- The Florida Panthers are gearing up for free agency, with their main focus on strengthening their defense corps, which is set to be hit with significant injuries to start 2023-24 in Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour. While the team aims to secure players on shorter-term contracts, two of their UFAs, Radko Gudas and Lucas Carlsson, could still receive offers to return to the Panthers, general manager Bill Zito told reporters, including The Hockey News’ David Dwork. Gudas has been an invaluable shutdown defender since joining the Panthers in 2020, also compiling over 200 penalty minutes during his time in Florida whilst in a bottom-pairing role. Carlsson, on the other hand, is likely to receive a lot of NHL interest after an impressive season with the Charlotte Checkers, leading all AHL defensemen in goals. He could vie for an everyday role out of camp, with injuries opening up roster spots.
Panthers Rumors
Florida Panthers Expected To Sign Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Veteran defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is landing on his feet after getting bought out by the Vancouver Canucks earlier this month. Per TSN’s Darren Dreger and CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal, he’s expected to sign a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers worth $2.25MM.
Ekman-Larsson hadn’t at all lived up to expectations in Vancouver, but the decision to buy him out with four years left on his deal surprised many. It is the largest non-compliance buyout in NHL history, and the Swede will now earn an additional $2.25MM this season on top of the $2.13MM he’s slated to receive in real cash from Vancouver and $290K from Arizona. It’s still less money than the $10.5MM base salary he was owed from his previous contract in 2023-24.
For the Panthers, this signing represents a low-risk, medium-reward move. Ekman-Larsson is a former All-Star and Olympic medalist, but he’s been wildly inconsistent in the past few seasons and has played long stretches of being a defensive liability in both Vancouver and Arizona, where he was a captain for three seasons between 2018 and 2021.
Now 31, Ekman-Larsson could slot into Florida’s top four to start the season and maybe longer. For now, he serves as a direct replacement on the left side for veteran Marc Staal, who’s on the UFA market. He does find himself with the best opportunity to win in quite a while, joining a Panthers team fresh off a miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final.
From a financial standpoint, the one-year, $2.25MM deal is a decent bit of work for the Panthers. It provides them with a cost-effective option to bolster their defensive depth without committing to a long-term contract – something they’d reportedly prioritized achieving.
Last season, Ekman-Larsson logged two goals and 22 points in 54 games with the Canucks, averaging just over 20 minutes per game. He’ll likely see a reduction in those minutes as the season progresses for Florida and they return to full health on the blueline.
Florida Panthers Have Interest In Blake Wheeler
Today, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported the Florida Panthers have an interest in adding the veteran winger when he hits the open market tomorrow, although he won’t be their first priority. The team remains focused on shoring up their defense, with both Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour set to miss the start of the season. Still, the team is projected to have $10.2MM in cap space (CapFriendly) without taking any LTIR relief into account, and they should easily be able to accommodate a forward of Wheeler’s likely price. Dreger also listed a former team of Wheeler’s, the Boston Bruins, as a potential fit, although their cap situation currently makes any external additions a tough ask.
Panthers Interested In Gostisbehere
A top-pairing of Gostisbehere and Forsling shouldn’t be expected to replicate the output of Ekblad and Montour, but those two would be serviceable for the first month of the season, and would even represent a superb top-four once Ekblad and Montour make their return. If the Panthers and Gostisbehere do come to an agreement, it will be interesting to see the term handed out, as the team currently doesn’t have any defenseman signed beyond 2024-25.
Patrik Hornqvist In Discussions With Panthers About Staying With Them In Off-Ice Capacity
- It appears that winger Patric Hornqvist has indeed played his final NHL game as Panthers GM Bill Zito told George Richards of Florida Hockey Now that the veteran has now moved his family back to Sweden. The 36-year-old was shut down in early December after taking an elbow to the head but remained with the team during their run to the Stanley Cup Final. Zito indicated that there are discussions underway about Hornqvist remaining with the team in some capacity.
Florida Panthers Showing Interest In Noah Hanifin
For the past few weeks, it’s seemed a matter of when, not if, the Calgary Flames would trade defenseman Noah Hanifin. The left-shot blueliner made it known earlier this month he wasn’t particularly interested in signing an extension, and he’ll likely join Tyler Toffoli as players slated for unrestricted free agency in 2024 finding their way out of the organization a year early.
It’s also been clear that the Florida Panthers are seeking another puck-moving defenseman for their top four, mainly to help buoy the group, while Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour are sidelined with injuries to start the season. They’ve inquired with Calgary about Hanifin to fill that gap, says Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic, confirming some speculation earlier in the week about a potential fit.
Hanifin to Florida is far from a sure thing, though, as LeBrun notes trade interest is high in the 26-year-old, who has one season remaining at a $4.95MM cap hit. As LeBrun notes, a potential trade could see winger Anthony Duclair heading the other way, who the Panthers have been shopping to clear some additional cap space. It would still be a tight salary cap dance for the Panthers, depending on what other moves they make in free agency, and they don’t have many other assets on the block the Flames would be particularly interested in. The potential is high here for Florida to get outbid.
