After re-signing Aaron Ekblad earlier today and agreeing to terms on a new contract for Brad Marchand, the Panthers might not be done just yet. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (video link) that Florida is also working on a new contract for pending unrestricted free agent center Tomas Nosek. The 32-year-old inked a one-year deal worth the league minimum of $775K on the opening day of free agency last summer and, when healthy, was largely a regular on their fourth line. Nosek picked up a goal and eight assists in 59 games this past season while winning more than half his faceoffs for the eighth straight season. Speculatively, should a new deal be reached, it should check in at or near the minimum salary once again.
Panthers Rumors
Panthers Sign Aaron Ekblad To Max-Term Extension
6:35 p.m.: Florida has announced Ekblad’s new eight-year contract.
2:15 p.m.: The Panthers and defenseman Aaron Ekblad have made significant progress on a long-term extension to keep him away from the free agent market tomorrow, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports. It will be an eight-year deal worth around $48.8MM for a cap hit of $6.1MM, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. PuckPedia reports the deal contains a full no-move clause for the first six years and a 16-team no-trade in the other two and breaks down as follows:
2025-26 to 2027-28: $1MM salary, $6.9MM signing bonus
2028-29: $1MM salary, $5.14MM signing bonus
2029-30 to 2032-33: $1MM salary, $3.74MM signing bonus
Florida’s commitment to Ekblad, who would have been the top defenseman on the market had he tested free agency, comes after months of hesitancy to dole out a long-term commitment. Now, GM Bill Zito has acquiesced and will give Ekblad the long-term stability he desired with a significant discount on the cap hit he could have landed as a UFA, which McKenzie says could have been as high as $9MM.
The lifelong Panther gets to stay in Florida, who made clear during their run to their second straight Stanley Cup championship that he never wanted to leave. Their 2014 first overall pick set the club’s franchise record for games played and points by a defenseman several years ago, scoring 380 points with a +96 rating in 732 games in a Florida uniform over the past 11 years.
He could very well only end up signing three NHL contracts – his entry-level deal, the eight-year, $60MM extension he signed in 2016, and this one. While no doubt a top-pairing threat now coming in at a significant discount on his previous cap hit of $7.5MM, his injury history was always the holdup in signing him to a long-term deal. The Panthers felt that was a steep enough discount to quell their concerns, while Ekblad was willing to take nearly a 33% cut on his market value to land as much stability as possible.
Although Ekblad hasn’t played a full 82-game schedule since 2018-19 and has only hit the 70-game mark once since then, he did have a mostly healthy 2024-25 campaign that was truncated by a late-season suspension for PEDs. He still finished the season with a 3-30–33 scoring line in 56 games, along with a +11 rating. His 23:31 average time on ice was his most in three years, bolstered by an increase in power-play time in the wake of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Montour’s departures in free agency last year, which also played a role in his offensive resurgence. His 0.59 points per game in 2024-25 were the fourth-highest mark of his career.
Ekblad was also spectacular in the postseason, posting 13 points and a +10 rating in 19 games. That was his highest point total in any of Florida’s three straight runs to the Stanley Cup Final.
The 29-year-old will now reprise his role alongside Gustav Forsling for the foreseeable future as one of the best two-way pairs in the league. The duo logged 870 minutes together in the regular season and controlled 54.6% of expected goals while doing so, per MoneyPuck. He also forms one of the best one-two punches among right-shot D in the league with in-season acquisition Seth Jones. The trio of Florida’s top three defensemen is now under contract through 2029-30 (when Jones’ deal expires) at a combined cap hit of just $18.85MM – extremely good value that sets the Panthers up to continue having the flexibility to maintain a championship-contending roster.
Florida now has $4.9MM in cap space remaining with five roster spots to fill, per PuckPedia. That rules out an extension for their other highly notable UFA, winger Brad Marchand, at first glance, but they can get creative. They certainly won’t be able to match high-priced multi-year offers without offloading a salary or two, but could offer Marchand, who’s eligible for a bonus-laden one-year deal because of his age, a low base salary with easily achievable performance bonuses. That would allow them to initially be cap compliant with him, but if those bonuses are achieved and exceed the cap, Florida would be hit with a hefty penalty for 2026-27.
Image courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.
