Folks, it is once again getting scarily close to the NHL Trade Deadline. Every year, teams all around the NHL scramble to make the right moves – if any at all. While some trade deadlines have been quieter than others, they’ve seemed to ramp up in chaos and disarray within the past five or so seasons.
With Bill Zito at the helm, the Florida Panthers have only failed to be active on or before deadline day once, and that was at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. Since 2021, the Panthers have acquired huge names like Sam Bennett, Claude Giroux, Ben Chiarot, and Vladimir Tarasenko (the former and latter of which were members of the Cats’ Stanley Cup-winning roster).
This year’s pre-trade deadline blockbusters have seemingly come and gone, but the Panthers reportedly remain in the hunt for a top-four right-handed defenseman. Our very own Justin Giampietro wrote a fantastic piece about what a potential Noah Dobson trade would look like for the Panthers and the New York Islanders, and I personally think that would be a great scenario.
While I am wholeheartedly on board with a Dobson acquisition, there are a few other players out there that I think the Cats could and/or should target at this year’s trade deadline.
Shoring Up the Defense – Bowen Byram
This is an obvious starting point for many reasons. If the Panthers make a move at all, it will likely be for a defenseman. Which defenseman that is, however, is a bit up in the air at the moment.
After waiving Adam Boqvist earlier this season, it’s clear that the Cats are looking for something that can’t be found in-house. Aside from Dobson, I think a very solid addition to the Panthers’ roster would be none other than the Buffalo Sabres’ Bowen Byram. I know, I know, Byram is a left-shot defenseman, and the Cats are reportedly looking for a right-shot defenseman. Handedness notwithstanding, Byram is a fantastic skater and has a penchant for finding his way onto the scoresheet.
Despite having been traded twice now at the tender age of 22, I still think he has tremendous upside, especially on a team that has resurrected the careers of Gustav Forsling, Brandon Montour, Niko Mikkola, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The Panthers are well-known for turning even the most below-average of defensemen into near-franchise mainstays. Under head coach Paul Maurice’s system, Byram could easily find himself excelling while…
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