If he does end up in the Sunshine State, though, Hanifin would be an immeasurable upgrade in the team’s top four on pending UFA Marc Staal, who’s posted middling advanced numbers despite an increased role alongside Montour. The 26-year-old has averaged over 20 minutes per game in each of the past five seasons, and he’s totaled 86 points and a +29 rating in 162 games since 2021-22.
Duclair would also be a solid addition to a deep Flames top nine, although it’s poised to potentially lose some talent by way of Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund. For now, he’d replace the top-six spot vacated by Toffoli after dealing him to New Jersey yesterday. Duclair notched 20 points in 40 combined regular-season and playoff games in 2022-23 after recovering from a severe Achilles tear sustained during off-season training.
Florida Panthers Reportedly Shopping Anthony Duclair
- The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the Florida Panthers are “actively shopping” 28-year-old winger Anthony Duclair. The Panthers are widely rumored to be seeking defensive upgrades this summer and are likely dangling Duclair in large part due to his contract, which carries a $3MM AAV and is set to expire in one year. Duclair re-invented himself as a member of the Panthers and reached new heights of production, so despite an injury-plagued regular season he should have a wide range of interested teams on the trade market.
Florida Panthers Have Interest In Tyler Bertuzzi
Matthew Tkachuk and Tyler Bertuzzi on the same line could provide the Florida Panthers with a lethal combination of skill and physicality not seen in decades. It could actually become a reality, as Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports the Panthers are among the teams who will pursue Bertuzzi if he hits the open market on July 1.
Let’s be clear – Bertuzzi becoming an unrestricted free agent is not a given. After clearing $6MM in cap space yesterday by trading away Taylor Hall, the Boston Bruins have some room, albeit temporarily, to work out an extension with Bertuzzi. It’s something they’re expected to at least take a run at accomplishing over the next few days.
The cap situation in Boston is still extremely tight, though, and they’ll need to make more salary-clearing moves after a hypothetical Bertuzzi extension to re-sign Jeremy Swayman and fill out the rest of their forward core. It seems unlikely they’d be able to figure out a multi-step plan to make all that happen in a matter of days before UFA signing season opens.
Even then, Bertuzzi will likely be able to find more money elsewhere, and Florida now has some to spend. The expiring contract of Patric Hornqvist, a reduced Keith Yandle buyout cap hit, and roughly $10MM worth of LTIR candidates to start the season have given them a major amount of flexibility entering the free agency period. While their first priority will be adding on defense to buoy them while Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour miss the start of the season, there is still an opportunity for them to add another offensive piece if they play their financial cards right.
Florida saw what Bertuzzi can accomplish first-hand this season. He led the Bruins in scoring during their seven-game First Round loss against the Panthers, notching five goals and 10 points while averaging nearly 18 minutes per game. He certainly won’t come cheap as a bonafide top-six winger, though his concerning injury history likely brings down his cap hit slightly on the open market.
Offseason Checklist: Florida Panthers
The offseason is now fully underway after Vegas took home the Stanley Cup which means that it’s time to examine what each team will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Florida.
What an interesting year it was for the Panthers. After winning the Presidents’ Trophy, the team moved two core pieces in Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar to Calgary for Matthew Tkachuk, a swap that many felt would see them take a small step back to take a bigger step forward a little later on. It played out that way early as they were out of the playoffs for long portions of the season. However, they got into the final Wild Card spot and beat Boston, Toronto, and Carolina to come out of the East. Now, GM Bill Zito has more cap flexibility than he had last summer to try to add to his roster but there are some question marks on how much he’ll be able to use which factors into in their checklist below.
Add Defensive Help
When fully healthy, Florida’s defense corps wasn’t the deepest to begin with. Now, they’re set to possibly lose Radko Gudas and Marc Staal to free agency while Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, their top two blueliners, played through serious injuries in the playoffs and might not be ready to start next season. They already could have used a top-four blueliner. Now, it’s more or less a necessity.
It’s also worth noting that the blueliner with the longest contract on their current roster is Ekblad. His deal has just two years remaining. Other than Josh Mahura, a depth defender, all of their current blueliners will be UFA-eligible when their existing contracts expire. That’s a lot of potential turnover in a short period of time.
With that in mind, while some have wondered if Zito might be interested in short-term options due to the injuries, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to at least look to the higher end of the free agent market where the top options will get longer-term contracts. Yes, those deals tend to be too long and a little too expensive but this is a franchise that doesn’t exactly have a lot of tradeable assets right now after going all-in in 2021-22. A move like that would give them a short-term lift and ensure they’ll have at least one capable veteran in the fold for the long haul.
