If or when the NHL trade market starts to open up, count the Florida Panthers as a buyer.
Despite injuries to key players and a 21st-ranked offence, Dale Tallon’s club finds itself well in the hunt for a playoff spot.
The general manager appeared on Fox Sports Florida Thursday night and said his No. 1 trade priority is adding a goal scorer prior to the Feb. 29 deadline.
“We’re getting more and more assets, and they’re not all going to play for us because there’s not enough room,” Tallon said on-air.
“If we can maybe package a couple of those to get the right piece that’ll help us long-term and really help us in the playoff run and get us deep in the playoffs, we’ll look at it.”
Winning is crucial to attendance in Florida, and we’ve seen Tallon add veterans to his young core the last two years (Roberto Luongo, Jaromir Jagr) in attempt to grab a post-season berth.
“These young guys gotta start believing in themselves, believing they’re a good team,” he said. “Our defensive play has been very solid, and we just have to score a few more goals in the right time of a game.”
The Panthers’ top scorer is Jagr with nine goals. He’ll be 44 years old when the trade deadline arrives.
Expect contenders such as the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators and Los Angeles Kings to also target scoring help.
Tallon jokes that he could use a 40-goal scorer, but some 30-goal guys on weak teams and/or expiring contracts might be available come February.
Potential trade targets for the Panthers could include Eric Staal, Radim Vrbata, Jeff Skinner, Loui Eriksson, and Jiri Hudler — all of whom have at least one 30-goal season under their belt.
Positioned $6.1 million under the salary cap, according to General Fanager, the Panthers are in the enviable position of being able to take on salary.
The NHL’s Christmas trade freeze kicks in Dec. 19.
