The Florida Panthers are a team with a lot of young talent waiting impatiently in the wings. The good news for those youngsters - and Panthers fans, no doubt sick of the poor to mediocre product they've been forced to endure in recent seasons - is they may not have to wait much longer.
The Panthers are apparently looking to make room on the roster for players such as Vincent Trocheck, Rocco Grimaldi and Quinton Howden by trading some, as of yet unnamed, veterans, according to Harvey Fialkov of The Sun-Sentinel.
It's obvious that slumping forward Tomas Fleischmann is high on that list. Fleischmann, 30, who has played solid defense while battling offensive woes, was scratched for the second time this month on Monday. He has scored just one goal in 17 games and nine goals over his last 97 games after leading the team in scoring his first two seasons.
Fleischmann is in the final year of his current four-year deal, which carries a cap hit of $4.5 million, according to CapGeek. While he's been playing poorly in the offensive zone this season, he could potentially be a quality pick up for a team looking for a steady veteran presence. His strong two-way game would make him attractive to a team that needs a quality third or fourth-line winger.
Also believed to be on the trading block are the oft-injured, yet skilled Sean Bergenheim and fourth-line, hard-working forward Tomas Kopecky. Fleischmann, Bergenheim and Kopecky are all in the final season of their contracts, but might be hard to move until the March 2nd trade deadline approaches when teams needs are more defined.
The closest Bergenheim has come in his NHL career to playing a full season was 2010-11 when he dressed for 80 games, according to Hockey-Reference. Otherwise, his career average for games played in a season is 56.25.
He's only been on the ice for nine thus far this season.
The fact that they're all in the last season of their deals makes them much more attractive as potential short-term rentals for teams facing injuries or unwilling to commit long-term - whether or not a deal can get done and the Panthers can get their youngsters onto the ice though, remains to be seen.
