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The Florida Panthers have not wasted a moment as the trade deadline slowly begins to set in and have made a few moves to add three new faces to their roster. The closer the deadline gets, the more moves a team is likely to make and in the days leading up to the deadline the Panthers made sure they made a few moves of their own. So far the Panthers have acquired Jiri Hudler from the Calgary Flames, Jakub Kindl from the Detroit Red Wings, and Teddy Purcell from the Edmonton Oilers.
"It just completes our team a little bit more."
Tallon on newest #FlaPanthers >> https://t.co/KAs337JsLN pic.twitter.com/MGCng1IQO0— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) February 28, 2016
Florida received Hudler from the Flames in exchange for a 2016 second round draft pick and a fourth round draft pick in 2018. The 32-year-old forward was praised by Panthers’ general manager Dale Tallon as being a highly skilled and experienced player who will bring good character and offensive abilities to the team. Hudler has 35 points in 53 games this season with the Flames thus far, ten of which are goals, and is expected to add to the offensive side of play in one of the Panthers’ lines, especially on a line that might have more defensive experts.
The Panthers acquired Kindl on more simple terms. In exchange for the 29-year-old defenseman the Panthers sent the Red Wings a 2017 sixth round draft pick. The 6-foot-3, 199 pound defenseman will add some strong play on the back end and will add to the already large team’s size.
Florida sent another draft pink to Edmonton when acquiring Purcell, sending their 2016 third round draft pick to the Oilers in exchange for the 30-year-old forward. Purcell has 11 goals and 32 points this season and 294 career-points in 544 NHL games. His presence will add good offensive play to the bottom-six forwards, and will create balance throughout the roster.
The Panthers are anticipating their fifth playoff appearance in their franchise’s history and have decided to make the moves they thought were most possible to get themselves there. The Panthers are chasing the Stanley Cup and plan to go all the way. The Panthers are currently leading the Atlantic Division and are third in the Eastern Conference with 78 points.
