Panthers’ summer overhaul continues with Jason Demers trade to Coyotes

The Florida Panthers continued their offseason overhaul by trading defenseman Jason Demers to the Arizona Coyotes for forward Jamie McGinn, the teams announced Sunday. It’s the latest in a series of moves by Panthers GM Dale Tallon to undo what the previous front office had done.

Demers, 29, is a right-handed defenseman with four years remaining at a $4.5 million cap hit. The Panthers are retaining 12.5 percent of his salary, so the cap hit to Arizona is roughly $3.94 million. He’s topped 23 points in each of the past four seasons as a reliable second-pairing defender.

Florida signed Demers last year when the team was being ran by GM Tom Rowe, who had replaced Tallon in that role. Tallon returned as GM in April, however, and he’s quickly refashioned a good chunk of the roster.

Demers joins Jaromir Jagr, Jussi Jokinen, Jonathan Marchessault, and Reilly Smith as key players to depart this summer.

In exchange for the defenseman, Florida gets McGinn, a 29-year-old winger who has played for five different teams over a nine-year career. He’s under contract for two more years at a $3.33 million cap hit, so the Panthers clear some money off their long-term books.

McGinn has recorded 19-plus goals in three separate seasons, with career-highs of 22 goals and 39 points in 84 games with the Sabres and Ducks in 2015-16. He’ll give the Panthers some added depth at forward.

The Coyotes could see a major upgrade to their defense this season as a result of all their activity. Demers joins Niklas Hjalmarsson as summer additions to a blue line led by Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The team also has Alex Goligoski, Jakub Chychrun, Adam Clendening, and Luke Schenn, so coach Rick Tocchet has pieces to work with.