The Florida Panthers are expected to sign goaltender Tim Thomas to a standard player contract once the team's ownership situation is resolved, according to George Richards of the Miami Herald.

Richards tweets that manager Dale Tallon is waiting for the transfer of ownership to occur prior to offering new contracts. Bob McKenzie of TSN also added that the terms of the agreement have been reached and that the contract merely needs to be formally signed. McKenzie tweets that it will be a one-year deal, with an annual average value between $3 and $4 million, which will include performance based bonuses.

New York native Vincent Viola is expected to be introduced as the new owner of the Panthers during a press conference on Friday morning. Multiple reports have indicated that Viola will be purchasing the team for $250 million. The official announcement of Thomas' signing could come shortly after that event.

Thomas accepted a professional tryout contract from the Panthers and has impressed the team with his work ethic in practices. However, the goaltender has yet to play in an exhibition game because he doesn't have a standard contract, yet. The 39-year-old sat out all of last year so that he could focus on his personal life. He recently expressed a new found desire for the game, which was inspired by watching the Stanley Cup playoffs last season.

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