Which direction will the Florida Panthers choose?
Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period joined TSN Radio in Montreal and was asked what the Florida Panthers will do at the NHL Trade Deadline.
NHLRumors.com Transcripts
Host: “Dave, what about teams like the Leafs and the Panthers you know, Panthers coming off three straight last appearances. The Leafs, with all that pressure. Two organizations, two front offices that simply don’t want to take advantage. But you expect that at some point these teams might just get rid of some players and say there’s just too many bodies between us and a wild card spot.”
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Dave Pagnotta: “I think there’s more to Florida. I’m curious to see how healthy this group comes out of the Olympics, especially, you’ve got (Brad) Marchand, you’ve got (Sam) Reinhart and (Sam) Bennett. Their usage raised a little bit of an eyebrow, wondering what their health status really was. There’s some question marks and some rumblings around Marchand. Is there some work to be done? Is he going to play right out of the gate? I think Paul Marice said they expect him to play, but we’ll see where that goes.
But if they don’t gain ground immediately, they have some strong depth pieces that some teams would love to get their hands on, like someone like AJ Greer for example. He’s a glue guy, a great fourth-line player. Physical guy for a championship-caliber team that did it to the Panthers. There will be more, and he is a pending UFA. So there will be other teams looking at him and wondering: Is he the kind of guy I can pry away and help stabilize my bottom six?
NHL Rumors.com Note: There is a lot of speculation surrounding the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers and their plans. General Manager Bill Zito met with the media last week and said he has mapped out several scenarios. This week will determine a lot, and Thursday evening/Friday morning he will know the real direction.
Florida has lost two of its first three games after the break. They lost late against the Buffalo Sabers and even later against the New York Islanders on Sunday. They remain eight points clear of the final wildcard spot with five teams still to jump. And are they better than the teams before them? That means players like it Jesper BoqvistGreer and others could be gone.
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And while there are reports of a gap between goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky and management on a new deal, history says he doesn’t negotiate during the season. But the contract starts at $6 million, similar to the Jacob Markstrom agreement in New Jersey. Given the way the Panthers want to win now, are there better options available?
They have a lot of injuries to key players this season. Florida has played a lot of hockey. It could be one of those seasons to reset and do it again next year. It will be interesting to see where they end up and if they have a top-10 protected pick that they can use to acquire something in the future.
But the new LTIR rules and the salary cap in the playoffs make it difficult for them to take action.
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