Free Agent Notes: Marchand, Gavrikov, Provorov, Granlund, Faksa, Pezzetta
If the Panthers can’t get a deal done to keep Brad Marchand in Florida before the market opens tomorrow, Darren Dreger of TSN expects the Bruins, Mammoth, and Maple Leafs to be his most aggressive suitors in free agency.
A Boston reunion would be surprising given there’s been no change in the front office that wasn’t willing to match Marchand’s cheaper requests for an extension during the season, resulting in the Bruins trading their captain to the Panthers at the deadline. Nonetheless, it’s a financially feasible move for them and one that would address their rather significant need for top-six forwards. The club still has $12.74MM in cap space after getting extensions done for names like John Beecher, Morgan Geekie, and Henri Jokiharju in the last 24 hours, per PuckPedia. Marchand would likely command a contract in the $8MM range annually if he hits the open market.
While Utah has seemed to dial back its rhetoric of making a significant free agent splash, instead placing complete trust in its young core and opting for more youthful pickups via trade, like JJ Peterka, Marchand might make more sense on a shorter-term contract. They still have nearly $15MM in cap space and enter 2025-26 with one of the youngest forward groups in the league – their only forwards 30 or older are Alexander Kerfoot and Liam O’Brien.
The Leafs also have their cap flexibility for Tuesday dialed in after getting rather affordable extensions done for Matthew Knies ($7.75MM) and John Tavares ($4.38MM AAV) in the last few days. They’d presumably be one of the more appealing fits for Marchand to remain both with a contending team and in a top-six role, potentially even seeing top-line minutes in place of the departing Mitch Marner.
Here are a few more rumors from around the NHL ahead of the official start of free agency on Tuesday:
- Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic relays that the Kings are making a last-ditch effort today to reach an extension with defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. While general manager Ken Holland said over the weekend he expects Gavrikov to test the market, L.A. still hasn’t heard back from Gavrikov’s camp on their final offer.
- While things were quiet on extension talks between the Blue Jackets and defenseman Ivan Provorov for weeks, they re-engaged in negotiations yesterday, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports. They presumably decided getting yesterday’s extension for Dante Fabbro done, ensuring they retain depth on their weaker right side of the blue line, was a priority over Provorov’s talks.
- Center Mikael Granlund and the Stars continue to have mutual interest in an extension, according to LeBrun. It still looks unlikely something will get done before tomorrow with the Stars having just $980K in projected cap space for next season, but they could reach a handshake agreement if Dallas is confident they can move out other contracts to make Granlund’s money work. They’ve already been successful in retaining vets Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene on below-market-value deals.
- Depth pivot Radek Faksa will have plenty of options tomorrow if he reaches the market, given the lack of centers available, but there’s still the possibility he stays with the Blues. The two sides remain in extension talks, says Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic.
- The Maple Leafs are among the teams expected to have interest in Canadiens enforcer Michael Pezzetta, assuming he hits the market tomorrow, reports LeBrun.
Offseason Checklist: Florida Panthers
The offseason has arrived with the draft now complete and free agency fast approaching. Accordingly, it’s time to look at what each team needs to accomplish this summer. We wrap up our series with a look at the Stanley Cup-winning Panthers.
Late in the regular season, things weren’t looking great for Florida. The team was banged up and underachieving, slipping to third in the Atlantic Division, finishing just one point ahead of Ottawa who occupied the first Wild Card spot in the East. However, they once again showed that they were a team built for the playoffs, taking care of business to win the Cup for the second straight year. Now, GM Bill Zito has some work to do in the coming days to keep his team intact as much as possible.
Bridge For Samoskevich
While Florida has several pending unrestricted free agents (that we’ll look at in more detail shortly), they have one restricted free agent of some significance in winger Mackie Samoskevich. The 22-year-old is coming off his first full NHL season and needs a new contract although he qualifies as a 10.2 (c) player and is therefore not eligible for an offer sheet. That helps take the pressure off as there won’t be an inflationary offer coming in that could mess up the rest of their plans.
The 22-year-old played in 72 games with the Panthers this season, notching a solid 15 goals and 16 assists despite only averaging 13:19 per game. However, he was used only sparingly in the playoffs, dressing for just four outings, only one of those coming after the first round. With just seven other regular season games to his name from 2023-24, this is a profile that screams bridge contract.
