George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers came into Monday atop the NHL standings but with the trade deadline now a week away, how are they looking to improve?
This will be general manager Bill Zito’s first NHL deadline running his own team although he is not going in alone.
As was the case when Dale Tallon was running things, he will lean on his scouts and trusted confidants within the front office in scouring the league for players they think will improve the roster.
Based on how the Panthers have been playing this year, they don’t need much.
But, as the saying goes, one can always improve themselves.
Zito will try and do so in the coming days.
The NHL trade deadline will come next Monday at 3 p.m. with the Panthers, for the second straight season, on the road.
Florida kicks off a six-game road trip Tuesday at Carolina with stops in Dallas and Tampa Bay.
The Panthers’ first-place standing will definitely be tested. Of the three teams Florida is playing on this trip, only Dallas sits outside the playoffs. And, with so many games in hand, that could change.
Carolina and Tampa Bay, obviously, are direct competition to the Panthers for the top spot in the Central Division. One of these three teams will win the divisional title.
Florida feels that, with a little bit of help perhaps at the deadline, it could be them.
The NHL trade deadline is not the cure-all for good teams looking to shed salaries and add nice pieces to their roster. No, those types of moves will have to wait until the offseason.
The trade deadline, at least this year, will likely focus on “rental” players (those who can become free agents at the end of the season), prospects and draft picks.
Of course, that’s how it usually goes, but with the salary cap staying where it’s at, it will probably be harder to trade players with term past this season.
Although there are a few good players who could be available who not only would help a team today but down the road as well.
The Panthers are believed to be looking for defensive help as well as center depth.
Florida may have already found itself a nice defensive piece through the collegiate ranks as Matt Kiersted, the North Dakota free agent who signed here Thursday, has looked right at home in the Panthers lineup the past two games.
Kiersted made his NHL debut Saturday and was back in the lineup Sunday. He played more minutes in the second game than in the first and was given more shifts (19 to 15) and minutes (16:27 to 11:15) than veteran Keith Yandle on Sunday night.
“I like how he has a feel for the game, has a real good understanding of the pressure, when to go, (he) sees plays,” Joel Quenneville said of Kiersted.
“Not a lot of defensemen have the ability to fit in and, all of a sudden, play at this level. He jumped a couple of levels here. He is playing in meaningful games and him handling it the way he has is a great sign going forward.
“He’s going to get even more acquainted with how we play the game. His play recognition and trusting his own instincts are the right ones. He really picks the right time to do the right things. Good start.”
Still, it is hard to believe Zito is going to put too much pressure on a player fresh out of college so don’t be surprised if Florida still goes after a top-four defenseman.
When Aaron Ekblad got hurt last Sunday night, we broke down which defensemen could be available — and, which ones the Panthers may show some interest in.
One of those defensemen was on display in Sunrise this weekend in Columbus veteran David Savard.
Although he is not having a great season with the Blue Jackets, Zito knows what kind of a player he is and sources from around the league say Florida is not the only team which has shown interest.
With the Blue Jackets fading from playoff contention after winning just one game in their most recent road trip, they should be sellers.
The Panthers are also looking for center depth and would have interest in a player who is proficient in winning faceoffs and can handle the rigors of a playoff series.
Staying in Columbus, Florida would likely have interest in captain Nick Foligno (who may or may not be on the market based on his deep ties to the community and importance to the team) and pending UFA Riley Nash whom Zito help bring to Columbus in 2018.
Nash, we should note, left Sunday’s game with what the team called a lower-body injury after getting hit by Acciari.
UPDATE: Per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, Nash is out 4-6 weeks after Sunday’s game; so much for that.
Nash would not cost too much; Foligno may take some doing due to his interest from other teams as well as Columbus’ potential reluctance to deal him and his desire to stay with the Jackets.
Both could help the Panthers in the regular season as well as in the playoffs.
Foligno may even be a player the Panthers would like to keep if he were to be available and traded here.
Detroit center Luke Glendening would also fit the bill for Florida as he has won 64 percent of his faceoffs this season — which would lead the Panthers — and would be a nice addition to the fourth line.
At center, the Panthers currently have Sasha Barkov, Alex Wennberg, Noel Acciari along with Eetu Luostarinen and Juho Lammikko.
By adding a veteran like Foligno, Nash or Glendening, Quenneville would have a number of options including using Acciari in a number of different situations.
Florida is not looking for a goaltender, not with Sergei Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger being joined by 2019 first-round pick Spencer Knight last week and Sam Montembeault working in the minors.
But with the addition of Knight, there has been heightened talk that Zito could get a nice return by trading Driedger, a pending free agent who will likely get a starter’s contract somewhere next season.
The Panthers, in all likelihood, are losing Driedger after the season. But does Zito want to deal him now?
It would depend on the return.
Right now, the Panthers have one of the best 1-2 goalie combos in the league. If something were to happen to Bobrovsky, Driedger would have no problem stepping in.
But would the Panthers have the same confidence rolling out the 20-year-old Knight if Driedger was not around? Perhaps.
The Panthers are extremely high on Knight although the goalie position is one where you don’t want to rush development.
If Florida’s goalie braintrust think Knight is ready right now, then perhaps Zito listens to offers for Driedger. We shall see.
As for Driedger, he says he wants to stay right where he is. And the chances Florida would trade him now are remote.
But there is a chance.
And, with the deadline coming in a week, the possibility exists that Sunday’s start against the Blue Jackets may have been Driedger’s last one with Florida.
It would be a heck of a way to go out.
The guy who got a shutout in his first game with the Panthers may just have pitched a shutout in his last one as well.
“I try and stay away from that stuff but my buddies have a tendency to fill me in whether I want to hear it or not,” Driedger said of the growing trade rumors.
“I try to tune that stuff out. It’s distraction at this point. It’s completely out of my hands. Obviously, I want to be here. But that’s the business side of hockey. I’m just trying to take it day by day and enjoy it no matter what happens.”