2021 Florida Panthers off-season thread. Free Agent Frenzy July 28th

[TheImpatientPanther]

Long time, no talk cats.

surprised we didn’t weaponize the fact that Seattle wants Dreidger to add some size up front. Right now our forward lines are
Verhaege Barkov Duclair
Huberdeau Bennett Tippett
Vatrano-Lundell-Denisenko
Marchment-Acciari-Hornqvist.
Lomberg

good offense but I think some grit could be useful. I would have liked to add Dickinson

Welcome back amigo

Bad nickname.

Not as bad as Serron Noel's though....

Can't even bring myself to type it because it is that bad.

I am not exposed laughed once in his lifetime and hated it
It's the hockey culture to come up with the worst nicknames though.

-ghoste

For??
That's a real good pick up for them at 3C/W

 

[Dread Clawz]

Long time, no talk cats.

surprised we didn’t weaponize the fact that Seattle wants Dreidger to add some size up front. Right now our forward lines are
Verhaege Barkov Duclair
Huberdeau Bennett Tippett
Vatrano-Lundell-Denisenko
Marchment-Acciari-Hornqvist.
Lomberg

good offense but I think some grit could be useful. I would have liked to add Dickinson

We're not overly big, but we are definitely gritty. We went punch for punch with Tampa so I think we're fine in that department. We could stand to add a big top 9 forward with grit and skill, but everyone wants those guys.

 

[violaswallet]

We're not overly big, but we are definitely gritty. We went punch for punch with Tampa so I think we're fine in that department. We could stand to add a big top 9 forward with grit and skill, but everyone wants those guys.

I agree: it’s just the main thing we are missing and I think Dickinson could have worked there. I’m guessing Zito wants to roll with Marchment of course and he is the professional.

Ledddy was the only D traded and that price was too rich for me. Ellis could have been nice but we didhbt have the young D to make it happen

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Barkov's current deal expires after this season, not after 22-23.

Ya, just meant that $57 mil in 23-24 drops immediately when Barkov is signed in 11 days or whenever it's official.
We will still have around $17-20 mil to play with next off-season with Barkov deal in place, closer to $14-15 mil once Verhaeghe is inked.

This.

Ryan Ellis just went for two projects… Two NHL players yes, but two projects… And his value is much higher than Dumoulin IMO

So 1st, 2nd and Kolyachonok is a very very high-price I wouldn’t pay for Dumoulin…

Not disputing the talent of the players, just the value of your deals !

Ellis is owed a ton of cash though, nearly $40 mil. Ellis has same cap hit as Yandle no?
Dumo's cap hit is a dream at $4.1 mil, he has the Cups.

Will be interesting to see what the costs are with cap issues for most of the top 10 teams.
I used the Muzzin deal as the comparable for Dumo so hopefully I'm wrong and it's cheaper

 

[Dread Clawz]

I agree you can win with cores on their way out of their primes, but why wait? They're peaking now so try and win 2 Cups instead of one when they're older and possibly nearing the age that injury concerns start to happen as you alluded to with Dumo.
I don't even think Dumo has be an all star here, just play his shutdown role and help the PK.
Ekblad, Weegar and Forsling will do most of the heavy lifting, as they should be doing.

OTT is prime for a big move or two if Melnyk opens his wallet, he kind of said he wants to compete very soon.
If they can convince Hamilton to come and then trade for a top 6 C, they could easily start challenging for a playoff spot this year.

Who says we will win 2 Cups now? Imo you have a better shot at winning more Cups over a longer period of time. Our goalie who we hope will lead us there is 20 years old right now. I think more signs point to us being a better team in 2024/2025 than we are right now.

I'm just not hopping on board the Ottawa hype train. Everyone was juiced about them earlier in the year, then they started slow and everyone was like oh yeah, they're all 18 years old. Come back next year. All those youngsters need time to develop. I understand that once they have Sanderson in the fold, and Stutzle, Norris, Batherson all have experience, they' ll be a really good team. They're just not there yet.

 

[Clint]

The nicknames really are terrible.

Out of those, 'Cookie' is the worst. Just awful.

I really hated Soupy. HATED.

 

[Dread Clawz]

I agree: it’s just the main thing we are missing and I think Dickinson could have worked there. I’m guessing Zito wants to roll with Marchment of course and he is the professional.

