Recapping the Florida Panthers Trade Deadline Moves

No one can accuse Florida GM Bill Zito of being afraid to make big moves. He stared and ended trade deadline week with a splash that shocked fans, both his own and opponent’s. As the Panthers gear up for the playoffs, they were big-time buyers but didn’t spend much to acquire important pieces to the lineup. With most of the core locked up within the top three forward lines, the Cats were mostly looking to shore up the depth pieces, but Zito made a massive surprise move and made a trade with Boston for Brad Marchand in the final hour. The Panthers were significantly more active at this deadline than they were last year, so here’s all the moves they made.

Seth Jones:

The biggest glaring need for most of the season has been a right shot defenseman with the loss of Brandon Montour and OEL in the offseason. The Cats finally filled that hole with Seth Jones and a 2026 fourth-round pick from Chicago. Heading to the Blackhawks was fan favorite and promising young goalie Spencer Knight, along with a conditional 2026 first-round pick. Chicago also retained around 25% of Jones’s contract, pulling his cap hit down to 7M. Jones led Chicago’s defense in goals at 7, assists at 20, and points at 27. Bill Zito said in the introductory press conference that players like Jones aren’t usually available this time of year, and it was a no-brainer to go out and get him. However, it wasn’t a move that was made lightly as they mulled over the decision to part with Knight, who had been labeled as the goalie of the future. ’ In the end, they felt the move would be beneficial for both sides as Knight can become a big piece of the Blackhawks rebuild and Florida gets a right shot defenseman with term on his contract. In the two games he’s played with the Panthers, Jones has yet to be on ice for a goal against and made big contributions to the PK in the match against Tampa Bay. As Jones learns the Panthers’ systems, he could move into the QB role on PP unit 1, which would allow them to manage Ekblad’s minutes if the Forsling-Ekblad pair sees more even-strength time.

Related Post: Seth Jones Traded to the Florida Panthers

Vitek Vanecek:

Florida’s goalie situation for the rest of this season was left in limbo for all of four days. On Wednesday, the Panthers traded prospect Patrick Giles for goalie Vitek Vanecek. Although Vanecek’s numbers haven’t looked great this year, he’s also been playing for the Sharks, who are rebuilding. Over his career, he’s played 181 NHL games with a 94-52-20 record and a .903 SV%. He’s split his tenure between San Jose, New Jersey, and Washington and has playoff experience. The Panthers’ equipment staff wasted no time in acquiring removable decals for Vanecek’s mask so that he can wear Florida’s colors in his debut. Zito had this to say on bringing in Vanecek: “Vitek is a guy that’s been playing regularly this year. We thought that was important to give ourselves some extra [experience] and maybe solidify that position a bit more. He’s a guy we’ve faced in the past, and he’s done a pretty good job against us.” It’s expected that he’ll make his Panther debut against Buffalo. Against the Sabers, Vanecek is 10-2-1 with a .917 SV%. He’ll be important down the stretch, as the Panthers still have five back-to-backs on their schedule.

Nico Strum:

Sticking with trading with San Jose, Florida acquired Nico Strum on Thursday to shore up their center depth. Nosek’s been pretty good for Florida, but Strum has the best FO% in the NHL this season, and winning faceoffs was one of the Panthers’ biggest strengths during their Cup run last season. The Cats also received a 2027 7th round pick and sent back a 2026 4th round pick to the Sharks. Strum also comes in with Stanley Cup experience, as he won one with the Colorado Avalanche back in 2022. In the faceoff dot this season, Nico sports a 62.7 FO% among skaters that have taken at least 250 faceoffs. He’s also a great penalty killer, which gives the Cats the option to manage Barkov and Reinhart’s minutes. When interviewed, Strum said, “It’s probably the best case scenario for me. I’m super excited to be here and help this team win another Stanley Cup.” He also spoke about how he wants his game to excel at winning faceoffs and penalty killing. HC Paul Maurice spoke on Strum, saying, “It’s huge. You look at the top 16 [teams], and every single one of them has a power play that can win a series. You just have that much talent or you don’t make the playoffs. It’s one or two faceoffs that can make the difference for you.”

Kaapo Kahkonen:

Zito wasn’t done making moves on Thursday. His second trade of the day was a goalie swap with the Winnipeg Jets. The Cats bring in Kaapo Kahkonen and send Chris Driedger to his hometown. Kahkonen has NHL experience with 140 games under his belt, split between Colorado, New Jersey, San Jose, and Minnesota. This season he’s been playing down on the Winnipeg affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. He’s heading to play for the Charlotte Checkers and will be alongside Cooper Black and Ken Appleby.

Brad Marchand:

It was looking like the Panthers were done making moves come trade deadline day; they’d filled the gaps in the lineup and added depth in places where there was room for improvement. But Zito is nothing if not willing to make splash moves that shock the hockey world. In the 11th hour, reports came out that career Boston Bruin Brad Marchand was getting traded to Florida. In a trade that doesn’t feel real, Marchand is now set to join the division rival for what is expected to be another Cup run. Needless to say, Panther fans were rather panicked about what was being traded away in order to acquire such a high-profile player, and the question of ‘who is leaving’ was floating around X until the details of the trade were disclosed. It turns out no one is leaving the Florida roster, instead, they traded away a 2027 conditional 2nd round pick that could turn into a 2027/2028 1st round pick, and that’s it. The conditions with the pick are that Marchand has to play at least 50% of the playoff games, and the Cats have to win two rounds in the playoffs. Along with getting Marchand, Boston is retaining half of his salary, which will keep Florida under the cap with the extra Tkachuk LTIR space they have. Greer, who played with Marchand in Boston last season, said, “Really excited. Brad’s an amazing person. Great player. He brings out the best in everyone every day. He’s a competitor. Whether it’s in practice or in games, he always seems to elevate everyone around him.” Barkov said, “We’re excited to have him on our side for once.” Marchand is currently out injured and was listed as week-to-week, according to the Bruins. On his status, HC Paul Maurice said, “We have an understanding of what the injury is. We feel confident. Boston had listed him as week-to-week, so we will stay with that until we get a look at him.” One thing is for sure: Marchand’s Florida debut won’t be back at TD Garden when the Cats play there next week.

A couple of small moves they also made were signing Jesper Boqvist to a two-year contract extension at 1.5M AAV and signing Jesse Puljujarvi to a two-way contract for the rest of this season. This year was a significantly more active trade deadline than last year for the Panthers.