Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito (right) speaks to the media during Seth Jones' (left) introductory press conference at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale on March 3, 2025. (David Dwork) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/a5e045d9-70c9-42a7-8a6f-b94594ddfb1e.jpeg] Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito (right) speaks to the media during Seth Jones' (left) introductory press conference at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale on March 3, 2025. (David Dwork) The Florida Panthers may not be done making moves ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline. It was late Saturday night when news began to circulate that Florida had just swung a massive move, acquiring defenseman Seth Jones from Chicago in exchange for goalie Spencer Knight and a 1st Round Pick. Bringing in Jones, a 30-year-old elite blueliner who desperately wanted to join a Stanley Cup contender, made a lot of sense from a Panthers perspective. Fresh off winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup last June, Florida’s roster is built in a way that they can and should continue competing for championships for years to come. Jones, who is signed through the end of the decade, acts as another crucial piece in the Panthers attempt at building a dynasty. In order to make the financials of adding Jones’ $7 million per year salary (after Chicago agreed to retain about $2.5 million per year of his $9.5 million AAV), Panthers General Manager Bill Zito had to move some things around. The big change, it turned out, was placing injured forward Matthew Tkachuk and his $9.5 million AAV contract on Long Term Injured Reserve. While initially there was hope that Tkachuk would return to Florida’s lineup in the short-term, it now appears that he’s going to be out for several weeks at the minimum. "Matthew is going to be out for an extended period of time," Panthers General Manager Bill Zito said on Monday. "We hope to get him back for the playoffs.” When a player goes on LTIR, it means they must be out for at least 10 games and 24 days. Tkachuk suffered an apparent groin injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off that has kept him off the ice in the time since. If the four games Florida has played since 4 Nations ended count toward Tkachuk's LTIR totals, he'd be eligible to come back into the Cats' lineup no sooner than March 20 in Columbus. If the four games do not count, than the earliest Tkachuk could return is March 28 against Utah. That would still leave either 10 or 13 games until the playoffs, but it's starting to sound like a more realistic timetable would be for Tkachuk to return during the postseason. After acquiring Jones, Zito needed to make another move in order to give Florida the salary cap space needed to bring a second goaltender back on the roster. That move was placing Tkachuk on LTIR. Afterwards, Florida quickly brought up Chris Driedger from AHL Charlotte to serve as backup to Sergei Bobrovsky. Now the Panthers are left with just over $8.7 million to work with under the cap. The Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin sometime around the third week of April. Zito was coy when discussing his plans for the immediate future now that Tkachuk has been placed on LTIR, but based off his track record, it's likely that Florida is not done making moves. “I don’t know that it necessarily says anything other than that we have (cap) space," Zito said. It was long known that the Panthers coveted a right-shooting defenseman to add to their roster. Now that they've filled that need, will Zito and his staff target more forward depth? Perhaps a backup goaltender to replace Knight? Or will Zito take Florida's 2026 1st Round Pick and use it as a massive trade chip for another big name? We'll find out over the next five days. Stay tuned! 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