Sportsnet’s offseason grades gave the Florida Panthers a strong nod, and Bill Zito’s summer haul came away with an “A” in Ryan Dixon’s Atlantic Division breakdown.
The headline move was Florida landing Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators in a deal built around the ninth-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. That selection only ended up in the Panthers’ hands because of an injury-ravaged season that saw the two-time defending champs miss the playoffs while playing the entire year without captain Aleksander Barkov, along with a long list of other notable players who missed major stretches.
Now Florida is bringing in a “hungry Brady Tkachuk” to a group that already includes his brother, Matthew, plus a roster full of decorated veterans who are healthy, rested and ready for another push at the top.
There are still questions in goal, where the Panthers are expected to turn to Jacob Markstrom after Bobrovsky left via free agency. Markstrom, a Florida draft pick from 18 years ago in 2008, becomes a key piece of the reset in the crease.
Even with that uncertainty, the forward group is the part that jumps off the page. As Dixon put it, “With Brady Tkachuk in the mix, though, this top-nine forward group is terrifying.”
Elsewhere in the organization pipeline, Panthers prospects Shea Busch and Vilho Vanhatalo both surfaced in The Athletic’s 2027 World Juniors roster projections for Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland and Czechia. Both players also took part in the World Junior Summer Showcase in Windsor, Ontario. Vanhatalo posted two goals and an assist in five games for Finland, while Busch had one assist in the two games he played for Canada.
Around the AHL, the Montreal Canadiens signed Maksymilian Szuber to a one-year, two-way contract after acquiring him from the Utah Mammoth on June 29 in exchange for forward Joshua Roy. Szuber played 65 games for the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners last season and finished with 11 goals and 27 points.
Charlotte Checkers news also brought a pair of new AHL signings, with forwards Riley Hughes and Phillip Tresca joining on AHL contracts. Hughes, 26, played 57 games for Charlotte’s ECHL affiliate, the Savannah Ghost Pirates, and put up 15 goals and 33 points while helping them reach the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history, appearing in four postseason games. Tresca, 24, spent the last four years at Harvard and totaled 16 goals and 30 assists for the Crimson, finishing his senior season with collegiate bests in goals with eight and assists with 11 in 30 games.