Panthers interested in Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray?

Murray has one year remaining on his current deal with a cap hit of $4.6 million.

The 27-year-old has spent his entire career with the Blue Jackets but was limited to just 27 games this past season due to a back injury. Murray has been injury-prone throughout his career, appearing in just 358 of a possible 589 regular-season and playoff games due to various ailments. 

With the amount of cap space the Panthers have, some better defensemen will be available on the open market come the start of free agency. However, they have plenty of players who need to be signed to new deals, including Evgeni Dadonov, Mike Hoffman and Erik Haula, among others. 

Murray's $4.6 million cap hit is much more reasonable than the contracts both free-agent defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Torey Krug are seeking, making him a less expensive option for teams looking for help on the blue line.