The Panthers have signed their trade deadline acquisition to a new deal, announcing that they’ve signed winger Frank Vatrano to a one-year, one-way contract. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the contract is worth $925K, a nice little bump over his qualifying offer which checked in at just over $787K. He would have been eligible for salary arbitration.
The 24-year-old was acquired in exchange for a 2018 third-round pick and fit in quite nicely with his new team. After putting up just two goals in 25 games with Boston, Vatrano picked up five goals and three assists in just 16 games with Florida. In his career between the Bruins and Panthers, he has 25 goals and 14 assists in 124 games.
Vatrano played in a middle-six role in Florida down the stretch and should do so again in 2018-19 even with their earlier acquisition of Mike Hoffman. As things stand, he likely slots in on their third line left wing.
With the signing, the Panthers now have three remaining restricted free agents from their NHL roster to re-sign in center Jared McCann as well as defenseman Alexander Petrovic and MacKenzie Weegar.
Great kid. Hope he’s able to make his minor league success translate to the NHL.