Panthers' Rowe: Disappointing season could see shake-up to core
Change could be afoot in Sunrise.
The Florida Panthers are on the outside of the playoff picture, and a finish on the postseason sidelines could lead to big changes, and big moves on the trade market, according to general manager and interim coach Tom Rowe.
"At the end of the day, contracts are great. We did it for salary cap reasons, but it doesn't mean guys are going to retire (with the Panthers) if they keep playing like they did," Rowe told Harvey Fialkov of the Sun-Sentinel.
Florida dropped a 3-2 contest to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, after falling 4-2 to the Buffalo Sabres a night earlier.
As for the team's core, the Panthers have several players signed to long-term deals, moves made to bring down the annual average of each contract. Seven Panthers are signed through the next five seasons:
| Player | Age | Cap Hit | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aleksander Barkov | 21 | $5.9M | 2022 |
| Vincent Trocheck | 23 | $4.75M | 2022 |
| Reilly Smith | 25 | $5M | 2022 |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | 23 | $5.9M | 2023 |
| Keith Yandle | 30 | $6.35M | 2023 |
| Aaron Ekblad | 21 | $7.5M | 2025 |
| Roberto Luongo | 37 | $4.53M | 2022 |
Florida is not yet mathematically eliminated from the postseason, but sits nine points back of the final playoff seed in the East with just six games remaining.
Related - Panthers' Rowe: 'We knew we were going to be in a playoff position'
It's been a tough month for the Panthers, who have gone 4-9-1 through March after a dominant February when they climbed to third in the Atlantic.
Entering the season, the hope was to build on last year's playoff appearance, but that hasn't happened. The Panthers lost in the opening round to the New York Islanders last spring, their first playoff trip since 2012 and just their second in the past 15 seasons.