If the Florida Panthers are too far out of the playoff race by the March 6 trade deadline, should they consider trading pending UFA A.J. Greer?
The Florida Panthers chances of making the playoffs are growing slimmer by the game.
If they aren’t in contention to at the very least make a push for a playoff spot, it could force GM Bill Zito to consider options.
His hands are tied in terms of adding to his roster, as they are already near the salary cap and have hopes of bringing back captain Aleksander Barkov. The only thing Zito can do to help his team improve this season is watch how the season unfolds.
But if the Panthers are out of a playoff spot and show no signs of climbing back, Zito’s attention could turn to offloading pending UFAs for draft picks or prospects.
The Panthers’ pending UFAs include A.J. Greer, Luke Kunin, Tomas Nosek, Jeff Petry, Daniil Tarasov, and Sergei Bobrovsky. Due to performance and injury status, the only player that the Panthers could really offload for a decent haul would be Greer.
Analyst Jason Gregor on the DFO Rundown was the first to mention the possible interest that could be in the physical 29-year-old winger.
“An AJ Greer type player, I just wonder, what type of value he might have for a (rival) team?” said Gregor. “He has won some Cups... He’s a very defined role player, but those types of guys, man, he comes in. He’s physical, and he can play. So I wonder if a team is looking for a little more aggressiveness... I know that’s Florida’s M.O., but are they gonna want to keep both him and (Jonah) Gadjovich?”
A.J. Greer has thrown a team-leading 145 hits and leads the team in penalty minutes with 88. (David Kirouac-Imagn Images)Greer is enjoying a career season, already with career highs of 11 goals and 21 points. He’s also averaging a career high 11:47 of ice time and has played higher in the lineup this year due to injuries. He’s excelled in his role and comes with Stanley Cup-winning experience.
With a very modest $850,000 salary, Greer would be a cost-efficient player who would bring depth scoring and physicality to whatever bottom six he is placed in.
At the moment, this is speculation, but if the Panthers are going to be unable to re-sign him in the off-season due to roster space, they could consider trading him for assets rather than losing him for free in the off-season.
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