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Cup Champion Florida Panthers Sign Former First-Round Pick

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Tom Banks | Last updated Jul 17, 2025 1:48 PM ET

The Florida Panthers have been making moves this off-season, and now they've made perhaps their most intriguing one as they've signed Tobias Bjornfot.

Over the past few months, the Florida Panthers have been on fire, as they clinched their second Stanley Cup in a row before locking up the veteran trio of Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett all to long-term deals.

With their entire core now signed, this is a team that's expected to be competitive for a long time to come, and now, they've made another very intriguing signing official on Thursday.

According to reports, the team have inked former first-round pick Tobias Bjornfot to a one-year, two-way deal after he appeared in 14 games with the team a season ago, with the 24-year old defenseman not managing to tally a point in that time.

Over the past two years, the former No. 22 overall pick has appeared in 15 games for the Panthers and 50 for the AHL affiliate Charlotte Checkers, and while he's not expected to play a significant role for Florida, he will be a good depth piece for the team down in the AHL.

In 50 AHL games a season ago, Bjornfot posted 3 goals and 18 points with a +6 differential, showing that there's still some production in there despite the former first-round pick failing to live up to expectations thus far in his career.

Ultimately, this is nothing more than a depth signing for the Panthers, but given the roster that they've got, it's a solid move for a team that will head into 2025/26 as the favourites to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions, with Bjornfot now a solid depth piece for the team in case injuries do strike.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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