The Florida Panthers don't have many things to change about their past four months. They went on a dominant run through the Stanley Cup Playoffs, ending in a Game 7 win over the Edmonton Oilers. There were concerns about losing their leading goal-scorer Sam Reinhart to free agency, but the parties agreed to an eight-year, $69 million contract.
The Panthers will return most of their roster that just advanced to two straight Stanley Cup Finals, with the only prominent subtractions being Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. They did this and still stayed $766,666 under the salary cap ceiling. Will the Panthers mess with their winning formula and target some trade candidates this offseason?
The Panthers' big move was to re-sign Reinhart, which they seemingly did without much issue. They also needed to re-sign other depth pieces, like Dmitry Kulikov and Anton Lundell. The pair signed four and six-year deals at reasonable cap hits.
Furthermore, they needed to find cheap contracts that could replace the production of Montour and Ekman-Larsson. They signed Nate Schmidt early in free agency, who took a value $800,000 deal after his buyout from the Winnipeg Jets. The Panthers also signed defenseman Adam Boqvist, who will compete for reps on the blueline alongside his brother Jesper, who they signed for the bottom-six forward group.
Jesper Boqvist and AJ Greer arrived for some energy in the bottom six, along with Chris Dreidger, who will compete with Spencer Knight for backup goaltender duties. Will the Panthers be content with their moves, or do the rumors of a possible Aaron Ekblad deal carry any weight?
Did the Panthers lose too many defensemen to trade Aaron Ekblad?
The Panthers had some intriguing blueliners step up and lead them to their first Stanley Cup. Ekblad and Montour were catalysts to the improbable run to the final in 2023, but those players took a backseat in 2024.
Ekblad lost his spot as the team's shutdown defender to Gustav Forsling, who currently has one of the best contracts in the NHL. He will make $5.75 million until the end of the 2031-32 season, while his advanced numbers give him a valuation of closer to $9-10 million.
As long as Forsling is there, it's hard to justify paying Ekblad to be your No. 1 defenseman. Ekblad will make $7.5 million this season before becoming an unrestricted free agent next offseason. He won't want to take any less than $7.5 million annually, but it seems the Panthers won't be willing to give him that money. The problem for the Panthers is that Ekblad will have a suitor somewhere in the league willing to pay him his demands, which opens the possibility of them losing him for nothing.
However, the question was whether the Panthers can afford to trade Ekblad. Getting rid of Ekblad would cause a big hole in the lineup after the loss of Montour and Ekman-Larsson. The group already looks thin, with Tobias Bjornfot, Adam Boqvist, and Uvis Balinksis battling for the sixth spot.
If Ekblad left, two of those three would have to be in the lineup full-time. They could use the added cap space to get a replacement, but they'd be better off going the familiarity route and holding on to him.
It's up to Bill Zito if he wants to go all-in for a back-to-back title and risk losing Ekblad for nothing.
Spencer Knight could be expendable
The Panthers are paying Spencer Knight a lot of money to play 25-30 games. The Panthers have Sergei Bobrovsky under contract until the end of the 2025-26 season, the same offseason Knight's restricted free agency expires. They are likely aiming to hold on to Knight until then and make him the starter after Bobrovsky goes elsewhere. The problem is two more seasons of Knight making $4.5 million to be Bobrovsky's backup.
The Bobrovsky contract had some question marks when it happened, as it felt like a lot of money to give a somewhat unproven goaltender. The first four years of the seven-year, $70 million deal looked like a disaster. However, Bobrovsky's play in the last two postseasons made him one of the league's top netminders. It took a while, but the Panthers' front office doesn't care how much Bobrovsky makes now that he brought them a Stanley Cup Championship.
The contract that may concern them is Knight's. They gave him a three-year, $13.5 million contract after the 2022-23 season, where he had a 3.18 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. Knight didn't finish that 2023 season, as he entered the NHLPA Player Assistance Program in February due to his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Knight returned this season and played 45 games with the Charlotte Checkers in the American Hockey League. He posted a 2.41 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage and joined the Panthers as the third-string goalie for their championship win.
By all accounts, Knight is over his issues and ready to start contributing to the Panthers again. Do the Panthers want to take a chance on rostering $15 million worth of goalies this season, or will they target Knight as a possible trade candidate?
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