George Richards, FHN Publisher
Now that the expansion and entry drafts are complete, most of the NHL offseason is over. Now, it’s time for the fun. On Wednesday at noon, the free agency market opens. Who could the Florida Panthers be looking at?
On Saturday afternoon, the Panthers officially completed a trade with the Buffalo Sabres in which they got a consistent 20-goal scorer in Sam Reinhart for a lottery-protected 2022 first round picks and goalie prospect Devon Levi.
With all the business GM Bill Zito has to handle in house, Reinhart may just be the biggest offseason acquisition Florida makes.
And if Zito takes care of what he has on his plate, this offseason would have to be considered a success.
Zito has things to attend to, such as getting Reinhart and Sam Bennett new contracts.
He already bought out Keith Yandle and then signed Anthony Duclair and Gus Forsling to extensions.
And, there’s more to do.
Captain Sasha Barkov can now sign a long-term extension.
There are depth moves and some players to be signed for AHL Charlotte.
But with the team Zito has already built around Florida’s core players, there isn’t much work to be done when it comes to free agent additions — and, there isn’t much money left under the cap unless some trades are made before Wednesday.
With Reinhart here — as well as Bennett, who was a trade deadline acquisition — the Panthers have already made some substantial moves.
When it comes to forwards, the Panthers are pretty much set.
The Panthers were thought to be talking to center Alex Wennberg about coming back after he had a career year with Florida last season but it would appear Reinhart’s arrival would put a halt to that.
Florida also looks pretty secure in goal with Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight under contract.
The Panthers will be looking for defensemen, however, that much can be certain.
But who could Zito and his front office be targeting?
The biggest free agent defenseman is Carolina’s Dougie Hamilton, but you can go ahead and put him out of your mind right now.
Hamilton is the No. 1 defensive target on the market who was already making close to $6 million per season with the Hurricanes.
He may stay in Raleigh, but it won’t come cheap.
Wherever Hamilton lands, he’s going to get paid. The Panthers just don’t have the funds, not with Reinhart/Bennett and others still needing to be paid.
As it stands, the Panthers are about $11 million under the cap per Puckpedia.com.
Reinhart and Bennett should eat up at least $7 million of that (perhaps more) which doesn’t leave much left over to shop.
The Panthers could bring back Brandon Montour after picking him up at the deadline from Buffalo, but he is going to cost a few bucks as well.
Again, to even sign a mid-level defenseman, money is going to have to find its way off the ledger.
The Panthers would like to add a player such as Ryan Suter, the 36-year-old who was recently bought out from Minnesota. But with defensemen such a hot commodity, Suter likely would command more than Florida can afford right now although he may take less money to play for a contender.
Could Zito talk old pal David Savard into coming a little further south on a discounted deal?
Savard, who has spent the bulk of his career in Columbus, was picked up by Tampa Bay at the trade deadline but due to the Lightning’s financial situation, likely will not return.
Speaking of guys Zito knows from Columbus, Ryan Murray should be on the market as well. He will get less than the $4.7 million he was being paid, but still may get more than Florida can afford. Murray might be ripe for a short-term, “show me” contract, as will others.
Zito said on Saturday that he doesn’t think the Panthers will be all that active when the free agency period opens.
For one thing, the roster looks to be in pretty good shape and he doesn’t want to mess too much with a good thing.
Then there’s the money problems.
But if there’s one thing Zito & Co. showed last year was they can spot value.
We saw it in the $1 million paid to Carter Verhaeghe and the discount contracts that paid off in Wennberg, Anthony Duclair and others.
If the Panthers aren’t able to shed any contracts between now and Wednesday, Zito will have no option but to go cheap in looking for depth.
But if he can create some space, well, we will see what happens next.