan, that was an emotional time for him and I think that’s why he had a hard time early,” said Sutter.
“He wasn’t expecting to be traded out of Florida. That was hard for him. Now his game is where you want it to be, but that takes time.
“Matthew made that choice and he was ready for it, so he’s jumped right in.”
And while the coach opened camp with a significant potshot directed at Tkachuk, he said for the first time Friday he totally respects the winger’s summertime decision to trigger a trade by not re-upping with the club.
“The storyline there is the CBA,” explained Sutter.
“Matthew went entry-level; bridge; career-year. Just look at the history of the league: entry level; bridge; career year – what happens? Free agency. That’s exactly what happened.
“Good on him.”
There’s more.
“It had nothing to do with Calgary – I think Covid alienated him from his family and the US,” said Sutter.
“There were times last year I felt sorry for Matthew.
“He was a guy who was always at the rink, and I was always at the rink, and he couldn’t do anything, or go anywhere, or go home.
“Good on him for going to Brad (Treliving) about it, quite honest.
“That’s what I think.
“Obviously we lost a top player, but you score 40 goals, get 60 assists and you’re plus-50…
“Good on ya.”
It sure has been, as Tkachuk’s decision triggered the NHL’s first sign-and-trade, earning Tkachuk an ocean-side address and $76 million to spend with sand between his toes.
He has responded with six goals and 22 points in 15 games, fitting seamlessly into an organization and lifestyle he had the talent and leverage to hand-pick.
The flipside was a blindsiding of Huberdeau and Weegar both have openly admitted was tough to swallow, until both Canadians parlayed a northern migration into financial windfalls of their own.
Neither has yet to find their stride in Calgary just yet, which is why getting Saturday’s reunion of sorts may be a blessing for both, as they seek to distance themselves from an organization and lifestyle that gave them a combined 16 years of memories.
“Special,” was how Weegar summed up his time in the Sunshine State.
“It’s made me a man. Lots of emotions. I loved it here.
“We had great memories here. I was just a little kid, a seventh rounder, and now here I am.
“I don’t even know how to put it into words because there are so many emotions going through my head.”
He wore several of them on his face as he spoke to a larger-than normal gathering of local and Calgary media types.
“(Saturday) it’s going to be more emotional – I feel it’s going to get to me a little bit,” added Huberdeau, who has two goals and six assists in 13 games, after signing an $84 million extension.
“After the trade I circled that date, and obviously I want to do well and I want us to win. After that it’s turn the page, and that’s how it’s going to be.
“It was a great chapter in my life. I was here for ten years. Great memories and we went through ups and downs and that was cool. Trades happen and it’s the business, but now it’s time to turn the page.”
Both Flames newbies admit the trade was made easier alongside one another, but the reality is neither asked for any of this.
“It’s different, Matthew wanted to get out of there, and us, we kind of got surprised by it,” said Huberdeau, who joked that his chemistry with Aleksander Barkov might prompt the Panthers forward to pass him the puck.
“It needed an adjustment – the weather, the snow, and the new organization. This game is important. I want to play well against them and show them what I can do, and (move on).”
Both joked they might get booed, which won’t be the case, even though Weegar said upon arrival in Calgary the Flames would be a better team than the Panthers.
“I gave everything I had here – we’ll see,” said Huberdeau.
“That was ten years of my life and career, and it was home for me, so hopefully I get a good ovation.”
He will, even though the fans will then undoubtedly focus their support on their new star.
“Both games (against Calgary) will mean a lot for all the guys in the trade,” said Tkachuk, who will make his lone appearance in Calgary Nov. 29, after the Flames complete this six-game roadie.
“It’s probably not going to sound great, but I probably already closed (the book on Calgary). I mean, I have to. You have to move on.
“I have great memories there, but it would be unfair to my teammates here, and the fans, and this whole organization that put a whole lot into this trade into getting me to not close that book yet.
“It’s extra special for me and all those guys over there. Playing against them is going to be weird.
“It will be weird for probably the first shift or just seeing the guys but after that it’s back to business.”
The way everyone involved wants it.
