Florida Panthers Spent Over $200 Million Dollars in Free Agency

Florida Panthers Spent Over $200 Million Dollars in Free Agency on 8 Players With Contracts Ranging From 2-7 Years

Who would have thought three days into NHL free agency frenzy that the Florida Panthers would be the big spender. Between five new faces, two extensions, and a re-signing, a little over $200 million dollars was spent by the new look Panthers.

Florida is having a very busy offseason. It began with a shift in roles throughout the front office, to unveiling of a new logo/uniform, and finished with an early trade sending Erik Gudbranson to Vancouver for Jared McCann (draft picks involved).

The Panthers weren’t done dealing there though as they acquired the negotiating rights to defenseman Keith Yandle. He was later signed to a seven-year $44.45 million dollar deal ($6.35 million dollar cap hit).

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Their last major trade occurred at the NHL Draft when Florida shipped Dmitry Kulikov to Buffalo for Mark Pysyk (draft picks involved).

Florida continued by signing James Reimer, Jonathan Marchessault, and Colton Sceviour on the opening day of free agency. They also inked future Norris candidate Aaron Ekblad to an eight-year $60 million dollar extension.

On day two, they added to their defensive depth inking Jason Demers to a five-year contract.

Two key re-signings on day three capped off the spending spree locking down Reilly Smith and Vincent Trocheck long-term.

The contract figures are as follows:

Reilly Smith – 5 years $5 million dollar cap hit = $25 million total
Vincent Trocheck – 6 years $4.75 million dollar cap hit = $28.5 million total
Jason Demers – 5 years $4.5 million dollar cap hit = $22.5 million total
Aaron Ekblad – 8 years $7.5 million dollar cap hit = $60 million total
Colton Sceviour – 2 years $950k cap hit = $1.9 million total
Jonathan Marchessault – 2 years $750k cap hit = $1.5 million total
James Reimer – 5 years $3.4 million dollar cap hit = $17 million total
Keith Yandle – 7 years $6.35 million dollar cap hit = $44.45 million total

Grand Total = $200.85 million dollars

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Florida Panthers have committed $69,283,332 dollars towards next year’s $73 million dollar salary cap.

That includes Dave Bolland‘s lucrative $5.5 million dollar cap hit (three years remaining) which likely would have been bought out if the 30-year-old veteran were able to pass a physical – teams cannot buyout injured players.

The hope will be that Bolland’s contract can be buried on the LTIR (long-term injured reserve). Worst case scenario, they send him to the AHL once again and absorb the cap hit. A buyout is sure to come next June with Ekblad’s new deal kicking in and Jonathan Huberdeau up for contract.

Moving forward, minimal work remains for the Florida Panthers. They have plenty of depth at each position with a few top prospects vying for roster spots (Lawson Crouse, Jayce Hawryluk, and Ian McCoshen).

Following their franchise best season in 2015-16, it seems this small market Panthers team is out to prove they can hang with the big boys.

Florida will be faced with adversity immediately out of the gates this Fall playing without starter Roberto Luongo.

The team will instead turn to newly signed James Reimer to carry the load until Luongo is healthy. Another recently acquired netminder, Reto Berra, will serve as backup to Reimer to open 2016-17.

Next: Offseason Goals For All 30 Teams

Taking a chapter out of the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins playbook, the Florida Panthers will have a minimum eight new faces in their lineup this fall. The big question is, will all these significant changes translate to another division title?

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