Unable to complete a sale of the team to an outside group, Panthers owner Alan Cohen is in serious discussions to step down as general partner and allow two of the team's minority owners to run the NHL franchise, a source said Friday.

Cliff Viner and Stuart Siegel -- two deep-pocketed Palm Beach County-based businessmen -- have talked to the Panthers about increasing their ownership stakes and running the team, according to a league source briefed on the discussions.

Speculation has focused on Viner running the team if Cohen relinquishes control. But one of three sources said recent talks have focused on Viner and Siegel running the team together. Cohen likely would keep a minority ownership stake in that scenario, the sources said.

A deal is on track to be completed unless any of the parties change their mind before a looming deadline, according to one of the sources.

Viner and Panthers president Michael Yormark declined to comment about the potential ownership changes, and Cohen and Siegel did not return phone messages.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said earlier this month that a change in Panthers ownership was under consideration, ``perhaps a rejiggering of the existing ownership group, not necessarily somebody getting in or out.''

Cohen wanted to sell the team this past summer to Sports Properties Acquisitions Corp., a publicly traded New York-based company. But the deal died because it did not fulfill the league's ownership requirements.

Cohen's ownership group has lost more than $100 million since purchasing the team from Wayne Huizenga's Boca Resorts in June 2001.

Associates say Cohen has grown weary of losing money, especially considering the team hasn't made the playoffs since he became owner.

Viner, listed in the team's media guide as the Panthers' vice chairman and alternate governor, is the co-founder and partner in AVM Properties, a real-estate company in West Palm Beach. He also co-founded III Offshore Advisors, an investment advisory firm.

Siegel joined the Panthers ownership group in July 2008 and is managing director of Sunrise Sports and Entertainment (the Panthers' parent company) and chairman of the Florida Panthers charitable foundation.

Siegel was the co-founder and former CEO of Boca Raton-based ENeighborhoods, a technology company in the real-estate industry, and later acquired ConsumerInfo.com, a credit reporting service. He sold ENeighborhoods to Dominion Enterprises in March 2007.

Siegel played hockey at the University of Pennsylvania for four years and plays in men's leagues in South Florida.

In the July 2008 news release announcing his involvement with the Panthers, Siegel said, ``It's literally a dream come true, as I have aspired to join the ownership group of an NHL team for many years.''

Last summer, he told South Florida Sports Business Journal, ``There are 12 [Panthers] partners. I'm the only one that plays or even played hockey. Not that playing hockey makes you qualified to run a hockey team, but it does bring a different perspective.''

Viner and Siegel have been around the team a lot this season, and Cohen has been around much less than in past years.

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