Tallon's Panthers better equipped with multiple rentals, not Ladd

Dale Tallon conceded Saturday that his former colleague with the Chicago Blackhawks, Stan Bowman, wasn't the only executive who pursued a reunion with Andrew Ladd.

"(We) dipped our toe," the Florida Panthers general manger said Saturday, explaining in a conference call that the rental market's headliner was too expensive for his team's blood.

This wasn't restrictions placed on a small-market, budget franchise who just couldn't meet the price tag. Rather, discerning self-awareness and restraint on the part of a wise executive who was given, as he says, "carte blanche" by ownership.

All season long, the Panthers have been one of the best teams. They have a fairly comfortable lead atop the Atlantic Division, are jammed in with the very best teams in the NHL's overall standings, and have made tremendous strides offensively.

But unlike Chicago, the Panthers aren't one major splash away from being Stanley Cup front-runners.

That said, the lead-up to the NHL trade deadline wasn't a time to sit on their hands. Perhaps the most important hockey in the club's history is forthcoming, and what happens this spring will help shape the next several decades in what's been a vulnerable hockey market.

So Tallon fell somewhere in the middle.

In former 30-goal scorer Jiri Hudler and former 65-point man Teddy Purcell, Tallon filled out his roster with capable supplemental scoring, and two players with proven abilities to assist elite linemates. And, perhaps more importantly, he filled out two wing positions on his roster.

In it all, Tallon sent second-, third-, and fourth-round picks to acquire Hudler and Purcell, and sent a sixth-round selection to round out his defense with a capable puck-mover in Jakub Kindl.

By holding onto his first-round pick, preserving prospects like Lawson Crouse and Jayce Hawryluk, and reportedly being close to bolstering his base with WHL leading scorer Dryden Hunt, Tallon has prepared his team for postseason competition without compromising the integrity of its growth.