As things stand, Florida has roughly $10MM in cap room at their disposal, per CapFriendly. They have to sign at least two blueliners (probably three) and a couple of forwards with that money but if the depth options are closer to the minimum, there’s enough room for an impact addition. Yes, there could be LTIR money available in the short term but that money can’t really be spent externally as the Panthers would have to be cap-compliant once the injured players are ready to return. Instead, any ‘savings’ there would go toward carrying a full roster at the start of the season.
Extension Talks
July 1st is the day that players entering the final year of their respective contracts are eligible to sign contract extensions. Florida has several key regulars in that situation. On the back end, Montour and Gustav Forsling are both set to hit the final year of their very team-friendly deals. Up front, Sam Reinhart and Anthony Duclair are in the same spot.
Montour’s case is going to be a particularly fascinating one to follow. For years, he had shown promise at times but hadn’t been able to consistently produce and as a result, he remained in more of a limited role. This past season, that all changed. Montour’s production exploded, going from a decent 37 points a year ago to a whopping 73. He barely cracked the top 40 for scoring by a defenseman in 2021-22 and was fifth in 2022-23. He’s on a bargain contract at $3.5MM and if they want to extend him now, it might take twice as much if not more to lock up the 29-year-old. The shoulder injury could give Zito some pause but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them try to get something done this summer.
As for Forsling, he has certainly been one of the best waiver claims in recent memory, going from a Carolina castaway to a 23-minute per-game defender. The 27-year-old had a breakout year in 2021-22 and put up very similar numbers this past season, showing that it wasn’t just a fluke. He is now logging heavy minutes shorthanded, making him an all-around defender. With his age and recent production, he, too, could more than double his current AAV of just under $2.7MM.
Up front, Reinhart’s second bridge contract has worked out well for both sides. He has taken his production to a new level in Florida, even after taking a bit of a step back this season. The 27-year-old has also shown that he can play down the middle which makes him much more valuable around the league with top-six centers being difficult to come by. His current AAV is $6.5MM and it would likely take at least a couple million more than that (putting him a little below Matthew Tkachuk on the salary scale) to get him to commit to an early extension.
Then there’s Duclair. The 27-year-old missed most of this past season as he worked his way back from a torn Achilles’ tendon and, unsurprisingly, he was a bit quiet when he returned before putting together a decent playoff showing with 11 points in 20 games. He’s only a year removed from a breakout 31-goal campaign which should factor into negotiations as well. Duclair intends to represent himself again in those discussions and with the long layoff, it’s reasonable to think they might agree to defer talks until later in the season to see how he fares after a full summer of recovery.
Not all of these players are going to sign extensions over the summer but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Zito get one or two of these locked up over the coming months.
Get Help For The Penalty Kill
The Panthers were one of the top teams at five-on-five this past season which is typically a good sign of how strong a team is. However, the fact that they barely picked up the final Wild Card spot is in large part due to the fact that their penalty kill struggled considerably with a success rate of just under 76%, a few points below the league average. In the playoffs, that number dipped even further to just 70.4%. That’s an area that could certainly stand to be improved.
If Florida goes and gets an impact defenseman, that should help but adding some defensive acumen to their final couple of forwards would also help. Eric Staal (a pending UFA) logged heavy minutes on the penalty kill this past season, a role he hadn’t typically played in his prime. Eetu Luostarinen isn’t a premier defensive forward either; those two led all Florida forwards in shorthanded ATOI. Filling out the depth chart with some shutdown options might take away a bit offensively but if it helps them kill enough penalties to balance out, it’ll be worth doing.
Depth Decisions
Alex Lyon more than served his purpose as a capable third-string goaltender who stepped in when Spencer Knight departed for the Player Assistance Program and even took over as the starter with Sergei Bobrovsky struggling at the time. He may have done well enough to get a shot as a backup somewhere so this is a spot that will need to be filled. A veteran depth goalie isn’t usually an important offseason add but with Bobrovsky’s inconsistency and Knight’s relative inexperience, determining and landing the top option on that market takes a higher level of importance.
Meanwhile, a decision needs to be made soon on the fate of center Colin White. The 26-year-old had an okay year in a very limited role but still provided some value on a contract that was just $100K above the league minimum after being bought out by Ottawa. Still not old enough to reach unrestricted free agency, Florida could tender him a qualifying offer to keep his rights. However, doing so would give him arbitration eligibility and bring his previous production (including a 41-point year in 2018-19) into the picture. That’s not ideal for the Panthers so they need to decide if they want to try to re-sign him before Friday’s tender deadline or if they want to cut bait and perhaps add a more defensive-oriented depth player into the mix.
These are two roles that can be filled quickly in free agency within the first couple of hours so Zito will need to have his plan in place to make sure he lands his targets (or gets White on another bargain contract).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Panthers Notes: Defense, Hanifin, Duclair
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.