Ranking trade options for Panthers following Aleksander Barkov injury

The Florida Panthers announced on Friday that superstar center Aleksander Barkov is going to miss seven to nine months after suffering ACL and MCL injuries in practice on Thursday. Along with the injury to star winger Matthew Tkachuk, it leaves some major holes in the lineup of a team that is trying to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup (and reach a fourth consecutive Stanley Cup Final).

The best-case scenario for Barkov is a potential return at some point in the playoffs. The worst-case scenario is they see him next season. 

Even though the depth of the roster is still strong, those are two difficult players to replace internally. Given the salary-cap flexibility they could have following the injuries, it does create some potential trade options for the Panthers.

So let's look at some potential trade targets they could explore in the coming weeks and months to help fill the void.

The boring option: No trade and hope Barkov can return for playoffs

There's a big change to the NHL's CBA this season that is going to require teams to be salary-cap-compliant for the playoffs. In recent years, the Panthers could have used this as an opportunity to shelve Barkov for the season, make a big trade and then bring a potentially healthy Barkov back for the playoffs when the cap goes away. (Vegas and Tampa Bay were great at this.)

That is no longer an option this season, so if the Panthers have any hope for Barkov to be back for the playoffs, they may not be able to make that type of big splash trade. They still have a good roster that can get in the postseason, so the boring option is to just stay the course, hope Barkov can return in April or May and leave themselves the cap flexibility to do so. 

The sensible option: Jean-Gabriel Pageau, New York Islanders

The Islanders are kind of in a middle-ground here where the roster is not quite good enough to contend, and they have a new general manager who has made some big moves with a focus on the long term. Pageau is in the final year of his contract and could be an intriguing trade chip for them given his defensive play and reasonable salary-cap number ($5 million). He is also a pending free agent after this season.

With Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart having the flexibility to play center and Anton Lundell being a rising star, the Panthers could easily get away with them as the centers on their top two lines and look for more of a depth option. Pageau would be a strong fit without breaking the bank financially or in terms of trade capital. 

The "it would make a lot of sense" option: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

A year or two ago, this would have seemed like a non-starter, but with the Penguins clearly in a rebuild and Malkin already floating the possibility of playing for another team (and specifically referencing Brad Marchand going to the Panthers), there's going to be some smoke here. Or at least some speculation. Malkin is not the player he was at his peak, but he still has some juice to his game and would get a chance to play with some legitimate linemates (something that has been a struggle for him with the state of Pittsburgh's roster the past two years). 

If they could convince him to waive his no-movement clause to make a Marchand-like run in Florida, it would make sense. Especially with Malkin's affordable ($6.1 million) salary-cap number. 

The "let's get crazy" option: Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild

Hey, let's just get weird with it. Kaprizov is one of the NHL's best players and is a pending free agent after this season. He's already turned down a potential record-setting contract offer from the Wild, and that could open the door for a potential trade. Even if the Panthers had no intention of re-signing him (or ability to re-sign him given the salary cap), it would be a way to push all of their chips to the center of the table and go for one more big run at a three-peat. 

As mentioned above, they have center options with Bennett, Reinhart and Lundell who can handle the workload down the middle, and with Tkachuk sidelined for the start of the season, more wing help would be a nice bonus.

The two big obstacles here: The Wild may not want to move Kaprizov even with the contract uncertainty, and the Panthers have one of the NHL's worst farm systems and no first-round draft picks until 2028, so trade assets would be problematic for such a blockbuster move. But that's why it's the "let's get crazy" option.