If the Panthers want to leave as much flexibility as possible for next season, a one-year deal might only check in around the $1.25MM range. Alternatively, a two-year pact would likely push the AAV closer to $1.5MM per season. With no true pressure points, this is a case that could drag on a bit but there’s value in getting something done sooner rather than later so they know how much they have to spend on their core free agents.
Keep Key Free Agents
One of Florida’s ‘big three’ potential unrestricted free agents is off the market with the team announcing on Friday that center and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett had signed an eight-year, $64MM contract to remain with the Panthers. That leaves them with $11MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, and two key players to try to keep, defenseman Aaron Ekblad and winger Brad Marchand.
Ekblad has been a fixture on the back end for the Panthers since they made him the first overall selection back in 2014. He has been a full-time NHL player ever since and ranks second to only Aleksander Barkov for games played in franchise history. Between missing a few games due to injury and a 20-game late-season suspension for a violation of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program, Ekblad is coming off a quieter year by his standards but he still had 33 points in 56 games while logging 23:31 per night of ice time. He’s still capable of playing on the top pairing and being an all-situations player for several more years. But with a lot of mileage already, is Florida willing to give him a max-term deal? Meanwhile, Ekblad appears to be in a position to command something around the $7.5MM he made on his expiring eight-year contract as the top right-shot option on a market largely bereft of impactful players on that side which gives him a lot of leverage in talks.
As for Marchand, this was not a situation that either side would be in. When he was acquired at the trade deadline, the expectation was that he’d be a good secondary contributor and then probably move on. But Marchand wound up being an instrumental part of their Cup run, chipping in with 10 goals and 10 assists in 23 games despite primarily playing in Florida’s third line. Coming off a 51-point regular season, his stock is now quite high as well to the point where a raise on the $6.125MM he made on his set-to-expire contract is now doable, something that seemed very unlikely just a few months ago.
Zito has made it clear he wants to keep both of these players but the math simply doesn’t work. One is an option but if they want to keep Ekblad and Marchand in the fold, they’re going to have to get creative and also move a player or two out. Less than 72 hours away from the start of free agency, he’ll have to move fast.
Goalie Work
There’s work to do on a few fronts between the pipes for Florida this summer. None of them necessarily qualify as significantly pressing but will require action at some point.
The first involves starting extension talks with Sergei Bobrovsky. When Florida dealt Spencer Knight in the Seth Jones deal (leading some to believe Jones would replace Ekblad on the back end long-term), their in-house replacement for Bobrovsky went away. Now, instead of potentially handing him the crease in 2026-27, working out a new deal for the 36-year-old seems like the route they’re going to try to take as a short-term solution. It’s fair to say that the price tag won’t come close to the $10MM he’s making now but a two-year pact around the $6MM or so range would buy Zito a little more time to find a longer-term replacement. The sooner they get that deal secured, the more confidence they can have about taking on money for 2026-27. But it’s not necessarily something that has to be done over the next few months.
Florida got ahead of what was the next item on this list when they acquired goaltender Daniil Tarasov from Columbus earlier this week. It’s expected he’ll take the place of Vitek Vanecek, who was acquired at the deadline to take Knight’s vacated spot, as Bobrovsky’s backup next season. Now, they need to get him under contract. He’s owed a qualifying offer of $1.26MM but the offer also carries arbitration rights, something they’d likely prefer to avoid. With that in mind, it’s likely that they’d like to get something done soon or close enough where they could non-tender him and then sign him after that, a strategy that teams have started to employ more often in recent years.
The other thing they need to do is land a veteran third-stringer. That was Chris Driedger’s role for most of the year before he was traded for Kaapo Kahkonen who played a big role in AHL Charlotte getting to the Calder Cup Finals. They have prospect Cooper Black signed for one more year and he did quite well with the Checkers, albeit in limited action. They’ll likely want to give him more action next season so a veteran who can split starts and also be called up to be the backup in a pinch in the NHL is the type of player they’ll likely want. There will be several of those available so they’ll just have to ensure that they’re able to get a deal done with one of them.
Add Defensive Depth
At the moment, the Panthers only have five NHL blueliners under contract for next season. One of those is Uvis Balinskis who was largely a regular during the regular season but was a healthy scratch 18 times in the playoffs. Ekblad returning would make a big difference and shift the focus toward adding some injury insurance and depth above all else.
