Florida Panthers Offseason CapFriendly Armchair-GM Trade Review

With little offseason news coming out about the Florida Panthers and the rest of the league in August — aside from a minor player being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins — let us turn to CapFriendly‘s armchair general managers to see what trades they have been proposing lately that have included the Panthers.

CapFriendly’s Armchair-GM feature allows hockey fans of all levels of trade value knowledge to propose trades for their teams. Below are my thoughts on some of my favorite trades (for different reasons) that I have seen opposing team Armchair-GMs propose to the Panthers in recent weeks.

Nylander for the Panthers’ center depth

Nylander is a fine player and an unsung member of Toronto’s core. However, he has been rumored to be on the trade block at times due to his 2024 UFA contract status and Toronto’s salary cap situation.

Looking strictly at value and need for the Panthers’, does one top-line winger — a position they don’t really need — warrant blowing up their center depth? At wing they already have Matthew Tkachuk — who is in the conversation for best winger in the league — as well as Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart.

This could work as a prelude to signing Nylander long-term and having the Panthers go overweight on paying high-end wingers, but my opinion is that this does not make sense for the Panthers. They are better off using the salary that Nylander would command on his next deal elsewhere in the lineup.

A Tkachuk trade? It’s a no from everyone

Another big swing, but I will stop it right there. Matthew Tkachuk is not going anywhere. Laine can shoot the puck and Johnson is a talented forward prospect, but them combined with a second is a far cry from what Matthew Tkachuk would fetch if he were even on the market.

Collecting all of Boston’s third-pairing defensemen

This trade was prefaced as a trade deadline move if Boston is flailing in the leadup to the deadline. While Boston is surely due for some regression after last year’s regular season run, a falloff of this magnitude, even considering Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci’s retirements, seems unlikely.

Even if it were to happen, I do not see how Forbort fits the Panthers’ roster needs. They have no shortage of third-pairing capable defensemen. Any defensive add would need to be for someone with far more upside than Forbort.

Adding Barabanov at the trade deadline

Assuming the Sharks are not playoff contenders out of nowhere this coming season, Barabanov is one of the early season favorites to land the biggest return for any team selling rental forwards at the trade deadline. Barabanov naturally would be a coveted piece for any contender’s middle-six, but recent seasons have seen the price of these type of players exceed a second-round pick.

It is too early to tell where any additional need will be in the leadup to the deadline, but if Barabnov could be gotten with a second, he would be a great add if there is an open need for a middle-six forward.

Trading the future in net for a first (2024-25 season)

My initial thought here is that neither team makes this trade. Knight has a lot of promise for the future, but with only 59 total NHL games to his name, there is still plenty of uncertainty in his future. Montreal would be better off saving their likely early-mid first-round selection and using it to continue their rebuild in the traditional way rather than throwing darts in search of a starting goaltender.

Looking at the Panthers’ end of the deal, I would not say anything outside of the first would be of interest. Currently, Dvorak and Newhook would not be anything more than third line centers on a contender, and even then, would they be an improvement over Anton Lundell or Eetu Luostarinen? I would say no. And the first alone is not incentivizing enough to convince the Panthers to part with who they hope will one day replace Sergei Bobrovsky — now 34 years old — as the starter in net.

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