Ledddy was the only D traded and that price was too rich for me. Ellis could have been nice but we didhbt have the young D to make it happen

March will have plenty of playing time until Q turns to bones and dust.

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Is it just me or are there more trades happening than before the Vegas expansion draft? Have the other teams decided to bypass negotiating with Seattle and deal between themselves?

 

[Dread Clawz]

Is it just me or are there more trades happening than before the Vegas expansion draft? Have the other teams decided to bypass negotiating with Seattle and deal between themselves?

Yeah nobody wants to give up a Tuch or Theodore and have it come back to bite them.

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Yeah nobody wants to give up a Tuch or Theodore and have it come back to bite them.

I mean it makes sense, it's what teams should have done more the last time (you have 30 potential negotiation partners as opposed to one partner in the expansion team). But it's fun to see all this action in July.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Who says we will win 2 Cups now? Imo you have a better shot at winning more Cups over a longer period of time. Our goalie who we hope will lead us there is 20 years old right now. I think more signs point to us being a better team in 2024/2025 than we are right now.

I'm just not hopping on board the Ottawa hype train. Everyone was juiced about them earlier in the year, then they started slow and everyone was like oh yeah, they're all 18 years old. Come back next year. All those youngsters need time to develop. I understand that once they have Sanderson in the fold, and Stutzle, Norris, Batherson all have experience, they' ll be a really good team. They're just not there yet.

Gotta win one to win two

That's my point though, we should have a decent 1-2 year window right now to go for it and still have the longer 4-6 year window if Zito plays it correctly now and then.
I get the younger prospects have to develop and the core 3 players can still play well nearing their 30's but Huberdeau isn't guaranteed to re-sign, either is Ekblad in 4 years so you're leaving yourself less time in their primes and on their current deals which are solid value per production.

People ripped on Tallon for being too patient and now you have a team like VGK, less than 4 years in already have traded their 3 first rounders they drafted to win now.
This 2021 draft class is 2-3 years away from even seeing NHL action.

For sure, OTT still needs time but two big adds (albeit the most costly - top 6 C and top 3D) has them competing a year earlier than before. Have watched them a lot this year when FLA isn't playing, they need quality vets to take some responsibility away from the prospects. Just don't know if Dorion is the guy to pull it off.

 

[Gentle Man]

Tarasenko exposed

 

[violaswallet]

I mean it makes sense, it's what teams should have done more the last time (you have 30 potential negotiation partners as opposed to one partner in the expansion team). But it's fun to see all this action in July.

Also looks like teams prepared better so only one good player might be exposd per team so it make sense to trade (if there are two equally good players, trading one for a value and then losing the other made no sense)

In 2017 most of the crazy trades involved moving bad contracts (including Smith and Marchy); Seattle seems less likely to do it

 

[SoupyFIN]

I really hated Soupy. HATED.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

Gotta win one to win two

That's my point though, we should have a decent 1-2 year window right now to go for it and still have the longer 4-6 year window if Zito plays it correctly now and then.
I get the younger prospects have to develop and the core 3 players can still play well nearing their 30's but Huberdeau isn't guaranteed to re-sign, either is Ekblad in 4 years so you're leaving yourself less time in their primes and on their current deals which are solid value per production.

People ripped on Tallon for being too patient and now you have a team like VGK, less than 4 years in already have traded their 3 first rounders they drafted to win now.
This 2021 draft class is 2-3 years away from even seeing NHL action.

For sure, OTT still needs time but two big adds (albeit the most costly - top 6 C and top 3D) has them competing a year earlier than before. Have watched them a lot this year when FLA isn't playing, they need quality vets to take some responsibility away from the prospects. Just don't know if Dorion is the guy to pull it off.

On the other hand, Tavares didn't re-sign with the Isles and that didn't hinder them much. You just need couple of elite players and everything else is just about building a playoff team. imo that Duke signing signals that Zito is still focused on building a very good regular season team.

I don't think Zito needs to immediately relinquish futures in order to win now when there's still a lot of uncertainties in the lineup which can't be solved with a trade or two. Dale was just a complete mess so it didn't matter whether he was patient or in a hurry to win.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

So many trades today, mini trade deadline. Rangers and Philly with some nice deals. Metro is a powerhouse.

 

[violaswallet]

So many trades today, mini trade deadline. Rangers and Philly with some nice deals. Metro is a powerhouse.

