On today’s episode of TSN’s Insider Trading Pierre LeBrun said that the Florida Panthers are looking to upgrade their defense as they head into the summer. It’s not a surprise to hear this as their defensive core was badly banged up after the playoffs and the left side of their group leaves a bit to be desired. They will also need to contend with free agent departures and Aaron Ekblad likely missing the start of the season with a shoulder injury.
All these issues have Florida reportedly shopping for defensemen via trade. Florida doesn’t have much in the way of cap space with just over $10MM available, so any trade might need to be dollar for dollar. The other issue they may come up against is their lack of trade capital, the Panthers don’t have a first-round pick until 2026 after dealing three first-rounders last year and this could lead Florida to make an old-fashioned player-for-player hockey trade with a team seeking forward help.
In other Panthers notes:
- One name that LeBrun brought up when discussing the Panthers search for defense was Calgary Flames rearguard Noah Hanifin. The former fifth overall pick reportedly informed the Flames that he doesn’t plan to sign an extension, meaning that the one year remaining on his current contract is likely to be his last in Calgary. Hanifin had seven goals and 31 assists in 81 games for Calgary last season and has been mentioned in multiple outlets as a possible trade target for the Panthers. The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie wrote a column this week talking about a possible Hanifin to Florida connection, but did also bring up the Panthers lack of tradeable assets as a possible roadblock.
- LeBrun goes on to talk about one move the Panthers could make to acquire some trade bait and that is moving forward Anthony Duclair. The 27-year-old has one year remaining on his contract at a very affordable $3MM cap hit and is just a year removed from scoring 31 goals. The Panthers may not be able to sign Duclair long-term and might be able to get some assets for him to flip for a defenseman. LeBrun goes on to say that he doesn’t think Florida wants to trade the former third overall pick, but they are fielding a lot of calls and could move him for the right offer. Duclair only dressed in 20 games in the regular season, but he was terrific in the playoffs where he put up four goals and seven assists in 20 games helping the Panthers reach the Stanley Cup finals.
Why does it feel like LeBrun just read my comments on this site and repeated them for his piece? That’s eerie man. I specifically dropped Duclair as a trade piece in pursuit of a defenceman. XD I’m joking of course, but you never know man.
It’s that time of year when GMs act like politicans in that they piss money away that dosen’t belong to them.
You can have Chiarot back! Please!
I thought Duclair + Knight for Debrincat would work.
I like this trade a lot honestly. But I am not sure that a shipping a guy out right after he clears the player assistance program is okay, you know? Unless he wants the change of scenery.
Knight is viewed as the Panthers immediate future in net, even with Bob still around.
Both teams need to clear cap space. Panthers could send Duclair and their second or a prospect like Sourdif to Calgary for Hanifin, and split the difference in salaries (about a million).
Don’t think Duclair was a former 3rd overall pick ps
yeah he was a 3rd rounder………
3rd round, 80th overall.