Florida Panthers To Sign Colin White

After getting bought out by the Ottawa Senators, free agent forward Colin White is headed to the Florida Panthers on a one-year, $1.2MM deal per TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. White is able to sign this deal with the Panthers thanks to him being recently bought out of his long-term contract by the Ottawa Senators.

This signing is an opportunity for both White and the Panthers. For White, he gets to join the reigning President’s Trophy-winning team, a club that had one of the most lethal attacks in recent NHL history. The Panthers score goals in bunches, and the hope for White is that he can be a part of that. Success in Florida has made other players significant amounts of money, as it has done for Mason Marchment today, so White signs this one-year deal likely with the hope that he can have a productive season and re-enter the market on stronger footing next summer.

For the Panthers, they get someone who was only a few years ago seen as a core piece of the Senators for a cheap price. At $1.2MM, White should help the team’s bottom-six and be able to fill in as a center if there are any injuries, if he’s not occupying the fourth-line center slot already. The Panthers are the team that gives White the best chance of rediscovering the form that saw him post 41 points in 71 games in 2018-19.

At a $1.2MM cost, getting a 25-year-old free agent with the resume that White has is a shrewd addition for Panthers GM Bill Zito, a manager under a ton of pressure to improve after a disappointing playoff exit this spring.