Matthew Tkachuk will face his former team for the first time when the Florida Panthers host the Calgary Flames on Saturday, and though the star winger is mostly focused on securing a win, he expects the experience will be an unusual one.
"It's early in the year, but this game still means a lot for our team and for myself," he said Friday. "I'd be lying to you guys if I said, 'It's just another game.' ... It's extra special for me, knowing pretty much all those guys over there. Playing against them is going to be weird."
Tkachuk spent his first six NHL seasons with the Flames. Fresh off a career-best campaign that saw him pot 104 points in 82 games, the then-restricted free agent informed Calgary in July that he would not sign a long-term deal with the team.
The move triggered a blockbuster trade sending Tkachuk to Florida in exchange for a package including Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar.
Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said the swap was different for Huberdeau than for Tkachuk because the latter was "ready for it."
"There were times (last year) I felt sorry for Matthew," Sutter said. "He's a guy who was always at the rink, and he couldn't do nothing. He couldn't go anywhere. He couldn't go home. Good on him for going to (general manager Brad Treliving) about it."
Tkachuk, 24, said his quick chemistry with his new team is "unbelievable." He currently leads the Panthers with 22 points in 16 games.
The transition hasn't been as smooth for Huberdeau, who has eight points in 13 games as he adjusts to Calgary's system. Still, the 29-year-old said he's excited to show his former team what he can do.
"You look forward to it, obviously. In the summer after the trade I circled that date," said Huberdeau, who spent the first 10 seasons of his career with Florida. "Obviously, I want to do well, I want us to win. After that, it's kinda turn the page, and that's how it's going to be."
Though Tkachuk will make his return to Calgary when the Flames host the Panthers on Nov. 29, he said he's already closed the book on that chapter of his career.
"I mean, I have to; you have to move on. I've got great memories there," he said. "It'd be unfair to my teammates here (in Florida), to the fans, to this whole organization that put a lot into this trade, into getting me - it'd be unfair for me to not close that book yet."
The Panthers and Flames clash Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.
