The Florida Panthers are fresh off winning their second straight Stanley Cup. As their players continue to celebrate in South Florida, the front office is getting to work. The Panthers made a trade for Blue Jackets goalie Daniil Tarasov on Thursday, locking in a backup goalie for next year.

“Cup champion Florida Panthers have acquired goalie Daniil Tarasov from the Columbus Blue Jackets,” The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reported. He followed up with, “Roberto Luongo loves size when looking a potential goalie additions, Tarasov is 6-5.
Will replace [Vitek] Vanecek as the backup to [Sergei] [Bobrovsky].”

It was later reported by the Blue Jackets that the return is a 2025 fifth-round pick, 160th overall.

Luongo was a goalie for the Panthers before joining their front office as a special adviser to GM Bill Zito. LeBrun's reporting suggests that Luongo helps build the goalie room, which makes sense considering he is a Hall of Fame goalie. Sergei Bobrovsky is their starter and will likely join Luongo in the Hall of Fame one day, but Tarasov will be an important backup.

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The Panthers had a solid backup plan in young goalie prospect Spencer Knight to start this season. But he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks as part of the return package for Seth Jones. They turned around and traded for Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks, who played only seven games in Florida.

Tarasov played 65 games for the Blue Jackets, with a decent .898 save percentage in those games. At 26 years old, he could be the goalie of the future for the Panthers. Bobrovsky's contract expires after this season, and he will be 37 on opening night. Creating a contingency plan if this is his last season is a smart move by the Panthers.

The Panthers will need to sign Tarasov, as he is a restricted free agent. It should be a low-money deal considering his lack of NHL experience. What other moves could Florida make on their path to a three-peat?