Report: Blues' offer for Tkachuk leaked

It's been less than a week and I'm sitting here still in awe at the blockbuster Matthew Tkachuk trade between the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers this past weekend. The Flames, of course, shipped Tkachuk to the Panthers in exchange for 115 point man Jonathan Huberdeau, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt and a 1st round pick. 

Rumors had been swirling around Tkachuk and the Flames once he informed the team that he wouldn't be signing a long-term deal with them as a restricted free agent, but the Panthers were never really a focal point of rumors until it was clear the deal was going down. There was speculation that Tkachuk could have ended up with his brother Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators, but the biggest rumor had him going to his hometown St. Louis Blues.

Obviously, neither the Sens nor the Blues could match what the Panthers were offering and if Blues insider Jeremy Rutherford's report of the Blues' offer is to be believed, it's easy to see why.

From Rutherford:

But it appears that it never got that far because offers from St. Louis and Carolina didn’t measure up to what Calgary eventually received from Florida. One source said the Blues’ proposal included Vladimir Tarasenko, Marco Scandella and a high draft pick; the team officially declined comment.

- Jeremy Rutherford

So... Tarasenko, Scandella and a "high draft pick" or Huberdeau, Weegar, Schwindt and a 1st round pick... that's not even a question. Frankly, the Blues' offer isn't even in the same ballpark as the Panthers' offer. Now, you can argue that the Panthers overpaid for Tkachuk, which I believe actually, but it's clear to me that the Blues weren't even close. Who knows what the Senators were offering or if things even got to that point, but if I'm Flames GM Brad Treliving I'm taking one look at that offer from the Panthers and I'm taking it in an instant. No sense wasting time and opportunity when there's a killer deal there just for the taking. 

It remains to be seen what happens long-term in this deal, but from the outset I think you'd have to say that the Flames won the deal.