Nate Schmidt was one of the players signed last year to serve that depth role and he fared quite well to the point where he’ll either have to take a below-market deal to remain with the Panthers or move on. At this point, the goal should be to try to find someone who can fill that type of role on the third pairing (16-17 minutes a night) for around that price tag to, again, maximize their spending room on their top players. An extra one of those players would also be handy in an ideal world.
Internally, Tobias Bjornfot is someone who has been a depth defender but as a pending RFA with arbitration rights and 134 career NHL games, he’s a non-tender candidate to avoid any risk of a higher-than-desired award. He’s the only reserve list defender with some NHL experience although Mike Benning has shown some promise and could be in the mix for a recall at some point. With that in mind, a veteran defender who could start with the Checkers and be injury insurance would also be useful.
Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.
Panthers Sign Sam Bennett To Eight-Year Extension
The Florida Panthers have signed reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett to an eight-year, $64MM contract extension, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. The move was later confirmed by the Panthers. It will carry an annual-average-value of $8MM and carry Bennett through his age-37 season. The contract will also carry a no-movement clause through the first five years, and a no-trade clause through the final three years, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
After a postseason full of speculation as to where he’d land next, Bennett will stand by his word and re-sign with the Panthers. The deal clocks in at a cheaper price than many speculated he could receive on the open market, especially after leading the playoffs with 15 goals in 23 games. No other player scored more than 11 goals. Bennett was ferocious through every single game in Florida’s run to a second consecutive Stanley Cup win. Serving as the team’s top-line left-wing, Bennett earned 22 points in summer hockey, with many coming on the back of relentless play around the opponent’s net.
The postseason performance was the culmination of what many knew Bennett was capable of. He’s long served as an imposing, aggressive presence in the offensive end – capable of racking up just as many penalty minutes as he does points. He scored 14 points in 19 games of Florida’s Stanley Cup win last season, after netting 41 points and 100 penalty minutes during the regular season. That marked Bennett’s third-straight season reaching at least 40 points – a streak he maintained this season by posting a career-high 51 points in 76 games. He added 90 penalty minutes and a minus-15 to that stat line.
Bennett has now scored 20 goals and 40 points in three of the last four seasons. His only miss – the 2022-23 campaign – saw him net 16 goals and 40 points in just 63 games. He’s proven incredibly reliable ever since joining the Panthers via trade in the 2020-21 season. Florida acquired him from the Calgary Flames in exchange for Emil Heineman and a second-round pick ultimately used by Seattle to select David Goyette. Heineman was traded earlier today in Montreal’s acquisition of Noah Dobson.
Bennett scored 15 points in his first 10 games with the Panthers following his trade. In the years since, he’s combined for 95 goals and 196 points in 289 games – the fifth most on the Panthers behind Aleksander Barkov (332), Sam Reinhart (324), Carter Verhaeghe (254), and Matthew Tkachuk (254). Bennett has also totaled 59 points in 77 playoff games in Florida, fourth on the team behind Verhaeghe (76), Barkov (74), and Tkachuk (69).
This deal will likely carry Bennett through the end of his career in a Florida Panthers jersey. The Holland Landing, Ontario native originally began his NHL career with the Calgary Flames, who selected him fourth-overall in the 2014 NHL Draft. Bennett played through his rookie NHL season in the 2015-16 campaign and earned a hardy 18 goals and 36 points in 77 games. His stout performance was drowned out by a loaded 2015-16 rookie class – headlined by Artemi Panarin, Jack Eichel, and Connor McDavid. But Bennett showed he could do more than just score with a lofty 75 penalty minutes in 81 games of his sophomore season. With that performance, he fell into the rut of bruising middle-six center in Calgary – a role he would stick in until moving to the Panthers.
Florida has brought out the best of the best in Bennett, and been rewarded two Stanley Cups for their efforts. The 2024-25 season was undoubtedly the best in the 29-year-old’s NHL career – and interestingly ended with him serving as a utility tool more than a set-in center. Florida could expand that role as Bennett enters his 30s, especially with a measly 46.4 faceoff percentage over the last five seasons. Having a Swiss-army-knife locked up for the foreseeable future will be an invaluable piece for the Panthers, as they look to maintain their top-of-the-league presence for as long as possible.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Capitals Acquire Justin Sourdif
The Capitals have added some forward depth, announcing that they’ve acquired Justin Sourdif from the Panthers. In return, Florida receives Washington’s second-round pick in 2026 and Washington’s sixth-round selection in 2027.
