11:33 a.m.: The Senators confirmed the trade and all its parts in a team release Wednesday morning.
10:45 a.m.: The Panthers are nearing a deal to acquire pending UFA winger Vladimir Tarasenko from the Senators, according to reports from Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Florida is sending a 2025 third-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick to Ottawa, who retains 50% of Tarasenko’s $5MM cap hit, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. The 2024 fourth-rounder will upgrade to a 2026 third-round pick if the Panthers win the Stanley Cup.
Since no roster players are being sent back to the Sens, the Panthers must place a player on waivers and assign them a non-roster designation in the interim to create space. They have no open roster spots or waiver-exempt players to assign to AHL Charlotte. Swallowing Tarasenko’s reduced $2.5MM cap hit still leaves Florida with roughly $3.2MM in space ahead of Friday’s trade deadline.
Tarasenko joins his fourth team in the past two seasons and, based on previous reporting from Garrioch, ends up in his preferred destination. The 32-year-old has complete no-trade protection as part of the one-year deal he signed with Ottawa last summer, which he waived to approve the move to Florida.
In acquiring Tarasenko, Panthers GM Bill Zito addresses his squad’s most significant need on paper – another winger to ride shotgun with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. 30-year-old Nick Cousins, who has just five goals and 10 points in 51 games, has been shouldering top-six minutes with Anton Lundell and Evan Rodrigues finding chemistry together on Florida’s third line.
The defending Eastern Conference champions are now deeper than ever, adding Tarasenko’s 17 goals and 41 points this season to an offense that already ranked eighth in goals per game. Even his middle-of-the-pack possession metrics should be an improvement over the struggling Cousins, who’s hurt both the Bennett and Lundell lines, per MoneyPuck. When flanked by Carter Verhaeghe, Bennett and Tkachuk have controlled 60.4% of expected goals compared to 51.8% with Cousins.
It’s likely not the return the Sens wanted for their highest-value rental, especially with salary retention included. The extent to which Tarasenko’s no-trade clause limited Sens GM Steve Staios’ options for a return is unknown. Two draft picks are better than none, though, and there was little reason for Ottawa to hold onto Tarasenko with the playoffs out of reach for a franchise-record seventh straight season.
Tarasenko’s absence should translate to an uptick in ice time for 21-year-old Ridly Greig, who’s averaged under 15 minutes per game, down the stretch. He’s been one of the Sens’ bright spots this season, posting a team-high +17 rating along with nine goals and 21 points in 49 games. Tarasenko’s most common spot alongside Drake Batherson and Tim Stützle will be filled by another veteran in Claude Giroux, at least out of the gate.
By retaining $2.5MM of Tarasenko’s cap hit, the Sens remain over the $83.5MM Upper Limit, requiring Joshua Norris’ $7.95MM cap hit on LTIR to stay compliant. He remains out indefinitely with an upper-body injury potentially related to the shoulder problems that sidelined him for nearly all of 2022-23.
Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest was the first to report that two draft picks were heading from the Panthers to the Senators.
That strikes me as a really good fit for both player and team.
Ottawa to Miami in March? Thats a great trade (not even talking hockey).
It’s been quite the odyssey from Neftyanik Park to the NHL for The Tank. It’s too bad when a player who is identified with a team (St Louis) becomes too pricey for the performance he delivers and transforms into a second half of career vagabond. Don’t totally unpack your bags as another relo is likely this summer.
What does Florida have? They do not have a first round pick until 2026 and they do not have a second round pick this year.
A 3rd and a 4th … big time fleece job by Florida
If I’m Ottawa I’m holding out for next year’s 2nd and a 3rd this year. If it’s less, then FLA did very well.
It’s already confirmed. 3rd in 2026 and 4th in 2025 (4th becomes a 3rd if Florida makes the cup)
Ah I see!
link to x.com
While retaining 50%.. wow, that is cheap. Ottawa needs to start winning some trades.
With Tarasenko holding a full no move contract (why he got that I’m not sure) he probably told Sens it’s Florida or Florida!
At that point you can’t use any other teams to leverage more
The point being….
They should have called Lou and the Islanders, he would have gladly given up a first rounder for 30+ year old winger who’s a pending free agent.
Nah.. the ilses are average… Panthers gain on this..
Lou would have definitely overpaid. Luckily Tarasenko probably did not want to come to Long Island.
I think Tarasenko probably said Florida and no to the others since he has a full no movement clause
If anyone’s wondering about the underwhelming return, it’s because of the full NTC. He would only waive for Florida or some other teams that you could count on one hand.
And I was hoping that would have been the Rangers. Good trade for Florida.
That is what the players union and owners want to happen… controlled change!!!
I’m going to assume Tarasenko was adamant on only waiving his NMC to go to the Panthers because I find it hard to believe they couldn’t get a better return for a good player. I don’t think Mantha making more money should have got a better return when comparing players.
Panthers are reaching for the cup!!! Got to get it this year!!! Focused!!!
You’d think GMs would learn that giving full NTC & NMC are deadweights around their ankles. Limited NTC should be the max that teams provide, and they should be banned altogether for 1-year & final years of every contract… Tarasenko had the right to screw over Ottawa in this situation…
Oftentimes these are concessions that the GM has to make to because he can’t make player of Tarasenko’s caliber want to sign on a rebuilding team at a team friendly rate.
Exactly @kingcong95. When negotiating in free agency, a NTC is just another mechanism GMs can use to land a player without upping cap hit or term. It comes with a downside, for sure, but GMs accept that fact when they sign the player.
As an undercover Panthers fan with a handful of Panthers Cup winning wagers I hope this doesn’t hurt team chemistry as they are crushing right now. They definitely could’ve used another scorer & the price paid was great. We’ll see.
Oh man, what a good day to be a Cats fan. Years of suffering, but they’re leading the league right now, and just got better.
Nice move for the Panthers….. Don Sweeney…. your up…. gotta get something done or your not getting past 2nd round.
You have several holes to fill and you give away Tarasenko? Fantastic move for Florida.