George Richards, FHN Publisher
Four years after pulling off a blockbuster trade to get Matthew Tkachuk, the Florida Panthers acquired younger brother Brady on Sunday evening.
The trade to get Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators gives the Panthers perhaps the deepest top-9 forward group in the NHL.
One could argue no team in the league is deeper 1-12 than the Panthers.
Brady Tkachuk, who was captain of the Senators, plays on the left side.
Which is awful convenient.
Florida’s top line once the season opens up should be Sasha Barkov centering Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart.
That leaves the second line wide open for the Tkachuk boys and Sam Bennett.
Bennett right in the middle; Brady on the left and Matthew on the right.
Woof.
Florida’s third line remains intact with Anton Lundell centering Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand.
That leaves Evan Rodrigues, again, right now, centering a fourth line with a combination of different players including Jesper Boqvist, Jonah Gadjovich, Cole Reinhardt, Cole Schwindt, Sandis Vilmanis, and others moving in and out.
With about $7 million under the salary cap, expect more trades from the Panthers.
Right now, they just have a lot of players — and no goalies.
ON DECK: FLORIDA PANTHERS OFFSEASON
- NHL Draft (No picks in First Round, Six Overall): Friday-Saturday; KeyBank Center, Buffalo
- NHL Free Agency: Opens July 1
- Panthers Development Camp: Late June/Early July; IcePlex, Fort Lauderdale
- Panthers Rookie Camp/Tournament: Late August/Early Sept.; Site TBA
- Panthers Training Camp: Early/Mid September; Fort Lauderdale
- 2026-27 NHL Season Opens: Late September; Site, Opponent TBA