The Florida Panthers have fallen out of the Eastern Conference playoff race and Tom Rowe suggested Tuesday changes could come this offseason.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday's loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Rowe ripped his team's Monday night effort in a 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres and said long-term deals don't ensure security.

The interim head coach and general manager said the team has signed player's to long-term deals for salary cap reasons, but that doesn't mean they won't be traded if the team struggles.

“Just because guys don’t have contracts, doesn’t mean they can’t get traded either,” Rowe told the Florida Sun Sentinel. “They got to perform. Last night was unacceptable. We beat Chicago 7-0 playing good, then we got into Buffalo for a very, very big game and we come up with a 4-2 loss and they didn’t compete the way they were supposed to.

“At the end of the day, contracts are great. We did it for salary-cap reasons, but it doesn’t mean guys are going to retire [with the Panthers] if they keep playing like they did.”

Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Nick Bjugstad, Reilly Smith, Jonathan Huberdeau, Keith Yandle, Jason Demers and Aaron Ekblad are all signed through at least the 2020-21 season.

Rowe told the Sun Sentinel Panthers veteran Jussi Jokinen informed him the Panthers held a player's only meeting Tuesday morning after the Buffalo loss.

“I told them after the video session, just be ready, this is a great team, your family will be watching, this is probably the Chicago Blackhawks of a few years ago, that’s who they remind me of," Rowe said before Wednesday's loss. "If you’re not ready to skate, play our systems and be in position, it could be a long night.”

The Panthers were outshot 13-3 in the first period by the Maple Leafs and emerged from the period facing a two-goal deficit.

“They got a great team, they’ve got a lot of speed. Once we got it going in the second and third, we were fine,’’ Rowe said after the 3-2 loss. “I thought their goaltender made saves he didn’t even know he made. He had some luck going on his side.

“It hasn’t been a fun [day] after the Buffalo game. We’ve had a lot of discussions with some guys. It was a pretty cranky group going into the game but I thought they battled hard.’’

Rowe added he had no update on goaltender James Reimer after the game. Reimer was injured in the second period after a collision with Maple Leafs forward Brian Boyle. Rowe said he is hopeful Roberto Luongo will be ready to return to the crease for the first time since March 2.

The Panthers face the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.