The 23-year-old was a third-round pick by the Panthers back in 2020, going 87th overall. He spent the following two seasons in the WHL, splitting time between Vancouver and Edmonton, including his final season that saw him notch 72 points in just 52 games.
However, despite the offensive prowess in junior, NHL playing time has been hard to come by so far for Sourdif. He has just four appearances at the top level under his belt with only one of those coming this season in a game in late February when he scored his first career NHL goal. The rest of his time has been spent at the AHL level with Charlotte.
After putting up 24 points in 48 games with the Checkers in his first professional season in 2022-23, Sourdif was able to improve on that the following year with 38 points in 58 appearances. This year, his point total dipped slightly to 34 but he only got into 43 games after missing the first month of the season due to an injury sustained during training camp. He played an important role in Charlotte’s run to the Calder Cup Finals, collecting 10 points and 32 penalty minutes in 18 postseason appearances.
Sourdif will be waiver-eligible for the first time next season and clearly, the Capitals feel that he’s ready for full-time duty at the NHL level despite the limited opportunity that he has received so far and were willing to give up a return of some significance to make sure they got him while Florida adds a pair of future selections to their pick cupboards which aren’t exactly well-stocked at the moment.
The first order of business for the Capitals with Sourdif will be signing him to a new contract as his entry-level deal is set to expire at the end of the month. He’ll be a restricted free agent without arbitration eligibility and will be owed a two-way qualifying offer worth $874K in the NHL and $80K in the minors. Given that they clearly view Sourdif as an NHL piece moving forward, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a one-way contract given to him that checks in a little below that amount, giving Washington a little extra cap flexibility heading into free agency.
Panthers Acquire Daniil Tarasov From Blue Jackets
The Florida Panthers are making quick work to fill in their hole at backup goaltender. According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the Florida Panthers have acquired netminder Daniil Tarasov from the Columbus Blue Jackets. In response to LeBrun’s report, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic shared that the Blue Jackets are acquiring a late-round draft pick in the trade. Columbus confirmed the trade, announcing they’ve acquired Florida’s 2025 fifth-round pick (160th overall) for their former backup.
As a potential non-tender candidate heading into the offseason, the Blue Jackets did decent work in not letting Tarasov leave for nothing. After being surpassed toward the end of the 2024-25 campaign by youngster Jet Greaves, there was little chance Tarasov would remain in Columbus for next season. Now, he’ll attempt to revive his career behind fellow countryman Sergei Bobrovsky.
There was a time when Tarasov was believed to be the future of the crease for the Blue Jackets. Columbus selected Tarasov with the 86th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft, and he quickly impressed a year later with the MHL’s Tolpar Ufa. After spending a few years in the Liiga and KHL, including a strong 2020-21 season with Salavat Yulaev Ufa, where Tarasov recorded an 11-3-2 record in 16 games and achieved a .925 save percentage, the Blue Jackets brought Tarasov to North America.
Unfortunately, his professional career in North America got off to a slow beginning. In his first two years with the Blue Jackets and their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, Tarasov participated in just 43 games, which limited his development opportunities.
It wasn’t until the 2023-24 season that Tarasov became a full-time member of Columbus’ goaltending tandem. He managed an 8-11-3 record in 24 games with a .908 SV% and 3.18 GAA. His underlying metrics were strong, including 3.9 goals saved above average (GSAA) and a .565 quality start percentage, indicating that his development had returned to the right track.
Alas, this past season undid most of the positive steps he took a year ago. After starting the year as the backup again, Tarasov ended with a 7-10-2 record in 20 games, posting a .881 save percentage and a 3.54 goals against average, which caused his GSAA to drop to -10.5, resulting in the loss of his roster spot.
Given that Bobrovksy started 54 games for the Panthers during the 2024-25 season, and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down, Tarasov should garner similar deployment next season. He’ll benefit from a stronger defensive core in front of him and may see his earning power grow before he becomes an unrestricted free agent before the 2026-27 NHL season.
