Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk has now achieved “superstar” status in the National League, our colleague Renaud Lavoie left “JiC” on Thursday evening.
“I think this guy … he’s a ‘superstar.’ You have the star players, you have the star players and you have the ‘superstars,'” he said the day after the Hurricanes lost to the Panthers, a series in which Tkachuk scored three game-winning goals.
Tkachuk was already a very good player with the Calgary Flames before joining the Panthers last summer. But what he’s currently offering to the formation in Florida has nothing to do with what he did in Alberta.
“His stats with the Panthers in the playoffs don’t even come close compared to those with the Flames. In all aspects of his game!” explained Renaud.
Meanwhile, Canadiens fans will have to reconcile themselves: The Panthers’ first pick, which is part of the Habs after the trade that sent Ben Chiarot to Florida last season, will be an end-of-round pick.
“The Canadiens will have a 31 or 32 pick in the next draft. And who is it for? “Matthew Tkachuk,” said Renaud, who believes that while goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky deserves to be considered the top player in the Panthers’ playoffs, Tkachuk isn’t far behind and it certainly was in the regular season.
