It’s been a busy day for Bill Zito since the free agency gates opened up this afternoon. With not a lot of cap wiggle room,and a mountain of injuries on the roster, here are the moves we have seen from Florida (so far)…
Who’s In:
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson (D): 1Y, $2.25M AAV - Niko Mikkola (D): 3Y, $2.5M AAV - Mike Reilly (D): 1Y, $1M AAV - Dmitry Kulikov (D): 1Y, $1M - Kevin Stenlund (F): 1Y, $1M AAV - Steven Lorentz (C) - Alexander True (F): 1Y, $775K - Anthony Stolarz (G): 1Y, $1.1M AAV
*NOTE: I’m sure we’ve all read the countless articles and tidbits on each of these guys, so I’ll spare you more of that
Who’s Out:
- Patric Hornqvist: Retired - Radko Gudas: Signed w/Ducks - Anthony Duclair: Traded to Sharks - Givani Smith: Signed w/Sharks - Alex Lyon: Signed w/Detroit - Casey Fitzgerald: Unsigned - Marc Staal: Unsigned - Eric Staal: Unsigned - Colin White: Unsigned
Conclusion:
The Panthers entered free agency with roughly around $10M to spend and have something like $1M left over. There has not been a “splash… trade or signing up to this point.
The biggest loss was Gudas. As much as Florida wanted to hang on to him, they just couldn’t match the price from Anaheim. With The Butcher gone, it seems obvious that Zito is working the perimeter by signing a bunch of defensemen to short-term deals - save for Mikkola - in an attempt to:
A. Fill the gap of Gudas’ absence B. Add depth to a blueline that has none and is even worse now with injuries to Ekblad and Montour
I’m kind of indifferent right now today’s events. Maybe they just haven’t set in yet?
On one hand, there wasn’t really any departures that were devastating — outside of the bummer of Radko — and on the other, there’s no additions that make me go “wow!…
I could see a lot of these guys being flipped at the deadline. At least that’s what it feels like right now.
The one deal that did raise an eyebrow for me was the signing of Stolarz. I wonder if that means the Panthers believe Knight will be out longer than expected? Or could they be moving him?
Some experts think these low risk moves are a setup for some kind of bigger trade that’s to come, since Florida is out of money. Zito has pulled off a big splash each each season with the organization, so I wouldn’t put it past him.
See the following interesting point made in the Miami Herald, via Yahoo! News:
“Its eight moves Saturday leave Florida with less than $1 million in cap space right now, but those short-term deals mean the Panthers still will have about $32.9 million in cap space for next offseason when about half a dozen key players — including Montour, fellow defenseman Gustav Forsling, and centers Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen — will become free agents.
Those cap concerns are why the Panthers opted not to bring back Radko Gudas, who signed for three years and $12 million with the Ducks, or go after fellow defenseman Dimitry Orlov.…
I have a sneaking suspicion that something big is coming.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see… _____________________________
Go Panthers!