The Florida Panthers have themselves a replacement for Brian Campbell.
The club agreed to terms with pending free agent Keith Yandle on a seven-year, $44.45-million contract, according to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun.
The deal includes a no-movement clause through the first six seasons, and a limited no-trade clause in the final season, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
The Panthers acquired Yandle's rights from the New York Rangers on Monday for a pair of draft picks, one of them conditional on Yandle signing with Florida. With the deal, the Panthers' fourth-round selection in 2017 is now guaranteed to New York.
Yandle is the second big-ticket defenseman who was scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency but didn't make it, joining Alex Goligoski who was traded to and subsequently signed by the Arizona Coyotes.
A thin blueline free-agency crop is now that much thinner.
Yandle will be 30 when next season begins and is coming off a productive year. He scored five goals and had 42 assists in 19:58 of ice time per game. He had a 50.3 Corsi For rating, according to Hockey Reference.
He'll quarterback the power play in Florida with his left-handed shot and strong passing ability. Three times in his career he's put up 50 or more points in a season.
Panthers co-owner Doug Cifu on Yandle:"Keith wants to win the Stanley Cup in Florida. That's why we were his top priority and vice-versa.''
— Harvey Fialkov (@hfialkov) June 23, 2016
With the move, the Panthers are clearly showing they don't expect their Atlantic Division-winning season to be a one-hit wonder. As for Rangers fans, they're probably going to be talking a lot about Dan Girardi in the coming days.
