It’s been a wild NHL offseason for the Florida Panthers. While managing to keep Brad Marchand and the core together, a wave of exits has now hit the organization in Sunrise. However, reports now hint there is one two-time Stanley Cup champion on the roster where the Cats have drawn the line.
It’s no secret Marchand’s Panthers face a steep climb to comply with the NHL salary cap before the start of the new season. On that note, placing Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) is a patch-solution. Still, at some point the star winger must return to the lineup, and that’s when things will get sketchy for the Cats.
When that time comes, Evan Rodrigues is a main candidate to be moved out of South Florida. But until then, it seems the reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup champions are in no rush to dismantle the locker room.
Not moving him just yet
E-Rod is a beloved presence both on and off the ice, so it makes sense why the Cats wouldn’t want to make a hurried move. As reports indicate, teams have contacted the brass in Sunrise, but to no avail.
“[Rodrigues would] probably be the most likely candidate [to move],” Frank Seravalli said on the Insider Notebook podcast. “[However], the answer teams got when they called the Panthers about someone like Rodrigues was that they weren’t really interested in moving him.”
Where they stand
At the moment, Florida sits $4.5 million above the salary cap, per PuckPedia. Tkachuk has undergone surgery for the torn adductor and sports hernia injuries he sustained last NHL season.
It’s become very clear he will be placed in LTIR, missing the first half of the NHL season. Tkachuk will probably be out until the 2026 Olympics break comes around. Sidelining the 27-year-old winger would bring the Cats back under cap regulations, as his $9.5M contract would be put on hold.
Keep it going
So far, it seems Marchand and company are enjoying the ride. The vibes are immaculate in Broward County, and GM Bill Zito and company have no intention of killing them off after their Stanley Cup conquests.
It seems sooner or later the Panthers will be left with no choice but to part ways with a key piece of their lineup. Whether Rodrigues is shipped off or another Stanley Cup-winning teammate of Marchand becomes a cap casualty remains to be seen.
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Still, it’s Zito we’re talking about, so no possibility can be taken for granted. Not many believed the Cats could retain Marchand, Bennett, and Ekblad, yet here we are. So, fans in Sunrise should brace themselves for any trick up the front office’s sleeve.