Tkachuk signed an 8-year deal with an AAV of $9.5 million that will keep him in Florida through the end of the decade
Over the weekend we celebrated the one year anniversary of the massive trade that brought superstar Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers.
The move has worked out quite well for the Panthers after one season.
Tkachuk had a monster year, logging 40 goals and 109 points while finishing as one of three finalists for the Hart Trophy, given annually to the league's most valuable player.
He was also huge for the Panthers during the playoffs, scoring big goals and impacting the game in significant ways on and off the ice, just as he did all season.
When Tkachuk was acquired, he also was part of the first sign-and-trade deal in NHL history.
Florida General Manager Bill Zito did that so he could get an extra year on Tkachuk's contract, and now the 25-year-old star is locked up with the Panthers until the year 2030.
The contract pays Tkachuk an average annual value (AAV) of $9.5 million.
For a multi-40 goal scorer.
A Hart Trophy finalist.
A proven, clutch playoff performer.
Those are the bold terms, the bullet points.
Digging deeper into the numbers, the advanced metrics and possession numbers were off the charts for both Tkachuk individually and the Panthers as a team when he was on the ice.
This was highlighted by Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic in a post on the NHL's 10 best contracts.
"The Panthers superstar posted arguably the most impactful season at five-on-five in the analytics era," Luszczyszyn wrote. "What Florida did while Tkachuk was on the ice was unprecedented, leading to another career year in points. Then he took that a step further in the playoffs where he was A Problem to every team that faced him. Tkachuk is a unicorn in this league, a very rare blend of power and finesse, shooting and passing, offense and defense."
The way Luszczyszyn breaks down the numbers, he says Tkachuk is worth nearly double what he's making.
If the ascending young winger continues on his current path into what should be the prime years of this career, that doesn't seem off base.
For now, Zito and the Panthers can take solace in that they made one of the biggest deals in league history and, at least so far, have come out of it smelling like roses.