Paul Maurice is starting Brady Tkachuk on Florida's top line with Aleksander Barkov, not next to his brother Matthew.
This offseason's biggest shock in Florida wasn't a coaching change, it was GM Bill Zito landing Brady Tkachuk from Ottawa in a trade that reunited two Olympic gold medal winning brothers.
Most people assumed Brady and Matthew would end up on a line with Sam Bennett. Maurice had other plans entirely.
Brady will open the season next to Barkov and Sam Reinhart instead, a trio built more around space creation than raw sibling chemistry.
Tkachuk brings a heavy shot but struggles to create his own space. Barkov and Reinhart's playmaking should fix exactly that problem.
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Barkov posted 71 points across 67 games in his most recent full season, with 20 goals, 51 assists and a plus-1 rating, exactly the setup game Tkachuk needs around him.
Why the power play fit might matter even more
Reinhart put up 61 points over 64 games last season, with 29 goals and 32 assists, giving this new trio real finishing punch on top of the playmaking.
On the power play, Tkachuk projects into the net-front role, a spot Florida has tried filling with several players without ever finding someone this physically dominant.
Reinhart works the bumper, Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk handle the flanks, and Seth Jones quarterbacks from the point after posting 32 points over 52 games last season.
Splitting the Tkachuk brothers looks unusual on paper, but Maurice clearly values fit over feel-good storylines, and that's the right call here.
Florida finished last season at 40-38-4 with 84 points, missing the kind of results that made adding a piece like Tkachuk necessary in the first place.
Whether this experiment lasts the whole season or Maurice eventually reunites the brothers with Bennett is something training camp and the first few weeks will answer.
Should Paul Maurice keep the Tkachuk brothers apart or reunite them on one line?
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