MacKenzie Weegar Settles Prior To Arbitration

Thursday: The team only just officially announced the deal, though obviously it was agreed to earlier this week since it is not an arbitration award.

Monday: The Florida Panthers and MacKenzie Weegar won’t need their arbitration hearing after all. CapFriendly reports that the two sides have agreed to a one-year contract worth $1.6MM. Two other arbitration cases are on the books for today, though they could also be settled at any point before a decision is awarded.

Weegar, 25, has been basically a full-time member of the Panthers the last two seasons suiting up for 124 games since the start of 2017-18. In that time he has recorded 23 points and solid enough possession numbers, though he is still sheltered and receives fewer than 16 minutes of ice time each night. That number could very well go down in 2019-20, as the team brought in veteran defenseman Anton Stralman to take over a ton of minutes on the right side. Stralman is carrying a $5.5MM cap hit in each of the next three years.

There will also be plenty of competition for the bottom pairing in Florida, as players like Mark Pysyk, Josh Brown and Ian McCoshen (still unsigned) battle for playing time. The Panthers have sunk a ton of money into the team this offseason to make it competitive under new head coach Joel Quenneville, meaning Weegar will need to play even better to get on the ice.

A one-year contract will leave the young defenseman a restricted free agent again next summer, when he will be arbitration eligible once again.