It appears the Florida Panthers are ramping up their general manager search after announcing their decision not to renew the contract of Dale Tallon this past Monday, according to Sportsnet‘s Elliotte Friedman.
The Panthers did not manage to win a single playoff series under Tallon and had lofty standards this season, having brought in big-ticket free agent Sergei Bobrovsky from the Columbus Blue Jackets on a seven-year, $70-million contract in order to bolster core players Aaron Ekblad and Aleksander Barkov.
Ultimately, Florida was swept by the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup qualifying round.
With Tallon now removed from the picture after 10 years, the Panthers are wasting no time in courting a wide range of options.
“The people I understand they’ve asked for and received permission to interview are Chris Drury of the Rangers, Michael Futa, who’s a free agent, and Scott Mellanby of Montreal,” Friedman said during Saturday’s Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada. “It’s also expected for John Ferguson in Boston and Laurence Gilman in Toronto (to be contacted).”
Friedman also noted that Ron Hextall, the former Philadelphia Flyers GM and Ross Mahoney of the Washington Capitals could be in the mix, but that he “can’t confirm one way or another.”
