George Richards, FHN Publisher
In the summer of 2019, the Florida Panthers were in on the two biggest free agents on the NHL market: Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin.
The two Columbus Blue Jackets standouts vacationed on Miami Beach and visited teams together.
It was thought the duo could be a package deal to one lucky team — and the Panthers tried their best to be that team.
Florida had plenty of money to spend and offered it all to Bobrovsky and Panarin.
Bobrovsky, of course, signed a seven-year contract with the Panthers.
At the time, his $70 million deal was the largest contract ever handed out by the franchise.
Panarin, of course, did not.
The talented forward signed a seven-year deal worth $81.5 million with the New York Rangers, citing a desire to play on Broadway for one of the NHL’s most storied teams.
“He is happy and I am happy,” Bobrovsky told me in 2019. “I am excited to come and play for the Panthers.”
Here we are in 2026 and Panarin is available again.
Do the Panthers finally land the Breadman?
Panarin, like his pal Bobrovsky, is in the final year of his contract.
The Rangers informed him earlier this month that an extension would not be forthcoming as the team starts dealing off assets in a rebuild following two disappointing seasons after losing to the Panthers in the 2024 Eastern Conference final.
“The team decided to go in a different direction,” Panarin said. “I’m OK with that.”
It does appear that Panarin has played in his final game with the Rangers.
Panarin, 34, was held out of Wednesday’s game against the Islanders and has reportedly been told he will not play again until a trade is completed.
WOULD PANARIN HELP THE PANTHERS?
When it comes to the Panthers, the question is not only whether they could pull off a deal for Panarin — but do they want to?
Panarin is not exactly known for his defensive play and there are questions whether his style of play would fit into what coach Paul Maurice and the Panthers do.
But Panarin is an elite talent with a skillset that is hard to ignore.
When a guy plays the way Panarin does, you overlook some things.
His 19 goals would be tied with Sam Bennett for third on the Panthers this season; his 57 points is seven more than team-leader Sam Reinhart.
Panarin has scored 30-plus goals five times in his career — and averaged 43 goals over the past two full seasons.
In his time with the Rangers, Panarin has averaged 1.26 points per game which is highest in franchise history.
So, yeah, he would certainly help the Panthers.
Aside from Bobrovsky, Panarin has a big fan in the Florida front office.
Bill Zito was the assistant GM when Columbus pulled off the blockbuster deal with Chicago by trading Brandon Saad to the Blackhawks in 2017 to get Panarin.
Zito and the Blue Jackets loved having Panarin on their team.
Getting two years (55 goals, 169 points) of his play before he moved on in 2019 was well worth it.
HOW DO THE PANTHERS GET PANARIN?
It is not going to be easy — and may be steeped in fantasy to think it would happen.
First off, the Panthers do not have a lot of assets to pull off such a trade especially with the large amount of suitors around the league — Colorado, Dallas, Carolina, and Tampa Bay are among those being thrown out there.
Florida has already traded away its next two first-round picks (Chicago in 2026 for Seth Jones; Boston in 2027 for Brad Marchand) but does have two second-round picks in this upcoming draft plus their 2028 first-round pick.
The Panthers are not exactly flush with prospects, either.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports the Rangers are looking for a return much like the Islanders got from Colorado for veteran Brock Nelson last season.
The Avalanche gave up a first-round pick, prospect Cal Ritchie, and a third-round pick.
But, if things got serious — and Panarin really wanted to come to the Panthers — his full no-trade clause could help Florida out.
The Panthers would also have to figure out their salary cap situation which may just keep them out of conversations altogether.
Per PuckPedia.com, the Panthers are $2.5 million under the salary cap right now, but will need to shed about $2 million when Jones comes back.
Florida also has Dmitry Kulikov and Jonah Gadjovich expected to return soon which means an additional $2 million has to be found.
One option is to place captain Sasha Barkov on full long-term injured reserve.
Right now, the Panthers are only getting $4.8 million of Barkov’s $10 million salary cap hit taken off.
If Barkov was declared out for the remainder of the season — including the playoffs — Florida would get relief for the remainder of Barkov’s contract.
The hope is still for Barkov to return sometime in the playoffs if the Panthers make it.
Shutting Barkov down as he works toward a return every day is not something they want to do.
Even with the full Barkov salary off the cap, it would not be enough to absorb Panarin’s $11.64 hit but it would certainly be helpful.
Florida can make this work.
The Rangers would have to retain perhaps 50 percent of Panarin’s cap hit.
Unlike past seasons, the Panthers cannot use a second team to help retain salary due to the new CBA.
Florida may trade a player or two off its current roster to not only make a deal, but to make the money work especially is Panarin agreed to a contract extension as part of the deal.
As a pending free agent, an agreement on a new contract before landing in a new place would basically be a trade for a player with term.
That also would drive up the price the Rangers would be asking for.
Again, Panarin has a full no-trade clause in this contract.
If his agent works out a new contract with a team, the Rangers may have to take what they can get to get Panarin to move on.
Zito and the Panthers have worked magic over the years.
Who knows what they have cooking.