Dave Hyde: Matthew Tkachuk’s big game and loud persona gets Florida Panthers closer to something big

Better. Younger. Tougher.

“He plays with an aggressive edge,” Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito said Monday of Matthew Tkachuk.

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Bigger. Stronger. Louder.

“I bring a certain swagger that will really help this team,” Tkachuk said. “I look at a guy like [Panthers center Aleksander Barkov], who from the outside looks like one of the best captains in the league. He leads with example and a quiet confidence. I’m almost like the other way. I’m not quiet.”

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Do you see why this should work? How the Panthers didn’t just get a complete player but a full personality like this team needs with this blockbuster trade?

The debate in NHL circles is if Tkachuk is a top-five player in the league or merely a top-10 player. That’s why you can lament the cost of Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, but understand when Zito says, “A 24-year-old, 100-point, tough-as-nails guy never really comes on the market.”

Tkachuk put himself on the market by refusing a contract extension in Calgary. Now he sat at a table with Zito, who gave a soft nudge with an elbow and called his newest player a “unicorn” due to his rare set of big scoring with big aggression.

“When I got a call he was available, I thought, ‘There’s no way,’ ” Zito said.

Tkachuk got a new, eight-year, $76 million contract that could have gone to Huberdeau. But do you invest in a complete, still-rising star at 24 or a one-dimensional star at 29?

The Panthers made the kind of cold-hearted decision good organizations do. Tkachuk instantly becomes a face of the franchise with Barkov — and, as mentioned, a louder one at that.

[ RELATED: Matthew Tkachuk excited about Panthers’ young corps and win-now mentality ]

He’s not just a player Zito compared to Jimmy Chitwood in the movie Hoosiers because, “he has the type of confidence at the end of, ‘Give me the ball.’ Two seconds left, he wants the shot.”

He’s also the personality that gave notice to the team that’s knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs the past two years. In Calgary, he hated Edmonton but said, “I hate Tampa Bay more now.”

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“I’m excited for those games,” Tkachuk said. “They’re the team to beat. It seems like for us we’re going to have to go through them at some point, so I’m excited for that challenge. They know what it takes to win, and we’re going to learn that.”

At one point Monday, amid the timeline of the sudden trade and the discussion of who he is, Tkachuk redirected the conversation to the most telling part of the trade.

“I want to be here,” he said. “This isn’t me wanting to getting traded and having no say. I chose this. I really want his to work. I’m really excited about the possibility of winning in South Florida.”

Every team would want Tkachuk. But who did Tkachuk want? He listed his priorities and ran each team through them.

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“First and foremost, winning not just now but in the future,” he said. “If I keep hearing about the past, I’m going to lose my mind. I know some of the [Panthers] players are unhappy the way things have gone the last few years. I don’t worry about that. I worry about the future.”

His second priority was the lifestyle. A hockey winter in South Florida tops one in Calgary.

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“Probably what’s on my feet right now,” he said in answering what he likes best about living here. “Flip-flops.”

The third priority was fitting into the team. There’s enough young talent with the Panthers to suggest a strong run.

Zito could have taken the easy way and run last season back again. No one would have said much. Maybe their lessons learned would have helped, too. But he had to see what everyone did in the playoffs. A fun, high-scoring team in the regular season couldn’t make the turn to playoff toughness.

Huberdeau turned invisible in the playoffs series against Washington and Tampa Bay. Weegar made some fundamental mistakes. They’re good players — Huberdeau is more than just good. But the running-it-back idea went out the window when Tkachuk came on the market.

He doesn’t just bring a top game, but a big persona. This team can use each. As Tkachuk said in proper form Monday, “There’s no reason at all why this can’t work.”