In cap-clearing move, Florida Panthers trade Frank Vatrano to New York Rangers
Frank Vatrano is leaving the Florida Panthers on a high note.
On Tuesday, he scored the game-tying and game-wining goals of Florida’s 3-2 overtime victory against the San Jose Sharks — his teammates mobbing him in celebration after the win.
On Wednesday, his time with the organization came to an end.
The Panthers have traded Vatrano to the New York Rangers in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Level Draft.
“After almost five seasons with the club, we want to thank Frank for his professionalism and compete,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said in a statement. “His team-first approach was always appreciated, and we wish him all the best moving forward.”
The move, for all intents and purposes, is a cap-clearing effort for a potential acquisition ahead of Monday’s NHL trade deadline. Vatrano, who turned 28 on Monday, is an unrestricted free agent after this season and is making $2.53 million this season. Trading him, and as such his contract, almost doubles the Panthers’ current cap space to about $5.45 million, according to the website CapFriendly.com.
Vatrano has been with the Panthers for parts of five NHL seasons after being acquired from the Boston Bruins in the 2017-2018 season. He signed a three-year, $7.59 million contract extension with the team in February 2019. He has scored 93 career goals and has 157 total points in his 379-game NHL career, 271 of which have been with Florida.
“It’s two-fold,” Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette said Wednesday about his reaction to the trade. “Frankie was part of this family here at least since I’ve been here. He’s a tremendous teammate and person. Such a good player for us for as long as I’ve been here. It’s a tough part of hockey. Things happen and we wish Frankie nothing but the best. I think for him, it’s exciting. It’s a big year for him contractually, to go and be able to probably get a bigger role and a different opportunity. We’re gonna miss him. One of my all time favorite guys and he was such a good part of our core group here so but we wish him the best.”
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The Panthers’ forward depth — and desire to beef up their defense ahead of a run for the Stanley Cup — made Vatrano expendable. He has only appeared in 49 of Florida’s 60 games and at one point was a healthy scratch for nine of 12 contests.
His two goals on Tuesday were the first times he found the back of the net since Jan. 1.
“It is always great to score goals,” Vatrano said postgame Tuesday, “but whether you are in or out of the lineup, the main thing is the team is winning. You have to put the individual success behind and worry about the team. When I wasn’t playing, we were winning and thankfully, we have been winning with me in the lineup. We have a great team, a deep team.”
That depth has Vatrano heading to New York and the Panthers in position to bolster other areas of their roster before Monday.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 3:15 PM.
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