Florida Panthers Get Tougher With Brady Tkachuk But Must Now Address Their Goaltending
It's still early days in the off-season, but the Florida Panthers pulled off the biggest blockbuster move of the summer so far, acquiring star left winger Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
Tkachuk joins his brother, Matthew Tkachuk, on a Panthers squad that now looks like everyone's least favorite team to play against. They already ranked second in the NHL in hits this season, and when Brady Tkachuk is healthy, he's good for well over 200 checks.
The Panthers front-loaded their offense a bit with the deal in terms of cap hit, but when everyone's healthy, they still have at least three very strong forward lines.
But the Panthers will still be very active over the next week or two. They still have some holes in the lineup, and none is bigger than the one in net.
Exploring Panthers Options At Goaltender Following Acquisition Of Brady Tkachuk
With Sergei Bobrovsky's future uncertain and cap space tightening, Bill Zito must navigate the trade market, free agency or both to find a high-stakes solution for Florida's vacant goal crease.
Winnipeg Jets star goalie Connor Hellebuyck has also been linked to the Panthers in trade speculation. But Florida doesn't have much trade capital to use in trades after sending three first-rounders to the Senators in the Tkachuk deal.
They don't have a first-round pick in the next three drafts, so Zito would have to get very creative to bring in another star.
The Panthers have other issues to deal with this off-season. Their third defense pairing isn't imposing, and right winger Evan Rodrigues' salary of $3.075 million is a lot of money to pay a fourth-liner. Ideally, Zito should want additional financial flexibility to address issues during the season. So even if he does re-sign Bobrovsky, Zito still needs cap space.
If the Panthers have more luck on the health front, they have more than enough talent to not only be a playoff team in 2026-27 but be a Cup contender after one year out of the post-season.
Bringing in Brady Tkachuk is going to make the Panthers extremely tough to play against, but depending on the state of their netminding, Florida could be a big-time threat to win another championship – or they could be on the outside of the playoff picture looking in for the second straight season.
Bobrovsky has delivered mostly great results in his time with the Panthers. But if he's searching for the biggest financial payday he can get, it might not come from Florida. And the impact from Bobrovsky leaving the Panthers – and the domino effect in the goalie market – will reverberate across the NHL.
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This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 7:36 AM.