2013 NHL Draft: Florida Panthers Latest Rumors

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Okay so things are really starting to pick up steam as we approach Sunday’s draft and we are expected to have a wild weekend. With the amount of trade buzz going around the NHL, I expect that come Monday we could be looking at a completely different landscape around the league. Here is the latest Florida Panthers buzz:

• Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun hinted that the Panthers may have inquired about Colorado’s Matt Duchene. The 22 year old center had 43 points (17 goals, 26 assists) last season with the Avalanche and it does not appear that Colorado is willing to part with their young talent as it was reported that the Duchene talks did not progress very far. I think this rumor at the very least indicates that Florida and Colorado are involved in a pretty consistent dialogue, and I have to wonder if maybe Duchene came up somewhere in the conversations regarding the two teams swapping picks at the top of the draft.
• Steve Goldstein says GM Dale Tallon is “ready for anything” and the Panthers could trade up or they could very well trade down. While this does not add much new info to the conversation, it does demonstrate Tallon and the Panthers’ willingness to listen to any and all offers. What does that mean for us the fans? It means we have a weekend that is bound to be exciting as hell.
• John Shannon has tweeted that with Colorado planning on passing on Seth Jones, the Panthers have a number of teams lining up offering trades for the number two pick. Considering that the Avalanche passed on Calgary’s offer of three first rounders (Nos. 6, 22 and 28) for the first overall pick, I would expect that the Panthers will have a pretty high asking price for their number two pick, and if they do trade down they should get a pretty impressive haul in return.
• Also, the Panthers signed the recently acquired, Bobby Butler to a two year deal and re-signed Eric Selleck to a one year deal.