NHL Rumours: Florida Panthers Possible Trade Candidates

It’s time for some more NHL rumours. We’re into the playoff round of the Winter Olympic playoffs. However, general managers are still thinking about making moves. The roster freeze will be ending next week and the floodgates could open up as far as deals are concerned. Teams have until March 6 to complete moves prior to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It will be crunch time soon enough and we could see some tough choices on the horizon.

This edition of NHL rumours talks about the Florida Panthers. Today, we focus on a pair of players that could be salary cap casualties.

All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.

NHL Rumours

Pair of Florida Panthers Players Could Be Trade Bait

Rumour: Jason Gregor appeared on The Daily Faceoff Rundown late last week. The conversation drifted to the Panthers and a pair of players that could be moved at the deadline. Gregor mentioned that Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist could be names that will be moved to land a big fish at the deadline.

Analysis: Injuries and inconsistent play have caused Florida to currently sit on the outside of the playoff picture. However, the Panthers are still a dangerous team and can string wins together fairly quickly.

It’s also been proven that general manager Bill Zito is not afraid to roll the dice and make a major move. Zito landed Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins at the last deadline, which helped land them their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

Florida might have to make a massive move in order to get itself back into contention. Zito has been able to land big fish and never discount Florida when it comes to the trade deadline.

However, the Panthers are going to have to likely give up some key pieces in order to get themselves another roster component. This means we could see some current players could be on the move to help the Panthers afford another option.

What It Means

This isn’t the first time that Rodrigues has been mentioned in our NHL rumours. Before the season, the Panthers entertained the idea of dealing him due to salary cap constraints. However, Matthew Tkachuk being put on long-term injured reserve and bought Florida some time.

Florida may have to revisit a trade involving Rodrigues in order to shake things up in the lineup. The veteran forward makes $3 million for the rest of this season and the next one. Rodrigues could be a nice addition in a deal at the deadline.

Boqvist was also mentioned as a possible name that Zito could involve in a trade. The 27-year-old currently makes $1.5 million for this season and next season, and he could also be a solid addition to any lineup should Zito decide to involve him in part of a trade package.

It was rumoured that the Panthers were involved in trying to get Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers. However, the Los Angeles Kings came away with the highly-touted Russian scorer. Don’t discount the Panthers being in the mix for a game-changing player.