Florida Panthers Could Be Very Aggressive In Pursuing Players

The Florida Panthers are going to be very shorthanded for the majority of the season. Aleksander Barkov suffered an unfortunate injury before the season started and he is expected to miss at least the entire regular season. Matthew Tkachuk will be back for the Panthers this season, but it won't come until 2026. There are going to be plenty of opportunities in the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions' lineup, but maybe not for long.

Before placing Barkov and Tkachuk on LTIR (long-term injured reserve), where they will be headed, to free up cap space, the Panthers are $4.55 million over the salary cap. Barkov has a cap hit of $10 million AAV and Tkachuk has a $9.5 million AAV cap hit. At the very least, the Panthers are going to utilize the money freed up from Barkov since they must fill the void that will be there all season long if not.

Since Tkachuk is coming back during the season, it's best to let that money stay open for his return. But with the cap space now available, the Panthers are going to be even more aggressive in adding someone to help them three-peat.

Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell are not first-line centers, but they are both the caliber of a second-line center. Once the playoffs roll around, the depth is where the Panthers have the advantage. Lundell has been the third line center since entering the NHL and he would have stayed that way if not for the Barkov injury. There may not be very many options right now, but the Panthers will be big-game hunting for help down the middle. The team has been linked to Evgeni Malkin, which would line up perfectly for them as the Pittsburgh Penguins' veteran has one year left on his deal.

Players around the league may fall out of favour with their clubs, or other teams start to struggle and look to move some players. The Panthers will have options and general manager Bill Zito has proven he can make the right additions for the team in order to help them win.