Ladd deal is most interesting: we will get a sense what Yandle would have cost to move…

I’m guessing price is around a first with some retention

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

Ladd deal is most interesting: we will get a sense what Yandle would have cost to move…

I’m guessing price is around a first with some retention

Yeah especially since Ladd is apparently not LTIRetiring and will dress next year. Very similar situation.

 

[violaswallet]

Yeah especially since Ladd is apparently not LTIRetiring and will dress next year. Very similar situation.

If it’s two seconds and a third as reported, I could somewhat understand why Zito didn’t do it. I think I would have though.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Gotta win one to win two

That's my point though, we should have a decent 1-2 year window right now to go for it and still have the longer 4-6 year window if Zito plays it correctly now and then.
I get the younger prospects have to develop and the core 3 players can still play well nearing their 30's but Huberdeau isn't guaranteed to re-sign, either is Ekblad in 4 years so you're leaving yourself less time in their primes and on their current deals which are solid value per production.

People ripped on Tallon for being too patient and now you have a team like VGK, less than 4 years in already have traded their 3 first rounders they drafted to win now.
This 2021 draft class is 2-3 years away from even seeing NHL action.

For sure, OTT still needs time but two big adds (albeit the most costly - top 6 C and top 3D) has them competing a year earlier than before. Have watched them a lot this year when FLA isn't playing, they need quality vets to take some responsibility away from the prospects. Just don't know if Dorion is the guy to pull it off.

I guess I just think Huby will re-sign, everything hes been saying points to that. If Barky signs long term, I think he will too. Huby is a competitive guy and this is a competitive team, if the money is right he should be staying. Ek I'm not even worried about. Top teams have no problem retaining their players. Ek will maybe get a 1M raise in 4 years, so thats not gonna throw our cap off.

Vegas is a contender now, but they really have 2 years left, maybe 3 before they start trending downward. Luckily for them, Luce has stockpiled a nice bunch of prospects for them so they wont be a tire fire. But they do lack in real top end talent in their pipeline, and also on their roster aside from Stone and maybe Marchessault. And thats the price for trading away so many futures. I want us to have a longer window. I dont think Tallons problem was he was too patient, he just didnt know how to put the finishing touches on. (How, not when). I mean we wouldn't have competed with Tampa, Pitts, or Washington from 2017-2020 anyway.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

On the other hand, Tavares didn't re-sign with the Isles and that didn't hinder them much. You just need couple of elite players and everything else is just about building a playoff team. imo that Duke signing signals that Zito is still focused on building a very good regular season team.

I don't think Zito needs to immediately relinquish futures in order to win now when there's still a lot of uncertainties in the lineup which can't be solved with a trade or two. Dale was just a complete mess so it didn't matter whether he was patient or in a hurry to win.

We've never done it so how do we know?
If the Stralman move to ARI has any traction, that signals he's definitely adding another D for sure.
Just saying, we have the space/assets to add if need be.

 

[violaswallet]

We've never done it so how do we know?
If the Stralman move to ARI has any traction, that signals he's definitely adding another D for sure.
Just saying, we have the space/assets to add if need be.

Don’t completely understand the Stralman rumor ms tbh unless we are keeping Weegar as RD. Then we have
-Ekblad
Forsling-Weegar
Nuti-Gudas

just saw this though:

 

[HockeyRulez]

Don’t completely understand the Stralman rumor ms tbh unless we are keeping Weegar as RD. Then we have
-Ekblad
Forsling-Weegar
Nuti-Gudas

just saw this though:

Have to wait and see

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Vegas is a contender now, but they really have 2 years left, maybe 3 before they start trending downward. Luckily for them, Luce has stockpiled a nice bunch of prospects for them so they wont be a tire fire. But they do lack in real top end talent in their pipeline, and also on their roster aside from Stone and maybe Marchessault. And thats the price for trading away so many futures. I want us to have a longer window. I dont think Tallons problem was he was too patient, he just didnt know how to put the finishing touches on. (How, not when). I mean we wouldn't have competed with Tampa, Pitts, or Washington from 2017-2020 anyway.

Tallon was a little handcuffed as Barkov, Ekblad and Huberdeau took until year 6-7 of his 10 year tenure to be in their primes and it wasn't worth it back then as you said, going up against prime CHI, LA, TB, WSH, PIT etc. We just weren't there skill/development/depth wise.

But now, it feels wide open for a team in our division. that is close to contending to make a couple big moves and push past the 1st round.