No Progress On Extension Between Panthers, Aaron Ekblad
Aaron Ekblad appears the least likely of the Panthers’ three major pending unrestricted free agents to sign a new deal with the club, Pierre LeBrun said on TSN’s Early Trading on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to say there’s no chance he re-signs, but the reality is that I don’t think there’s been a lot of negotiation throughout the year since last summer on Aaron Ekblad,” LeBrun said. “I think the term was an issue the last time both sides talked about a potential extension. There’s some hard miles there on Ekblad, although he’s a very important player on that team.”
Testing the free agent waters isn’t Ekblad’s first choice. During the later stages of their championship run, he was public about his desire to stay with the Panthers, who drafted him first overall in 2014. However, while LeBrun relays that the Panthers aren’t willing to offer him a max-term extension, the AAV of the deal was also a point of contention as recently as a couple of weeks ago, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
With Florida not offering him maximum security nor matching the $7.5MM cap hit of his expiring contract, Ekblad may feel he’s leaving too much on the table by staying in Sunrise. He’ll be the most coveted defenseman on the market and will rank high among our top 50 free agents this summer – that list will release ahead of Friday’s draft. Those “hard miles” LeBrun mentioned could sway some suitors away from offering him the most extended contract. Still, as he’s only eligible for a seven-year deal if he hits the market, that may be more appealing to some than an eight-year deal is to the Cats.
Ekblad hasn’t played a full 82-game schedule since 2018-19, and he’s only hit the 70-game mark once since then. He’s lost at least 20 games due to injury in three of the last five seasons, not including the 20-game ban he received this year for performance-enhancing substances.
When healthy this year, though, Ekblad showed he’s still a top-pairing threat when in the lineup. He got some power-play minutes back after Brandon Montour left for the Kraken in free agency last summer, and his point totals rebounded in kind after underwhelming offensive showings in 2022-23 and 2023-24. He produced a 3-30–33 scoring line in 56 games, the fourth-highest points per game rate of his career, and averaged north of 23 minutes per game in the process.
Ekblad’s possession impacts haven’t been elite at any point in his career, but he’s never been a defensive liability, either. That didn’t change in 2024-25, posting a 55.9 CF% at even-strength that was 1.1% higher relative to Florida’s possession play without him on the ice.
The 29-year-old is likely a year or two past his absolute peak earning potential, a risk he took when signing an eight-year, $60MM extension immediately upon becoming eligible to do so in the final year of his entry-level contract. All 11 of his NHL seasons have been spent in a Panthers jersey, and he’s far and away the most impactful defenseman in Panthers franchise history. He’s first in games played (732), goals (118), assists (262), points (380), and second in plus-minus (+96) behind frequent partner Gustav Forsling’s +166 mark over the last five years.
AFP Analytics projects Ekblad could earn $7.8MM per season on a max-term seven-year deal on the open market, meaning right-shot-needy teams who aren’t in a favorable cap position like the Avalanche and Stars won’t be in the conversation. Other teams with more cash to spend in a contending position or looking to make the jump, like the Hurricanes, Sabres, Blue Jackets, and Red Wings, could be legitimate suitors if he doesn’t sign a new deal with Florida.
Image courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.
Puljujarvi Expected To Sign In Swiss League
- While Jesse Puljujarvi was one of only a few players still playing in the Calder Cup Finals (until recently when Abbotsford won the series in six), it appears he’s already looking ahead to his next deal. Blick, a Swiss newspaper, reports that the 27-year-old is likely to sign in the Swiss NL next season, likely with HC Lugano. Puljujarvi started the year with Pittsburgh, getting into 26 games but asked for his contract to be terminated after he cleared waivers and was sent to the minors in February. He quickly signed with Florida’s AHL team and was eventually converted to an NHL contract, getting into five games with the Panthers. But while Puljujarvi has nearly 400 games at the top level under his belt, he has been more of an NHL-AHL ‘tweener’ lately so heading overseas where he can play a bigger role might make the most sense for him.
Tkachuk 50-50 On Needing Surgery
- After playing through a torn adductor muscle for the entire postseason, Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk told reporters including Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald that he is 50-50 in terms of whether he’ll need surgery or not. He will take the next few weeks to let the injury heal on its own and then see if he’ll need to go under the knife. If surgery is needed, it could put Tkachuk’s availability for the start of next season in question. Despite the injury, he still managed to produce a point per game in Florida’s 23 playoff contests.