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Florida Panthers Expected to Make Surprise Trade Following Latest Signing

Originally posted on Blade of Steel | By Tom Banks | Last updated Jul 10, 2025 7:11 PM ET

After the signing of Mackie Samoskevich, the Florida Panthers are $3 million over the salary cap, leading many to believe that a big time trade is on the way.

This off-season, the Florida Panthers made a flurry of signings, inking Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad to long-term deals, and on Thursday, they officially announced a one-year deal for 22-year old Mackie Samoskevich.

While fans were excited that their rookie winger would be sticking around, it presents the Panthers with a major issue, as they are now reportedly $3.725 million over the salary cap heading into the 2025/26 campaign.

This has led to plenty of speculation that the team could be looking to make a trade, with a veteran forward like Evan Rodrigues having his name brought up in these discussions in recent times as they look to balance this roster and keep themselves under the salary cap.

One other way that the team could look to circumvent this is the Long Term Injured Reserve, and we know from recent years that Florida have no issue using that loophole to get under the salary cap, so now, we will wait and see what Florida does here.

Regardless of a trade, this is still a team that has more depth than anyone in the National Hockey League, and after winning not one but two Stanley Cups together as a core, whether they need to make a move to get under the salary cap or not, the depth is there for this team to continue thriving as they enter the 2025/26 season as the favourite to win it all once more.

This article first appeared on Blade of Steel and was syndicated with permission.

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