The Panthers had a relatively quiet Free Agency Period this past off-season, adding only AHL pieces in Sena Acolatse, Shane Harper, Mike McKenna, Brent Regner, Cameron Gaunce, and Rob Flick. The Cats also acquired Forward Reilly Smith and the contract of injured Marc Savard via trade with Boston in exchange for Jimmy Hayes. GM Dale Tallon’s strategy was to rely on the youngsters in the regular season, which has worked up to this point.

6 of the team’s top 8 scorers are aged 24 or younger, with the only exceptions being Jussi Jokinen and the toothless wonder Jaromir Jagr.

However, most of the names on that list are in need of contracts either this season or the following season. This article is going to take a look forward at the Panthers in the next few seasons and the difficult decisions Dale Tallon is going to have to make in order to keep the Panthers on the upswing.

For the sake of argument we are going to use the Salary-Cap Projection published by the NHL of $74-Million for the 2016-17 season and an increase of the same amount ($3 Million) for the 2017-18 season, for a total cap of $77 Million.

In 2016, salary the Panthers have rough $37.85 million already committed to 11 players who have played for the Panthers this season, the cap hit from the Brad Boyes buyout, and the Marc Savard contract.

In 2017 the Panthers have only $18 million of what will most likely be $77 million dollars of cap space promised to Roberto Luongo, Nick Bjugstad, Dave Bolland, and Jussi Jokinen.

Note: In the following article I mention the terms Restricted Free Agent (RFA) and Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) quite often. If you do not know what these terms mean, click here for additional reading material.

Let’s take a look at the forwards.

Forwards:

Position 2016 2017 Forwards Jaromir Jagr, Shawn Thornton, Brandon Pirri, Aleksander Barkov, Quinton Howden, Corban Knight, Logan Shaw, Vincent Trocheck, Connor Brickley, Kris Versteeg Reilly Smith, Jonathan Huberdeau, Derek MacKenzie, Marc Savard

This list doesn’t include the myriad AHL players and prospects set to come off the books either. I won’t go into too much detail about the AHL guys, but here is a list of those prospects and player contracts set to expire in 2016 or 2017:

Position 2016 2017 Forwards (Minors) John McFarland, Greg McKegg, Garrett Wilson, Rob Flick, Brett Olson, Shane Harper Chase Balisy, Steven Hodges, Kyle Rau, Rocco Grimaldi

The Forward group is the largest, which makes sense considering that they take up the majority of roster spots on a team. Some of the names on the list are not returning. Shawn Thornton is almost assuredly retiring and Jaromir Jagr’s retirement is a distinct possibility at 43. The Panthers may choose to fill these voids in Free-Agency, or they could continue to rely on their young talent to fill the void left by aging veterans. The Cats are also free of the burdensome Kris Versteeg contract, of which they were paying $2.2 Million (50%). The Panthers will also get $4 million in cap space back in 2017 when Marc Savard’s contract comes off the books.

The relief is welcome considering the burdensome amount of players who will be in need of contracts over this time period. The three most notable forwards in need of re-signing in 2016 are Brandon Pirri, Vincent Trocheck, and Aleksander Barkov, the latter of whom is allegedly negotiating an 8-year deal with the cats. The cats also need to leave room for Reilly Smith and Jonathan Huberdeau due for contracts in 2017. All of these players have been good for the Panthers and are due for an increase of pay at their current rate of performance, especially Barkov, Trocheck, and Pirri who have all shined while being under contract for less than $1 million. Expect these players to account for some of the biggest chunks of remaining cap space for forwards as they are the core of the Panthers future at forward.

Tallon will like also tender offers to the other developing RFA’s such as Connor Brickley, Logan Shaw, Corban Knight, and Quinton Howden, although how much each individual player will receive is a mystery to me. The same goes for the AHL group and any new players that get drafted in the mean-time.