The Panthers stable of players has quite a few new faces following a busy week of drafting, trading and signing free agents
It’s been a frantic few days for the Florida Panthers, from the fun and festivities in Nashville to free agency frenzy that followed.
There has been a lot to cover, but fortunately for you, The Hockey News has been there every step of the way, and here’s a story full of links in case you missed anything.
Things started at the NHL Awards show in Nashville, where Matthew Tkachuk was a Hart Trophy finalist and Bill Zito was up for the General Manager of the Year award (though that winner wouldn’t be announced until the NHL Draft).
Connor McDavid expectedly took home the Hart, and Zito lost out on GM of the Year to Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill.
Speaking on the red carpet outside the show, Tkachuk gave a positive update on his stats for the start of the season.
Several Panthers players received votes for the various awards that were handed out in Nashville.
Between the award show and the draft, Florida’s 2023-24 schedule dropped, and they’ll start the season with three straight road games. The Cats home opener comes on Oct. 19 against Toronto.
Trade rumors involving Anthony Duclair continued to swirl in the days leading up to the draft, and at the same time, he was back in South Florida holding a youth hockey camp at the Ice Den in Coral Springs.
At the draft, Florida held only five picks. They selected center Gracyn Sawchyn with the No. 63 selection, defenseman Albert Wikman at No. 127 and goalie Olof Glifford with the 159th pick.
The Cats also selected defenseman Luke Coughlin at the end of the sixth round and forward Stepan Zvagin seven picks later at No. 198.
THN did a breakdown of Florida's five selections, including comments from Zito on each.
In the days leading up to free agency, THN learned that Florida was looking to keep any new contracts short in term.
The Panthers were also going to have to be wary of injuries to Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, as both may end up missing time early in the season.
When free agency began, Florida loaded up on defensemen, including veteran Oliver Ekman-Larsson and a former Panthers top pick Dmitri Kulikov, and added some goaltending insurance in Anthony Stolarz.
During his free agency day presser, Zito was asked several questions about signing Ekman-Larsson and his fit with Florida's defenders.
Amid a field of one-year contracts, the Panthers gave smooth skating defenseman Niko Mikkola a three-year deal and forward Evan Rodrigues a four-year deal.
Rodrigues, who has developed one hell of a one-timer, could be a sneaky good addition to Florida’s power play.
THN had a little fun and put out some way-too-early forward line and defensive pairing predictions.
Finally, Duclair spoke to the media in San Jose on Monday and gave his thoughts on the trade from Florida.