The Florida Panthers have pretty much wrapped up their summer business, and that’s not an accident.
Last week, Florida put the final touches on the offseason by signing defenseman Mikulas Hovorka to a one-year, two-way deal and then avoiding arbitration with Akira Schmid on a two-year, $4 million contract. With those moves in place, the Panthers are essentially finished unless they decide to add more depth on tryout offers for training camp.
So what comes next? Not much.
That’s the point. The Panthers have most of the roster locked in through the 2029-30 season, which leaves very little for Bill Zito to chase in the near term. This past summer, Sergei Bobrovsky was the lone major free agent on the books.
Looking ahead to next year, Florida’s list of pending free agents is still short. The only ones Zito will have to deal with are Garnet Hathaway and Lars Eller, both of whom arrived this offseason. Hathaway came over in a trade with the Flyers, while Eller joined as a free agent.
Cole Reinhardt could also hit free agency next summer, though his role with the Panthers this season has not yet been determined.
The biggest item on the horizon, though, is Brady Tkachuk. He’ll be eligible for an extension as he enters the final year of his deal, and that contract situation figures to be one of the main pieces of business for Florida next offseason.
And beyond that, there really isn’t much else on the docket.
In Other News...
Brady Tkachuk Is Already Embracing The Panthers Physical Identity
Brady Tkachuk is wasting no time leaning into the kind of edge Florida expects from him. The forward has spent his offseason working in MMA-style training, a fitting add-on for a player whose game has long been built on pace, contact and a willingness to mix it up. For the Panthers, that kind of mentality is part of the appeal as they continue to lean into a hard-nosed identity.
The interesting part is how Tkachuk is refining that side of his game. He has trained alongside fighters such as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev, and the work comes as his fighting frequency has dipped in recent seasons even though the physical tone of his play has remained. For a team that wants every shift to feel uncomfortable for opponents, Tkachuk already looks like he understands the assignment. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Add Two Forwards As One Charlotte Battle Takes Shape
The Charlotte Checkers have added a pair of forwards as their roster picture for next season starts to come into focus, signing Riley Hughes and Philip Tresca to AHL contracts. Hughes, 26, is back in Charlotte after previous AHL and ECHL experience, giving the Checkers a familiar depth option, while Tresca arrives as a Harvard University graduate with a different kind of resume and a fresh chance to make the jump to the pro game.
For Florida, these are the kinds of under-the-radar moves that can matter over the course of a long season, especially in an organization that leans on Charlotte for development and depth. Trescas path could begin in the ECHL before he pushes for an AHL spot, and Hughes gives the Checkers a player who already knows the league and the environment, which makes this one of the first little roster battles worth watching as the summer unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Just Reinforced A Crucial Part Of Their Prospect Pipeline
The Panthers quietly made one of the more practical moves in their development structure by extending their affiliation with ECHL Savannah for three more years. For an organization trying to keep its prospect pipeline organized from the NHL level down, that kind of continuity matters, especially with Savannah now well into its run as Floridas ECHL home and coming off a season that gave the affiliate a little more credibility on the ice.
Savannah has already served as a landing spot for several Panthers prospects, including Cooper Black, Kirill Gerasimyuk and Kai Schwindt, so the partnership has become more than just a paperwork item. Around the league, roster and development news keeps moving too, from Kevin Labanc heading to Switzerland after his time in the KHL to Kyle Masters choosing the University of Alberta, but Floridas latest step is about keeping one important piece of its pipeline stable. [Read more 🡒]