Florida Panthers Need to Move on From Jamie McGinn

Like Riley Sheahan, the Florida Panthers need to move on from forward Jamie McGinn now that he’s heading towards free agency.

This past season (2018-19), forward Jamie McGinn experienced a lot of uphill battles that he had to overcome. One of the biggest battles he had to face was going through back surgery and sitting out over half the season.

To his credit, he ended up returning on February. 12 against the Dallas Stars in an eventual 3-0 defeat. Through the rest of the way, McGinn was often healthy-scratched, only taking part in a total of 19 games.

In those 19 games, McGinn managed to register 4G, 3A, for 7 points. The year prior (2017-18), McGinn experienced a healthy season that saw him take part in 76 games, with a tally of 13G, 16A, for 29 points.

It’s worth noting, though, that McGinn played the overwhelming majority of that season in the top six on the second line alongside players such as Vincent Trocheck.

Now that the team is deeper up front with more options in the minors who are awaiting for a chance to step into the bottom six, McGinn and his talents are no longer needed. In a sense, you could even argue they were never even needed. But that’s up for debate to some, at least.

With McGinn’s cap hit ($3.3M) now off the books, the Panthers can use that money to address other needs.

Moreover, with the likes of Denis Malgin, Juho Lammikko, and even Dryden Hunt all knocking at the door to step in and play full-time on the bottom line, McGinn’s position can finally be upgraded by a player who’s younger, cheaper, and more skilled.

Having a $3.3M player play on your fourth line isn’t good use of your cap, especially when that player isn’t worth that amount. Regardless, no player on any team’s fourth line (in my opinion) should be making that amount for cap purposes.

As well, with the game increasingly moving towards more speed and skill, players like Jamie McGinn – who are slower-paced and less skilled – just don’t fit what the Panthers (and other teams) need to be successful.

You don’t have to be the most skilled player to play on a fourth line, but you do have to own some speed and a tad of skill to blend into today’s NHL.

Jamie McGinn, unfortunately, has neither of those qualities and because of that, he will find a rather difficult time finding a suitor who can use his services.

For reasons like cap constraint and speed/skill, Jamie McGinn just doesn’t fit what the Panthers are trying to build on their bottom two lines. The Cats are better off using some of their talent from the minors that are good enough to replace McGinn and who come at a fraction of the cost.

For both parties alike, it would be best for the Florida Panthers and Jamie McGinn to mutually agree to move in their own separate directions.