Florida Panthers voice breaks down Tkachuk trade, Eastern Conference playoff picture

Tkachuk-y Doobie Doo just doesn’t roll off the tongue.

Even so, Steve Goldstein, the voice of the Panthers on Bally Sports Florida and the man who created the “Hubie Doobie Doo” goal call for Jonathan Huberdeau, is a big fan of Matthew Tkachuk.

This is relevant because the Panthers last week acquired Tkachuk from the Calgary Flames, with Huberdeau the main player headed to Canada in the blockbuster deal.

“When I first talked to Matthew after the trade, one of the first things he said was: ‘What’s going to be my goal call?’,” Goldstein said in an interview with the Herald this week. “The pressure is on me.”

Goldstein was quick to add that he was joking about any pressure on him. The real pressure is on the Panthers to improve on last season.

In 2021-2022, the Panthers had the NHL’s best regular-season record. But after getting swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the playoffs, the Panthers made a couple of significant changes.

First, they replaced interim coach Andrew Brunette with veteran Paul Maurice. Then came the Tkachuk trade, which also sent standout defenseman MacKenzie Weegar to Calgary.

Goldstein, who has been a Panthers broadcaster since 1997, said this franchise has never had a player like Tkachuk.

“Guys who play with his tenacity are extremely rare when you combine that with high-end offensive ability,” Goldstein said. “The Panthers have had players who have had one of those traits many times.

“But it’s a rare to get a player who can do everything, and it’s even rarer to get that guy when he’s only 24 years old. Usually teams don’t let players like that go.

“It’s an amazing addition. [The Panthers] had to give up as much as they did to make sure nobody else could beat their offer.”

To Goldstein’s point, the list of players who are both high-end scorers and elite agitators is short, with Washington’s Alex Ovechkin at the top. Beyond him, Goldstein mentioned Boston’s Brad Marchand, who is still a terrific player at age 34.

However, Marchand has never had a 40-goal season, and he has never had more than 100 points. Tkachuk, meanwhile, is coming off a 42-goal, 104-point season.

As for players such as Tkachuk rarely getting traded, Ovechkin has spent his entire 17-year career with Washington. Marchand has spent his entire 13-year NHL run with Boston.

Still, the Tkachuk trade doesn’t automatically make the Panthers better. After all, Huberdeau had a career-high 115 points last season, leading the NHL with 85 assists and ranking second with 50 primary helpers.

Weegar ranked second on the Panthers in plus/minus with a plus-40 rating. He also ranked second on the team in average time on ice (23:22).

Dealing Huberdeau and Weegar was difficult emotionally for many Panthers fans because both players had spent their entire careers — a combined total of 16 seasons — with the franchise.

Goldstein said he had an “electronic message” exchange with Huberdeau following the shocking trade. Goldstein also expressed hope that Huberdeau would return to the Panthers later in his career.

“[Huberdeau] was sad — he wanted to be here forever,” Goldstein said. “I expressed to him that he’s always going to be a big part of South Florida.

“He and his family have been coming to South Florida for vacation and to go to Panthers games since he was a little kid.

“It’s tough to see him go after the team just started to have success. But the Panthers weren’t looking to get rid of him. They had to match the money for salary-cap reasons. Both Huberdeau and Weegar had one year left on their contracts …

“The puzzle pieces fit.”

How the Panthers fit in a remodeled Eastern Conference for the upcoming season remains to be seen.

Of the top four teams in the Atlantic Division last season, the Panthers made the biggest acquisition with Tkachuk.

Boston and Tampa Bay were relatively quiet as far as additions, but the Lightning lost two standouts — defenseman Ryan McDonagh and winger Ondrej Palat — due to an overloaded salary cap.

Toronto, the other incumbent Atlantic playoff team, switched goalies Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek for two-time Cup champ Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov.

Two of the Atlantic’s nonplayoff teams from last season — Detroit and Ottawa — appear to have made major strides. Detroit added goalie Ville Husso, former Panthers defenseman Ben Chiarot and forwards Andrew Copp, David Perron and Dominik Kubalik.

Ottawa signed goalie Cam Talbot, 40-goal scorer Alex DeBrincat and forward Claude Giroux, who never clicked in his brief 18-game run with the Panthers last season.

In the Metropolitan Division, the four reigning playoff teams are Pittsburgh and Washington — which have both lost in the first round of the playoffs four straight years — Carolina and the New York Rangers.

Of those four, Carolina was the most aggressive, bringing in veteran winger Max Pacioretty and Brent Burns, one of the NHL’s top offensive defensemen.

The Rangers, who appear to be ascending, signed ex-Panthers center Vincent Trocheck to a hefty seven-year contract.

Washington made one big move, adding Stanley Cup-winning goalie Darcy Kuemper; and Pittsburgh made no major additions.

Of the nonplayoff teams from the Metropolitan last season, Columbus is the team to watch as the Blue Jackets signed star winger Johnny Gaudreau to a seven-year contract.

“The Eastern Conference is a beast,” Goldstein said. “There are going to be some good teams that don’t make the playoffs.”

Goldstein, though, doesn’t think the Panthers will miss. In his opinion, the Panthers have “graduated” from a franchise just trying to make the postseason to a squad that is now a playoff team.

The next step is adjusting style of play to have success in the playoffs.

“In the playoffs, teams clog things up,” Goldstein said. “They don’t let you use your speed.

“You need to get to the dirty areas to score greasy goals in the postseason.”

That’s where Tkachuk comes in, and all that’s needed now is a new Goldstein goal call.