NHL Trade Rumors 2017: The Panthers are suddenly trade deadline buyers again

Two months removed from firing their head coach, the Florida Panthers find themselves looking to buy at the NHL trade deadline.

Don’t believe me? They said so themselves.

Arpon Basu of NHL.com spoke with Panthers president of hockey operations Dale Tallon over the weekend and asked him point-blank what his team will do before the March 1 deadline. Tallon confirmed that, yes, “the goal is to be buying.”

It’s a remarkable change of mindset and fortunes for a team left for dead after injuries and (debunked) rumors of front-office turmoil derailed what looked like a promising season.

Florida spent over $200 million in free agency last offseason, trying to capitalize on the best season in franchise history in 2015-16. Instead, that core they built around has struggled to stay on the ice: Jonathan Huberdeau (51 games), Alex Petrovic (33 games), Nick Bjugstad (28), and Aleksander Barkov (15) have rarely played together.

When Barkov and Huberdeau returned on Feb. 3, the Panthers were healthy for the first time and began rising up the rankings. Florida has 10 points in February, better than all but two of their Atlantic Division peers and seventh-most in the Eastern Conference. Their penalty kill and scoring has improved tenfold, but their power play keeps dragging behind.

Tallon says that’s the area they might look to improve at the deadline.

Florida has more than $9 million in available deadline cap space to work with, giving them plenty of room to add someone like Patrick Eaves, who leads the Dallas Stars with 11 power play goals.

And if you’re wondering when the deadline will pick up, Tallon told NHL.com that he expects moves to happen on Sunday or Monday, closer to the Wednesday deadline next week. That his club is now in the thick of the trade market after a turbulent first half is quite impressive.