Which way will the Florida Panthers choose?
Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta joined TSN Radio in Montreal and was asked about what the Florida Panthers will do at the NHL Trade Deadline.
Writing for NHLRumors.com
Host: “Dave, what about teams like the Leafs and the Panthers, you know, the Panthers coming off a three-game losing streak. The Leafs, and all that pressure. Two organizations, two front offices that don’t want to come out. But you expect these teams to just walk away from some players at some point, and say, too many bodies between us and the wild card spot.”
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Dave Pagnotta: “I think Florida is right there. I’m looking forward to seeing how well this team comes out of the Olympics, especially, you have (Brad) Marchand, you have (Sam) Reinhart and (Sam) Bennett. Their use kind of raised a little eyebrow, wondering what their health status really was. Is there something that’s catching on 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 get a spot right away, they have solid depth pieces that other teams would love to get, like a guy like AJ Greer, for example. He’s a glue guy, a type four player. A real guy for a great team that made it with the Panthers. They will have others, and he is a pending UFA. So there will be other teams looking at him, asking themselves, is he the type of person I can bring out to help strengthen my bottom six?”
NHLRumors.com Note: There is a lot of speculation about the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers and their plans. GM Bill Zito met with the media last week and said that he had various situations presented. This week will decide a lot, and you will know the real direction Thursday night/Friday morning.
Florida has lost two of its first three games without a break. They lost late against the Buffalo Sabers and then against the New York Islanders on Sunday. They remain eight points off the final wild card spot with five teams to jump. And are they better than the teams in front of them? Which means players like Jesper Boqvist, Greer, and others may leave.
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And while there are reports of a rift between goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky and management over a new contract, history says he is not negotiating during the season. But the contract starts at $6 million, similar to Jacob Markstrom’s deal in New Jersey. Given the way the Panthers want to win right now, are there better options out there?
They have a lot of injuries this season to key players. Florida has played a lot of hockey. It can be one of those reset and do it again next year seasons. It will be interesting to see where they end up and if they have a safe pick 10 that they can use in the future to get something.
But the new LTIR rules and salary cap in the playoffs make things difficult for them to move.
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