Florida Panthers: Recapping the First Day of Free Agency for the Cats

July 1st is a day that all fans wait for anxiously, hoping their teams sign the biggest whale. For Florida Panthers fans, the same obviously applies.

For the Cats, July 1st was a quiet day, which didn’t offer much action from the Panthers’ end. The day kicked off with a contract extension for centerman Jared McCann (two years), followed by the addition of netminder Michael Hutchinson.

Dale Tallon wasn’t going to let McCann go without a contract offer of some sorts, and recognized his importance towards the Panthers’ center depth:

"“Jared is a versatile two-way centerman who possesses excellent speed and suits our team well. He has improved his game during his time with our organization and we look forward to him taking the next step in his development with the Panthers.”"

With Aleksander Barkov and Vincent Trocheck both penciled in as the #1 and 2 centers, McCann will likely fill in as the team’s third or fourth centerman. With Jared now locked up for another two seasons, the Panthers are looking strong down the middle of the ice and possess a center matchup that’ll continue to haunt teams for the foreseeable future.

Next on the list is goaltender Michael Hutchinson, who previously played for the Winnipeg Jets. After Sateri walked and joined the Red Wings in Detroit, the Panthers desperately needed to fill that hole. Why not do it with an experienced yet not too old netminder like Michael Hutchinson, who holds an ample amount of experience playing in both the NHL and AHL.

Hutchinson has featured in a grand total of 102 games with the Jets, while participating in 137 AHL contests with the Manitoba Moose, St. John’s IceCaps, and the Providence Bruins. We mustn’t forget that Hutchinson played a big role in St. John’s run to the Calder Cup Finals back in 2014, recording a .938 SV% that landed him the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy, given to the most valuable player in the AHL playoffs.

At age 28, Hutchinson is neither old nor young, but won’t be the answer to the Panthers’ future in goal. At this point, he’s a band-aid that’ll patch up the third goaltender spot for another season or two, but won’t carry the torch after Luongo’s retirement.

Dale did what he had to do to replace Harri Sateri, finding himself a competent replacement in Michael Hutchinson. But moving forward, the answer to the future in goal will have to be revealed soon, as Luongo’s expiry date is approaching ever so quickly.