The forwards were the main parts of perhaps the biggest trade of the offseason July 22, when the Florida Panthers acquired Tkachuk and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Calgary flames for Huberdeau, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, forward Cole Schwindt and a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 draft.
Each will be making a huge adjustment this season; Tkachuk played the first six seasons of his NHL career with the Flames, and the 24-year-old had a career-high 104 points (42 goals, 62 assists) last season. Huberdeau played the first 10 seasons of his NHL career with the Panthers with a career-high 115 points (30 goals, 85 assists) last season.
"I feel great," Tkachuk said. "I'm just so excited. I've been down in Florida getting myself settled the past few weeks ... getting to know all the players, the trainers, everybody, it's been unbelievable. I was so excited going there, I knew how great it was going to be for myself, and it's just exceeded everything. Each day, something better. ... it just happened to be the No. 1 destination I wanted to go to as well. Best team available and everything. So it just worked out perfect."
Huberdeau said he believes Calgary is set up for even more success than Florida may be; the Flames also signed center Nazem Kadri to a seven-year contract Aug. 18.
"I think we know we have a good team," Huberdeau said. "Florida has a good team as well. Overall, we have a lot of depth and we're excited to get going ... it's nice to see the hype of the city and they're excited to have me and 'Weegs' and Kadri. They already have a good team and then we add these pieces, it's great.
"I'm going to be the same player out there, do what I do best ... it's going to be a change, but ... in life sometimes you need to change things up and obviously I didn't decide it, but I'm going to take it as a new chapter and I'm excited about it."
Tkachuk also talked about a typical golf outing with his younger brother, Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk, and his dad, Keith Tkachuk, who played 19 seasons in the NHL, and disclosed who's the best golfer in the family.
"Right now I win] ... but Brady's trending, though," he said "He's got the golf swing, the body for it; like, he looks like a golfer. He's not scoring that well right now but he's gotten a lot better. My dad's just the worst. He used to be really good ... we'd just rather play fast than play well."
Huberdeau also reminisced about his first fight, driving a standard car and explained why he rarely ever breaks his stick.
Millard rounds out the episode talking about some breakout candidates for the upcoming season, the pressure on Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe and who he thinks is the best offseason signing from a bargain perspective.
["The Chirp with Daren Millard"
features interviews with players, executives, alumni and other personalities around the game. You can share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #ChirpMallard.
