Florida Panthers preparing for monster deal after salary-clearing trade with Chicago Blackhawks

It could be a busy few days for the Florida Panthers who cleared some salary in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks.

We’re edging closer and closer to the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday and we had a trade to digest on Thursday with the Florida Panthers and the Chicago Blackhawks doing some business together. It certainly wasn’t as high profile a transaction as the one between the New York York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, but it could certainly lead to something a lot bigger down the road.

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It was a trade that featured a lot of different components as the Panthers sent forwards Brett Connolly and Riley Stillman, prospect center Henrik Borgstrom and a Seventh-Round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

In return, the Blackhawks sent defenseman Lucas Carlsson and forward Lucas Wallmark to Florida, with this being the second time that Wallmark has been traded to the Panthers after being part of the Vincent Trocheck trade last year, but he wasn’t extended a qualifying offer by Florida due to his arbitration rights and signed with the Blackhawks during Free Agency.

This is a pretty simple trade when you break it all down. For the Chicago Blackhawks, this deal is very much about the future for a team that is unlikely to make the Playoffs this year and is very much at the beginning of a transitional period or, to put it more bluntly, a rebuild.

Breaking down the multi-player trade between Florida Panthers & Chicago Blackhawks

They took on a bad contract with Brett Connolly who has two years remaining on his deal after this season with a cap hit of $3,500,000. And, although the veteran forward has struggled this season with just four points (2 G, 2 A) in 21 games for Florida, he could be an impact player and a leader on a young Blackhawks team.

Chicago did get rewarded for taking on a bad contract, though, in the form of a Seventh-Round pick in 2021 and two young prospects in Riley Stillman and Henrik Borgstrom who both carry plenty of upside and can certainly help be a part of the Hawks’ future going forward.

Stillman is a 23-year-old defenseman who was taken with the No. 114 overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and he was a +2 in eight games for the Florida Panthers this season, averaging 10:43 of total ice time with no points.

In the final year of a three-year, $2,700,000 contract, Stillman is a different commodity for Chicago given that he’s a big, physical defenseman who plays an aggressive style of hockey and is incredibly reliable and steady in his own zone.

The biggest piece of this trade for the Blackhawks, however, is no doubt Henrik Borgstrom who was viewed as a potential elite NHL player when he was drafted with the 23rd overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, and he certainly boasts an incredibly high ceiling and a plethora of elite-level talent.

Borgstrom has 19 points (9 G, 10 A) in 58 career NHL games, all for the Panthers, and he recorded 11 goals and 8 assists for 19 points in 27 games for HIFK in Finland this season. Like Stillman, Borgstrom should get the chance to play big minutes on this Hawks roster and both players figure to be a large part of the team’s future, while Brett Connolly scored 19 goals in 2019-20 so he can certainly contribute in a top-nine role for Chicago.

On the flip side, this transaction was all about clearing salary for the Florida Panthers who, according to multiple reports, are preparing to make a monster move as we edge closer to the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday.

Currently third in the Central Division but just a point behind the Carolina Hurricanes who sit top, the Panthers have been consistently one of the NHL’s better teams in 2020-21 and they are a much tougher team to play against thanks to the moves made by new General Manager Bill Zito during the offseason.

Barring a late collapse, the Panthers will be a postseason team and with the weapons and the talent needed to make a deep run, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they want to load up ahead of the postseason, and they now have $4.1 million in cap space and $18 million in Trade Deadline space, per CapFriendly, so they will have the means to go out and make a blockbuster addition in order to really bolster this roster for the Playoffs.

They do get two young players in Lucas Carlsson and Lucas Wallmark who will add to their organizational depth, but there is no doubt that the Florida Panthers made this move to allow themselves to add a significant game-changer to their team at the Trade Deadline, while the Chicago Blackhawks get a proven goalscorer in the NHL and two high-end prospects that can contribute to their future, so both teams emerge as winners here.