Panthers’ Brady Tkachuk trade the latest reminder Bill Zito isn’t afraid to swing big
The blockbuster move to acquire forward Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators on Sunday, sending away three first-round picks and a second-round pick in the process, wasn’t the first major trade Bill Zito has made while at the helm of the Florida Panthers’ hockey operation department.
If he keeps going the way he has during the past six years, it certainly won’t be the last.
Zito’s primary way of crafting the Panthers’ roster has come via trades. His dealing has paid off more often than it hasn’t, leading the Panthers to three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final from 2023 to 25, including winning it all in 2024 and 2025, and turning them into perennial championship contenders.
Some deals have been massive. The Tkachuk trades — first Matthew in 2022, then Brady on Sunday — highlight that. Others saw reclamation projects turn into success stories. A few big swings failed but showed the blueprint of what Zito was willing to do if he saw a deal he liked — and perhaps most importantly didn’t deter him from continuing to swing big.
He’s willing to sacrifice high-end draft capital to obtain big-name stars while keeping the core of his roster intact. After the Brady Tkachuk deal, Zito has now sent off nine first-round picks during his tenure to obtain what amounts to five long-term members of Florida’s core (along with a couple of players in moves that didn’t fully pan out). In between he has savvily brokered other deals for immediate help at the trade deadline that didn’t ultimately mortgage the team’s long-term future to get over the hump in the present.
Here are Zito’s 10 biggest trades (so far) prior to the Brady Tkachuk deal, in chronological order, and the impact each has had on the Panthers.
Sept. 24, 2020: Florida acquires Patric Hornqvist from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Mike Matheson and Colton Sceviour
This was the first notable move of the Zito era, and it had multiple layers to it. Beyond the talent and experience Hornqvist provided — he won two Stanley Cups in his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins — the veteran forward was the embodiment of the culture Zito wanted to establish with the Panthers.
Hornqvist played three seasons with Florida, scoring just 26 goals in 131 games and only playing 22 games in his final campaign in the 2022-23 season due to a concussion, but he helped set the standard Zito wanted in that time. Hornqvist is still with the organization as a scouting and development consultant.
April 10, 2021: Florida acquires Brandon Montour from the Buffalo Sabres for a 2021 third-round pick
Trading for Montour was a low-risk, high-reward move for Florida and the first of two key acquisitions made at the 2021 trade deadline.
Montour is an offensive defenseman whose career was in flux with Buffalo. A change of scenery paid dividends.
He was a steady presence in the Panthers’ lineup, logging 147 points (37 goals, 110 assists) during three-plus seasons, and had 11 points during Florida’s run to its first Stanley Cup in 2024.
Montour then parlayed his success with the Panthers into a seven-year, $50 million contract with the Seattle Kraken.
April 12, 2021: Florida acquires Sam Bennett and a 2022 sixth-round pick from the Calgary Flames for forward prospect Emil Heineman and a 2022 second-round pick.
Bennett’s career underwent a renaissance with Florida. The former first-round pick had just 140 points (67 goals, 73 assists) in 402 career games with Calgary before the deal. With Florida, he emerged as a competent second-line center on a championship-caliber team. He has produced at least 40 points in each of his five full seasons with Florida, including four 20-goal campaigns, and showed his game elevates in the postseason.
Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup playoffs’ MVP after Florida’s 2025 championship and signed an eight-year, $64 million extension last offseason that has him under contract through the 2032-33 season.
July 24, 2021: Florida acquires Sam Reinhart from the Buffalo Sabres for a 2022 first-round pick and goaltender Devon Levi
Reinhart posted nearly 300 career points during six full seasons with Buffalo. He took his game to new heights after being traded to the Panthers.
Not only has he scored at least 29 goals and produced at least 60 points in each of his first five seasons with Florida (including career highs of 57 goals and 94 points in the 2023-24 season), but Reinhart has also become one of the league’s premier defensive forwards. He’s finished top-five in voting for the Selke Trophy twice and has 13 short-handed goals the past three years. Reinhart also has 32 goals across four Stanley Cup playoff runs, scoring the game-winner in Florida’s first Cup clincher in 2024 and scoring four goals in their second Cup clincher in 2025.
Reinhart signed an eight-year contract extension after Florida won the first Stanley Cup and is signed through the 2030-31 season.
March 16, 2022: Florida acquires Ben Chiarot from the Montreal Canadiens for forward Tyler Smilanic, a 2023 first-round pick and 2022 fourth-round pick, with Montreal retaining half of Chiarot’s salary
This is the first of Zito’s big moves one can argue that didn’t pan out. The defenseman produced just eight points (two goals, six assists) in 20 games with Florida following the trade and was a minus-1 during Florida’s playoff run that year that ended with the Presidents Trophy winners being swept in the second round by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Nevertheless, it was a sign of Zito’s aggressive nature for how he would go on to approach future trade deadlines when Florida was in contention.
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March 20, 2022: Florida acquires Glaude Giroux, two prospects (forwards Connor Bunnaman and German Rubstov) and a 2024 fifth-round pick from the Philadelphia Flyers for forward Owen Tippett, a 2024 first-round pick and 2023 third-round pick
Like the Chiarot trade made days earlier, the Giroux deal was part of Zito’s first all-in push as Panthers GM. Giroux scored three goals and had 23 points over 18 regular-season games after the trade and produced eight points (three goals, five assists) in the playoffs before entering free agency.
July 22, 2022: Florida acquires Matthew Tkachuk from the Calgary Flames for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and 2025 first-round pick
This was the trade that truly changed Florida’s trajectory.
Zito traded away a pair of fan favorites in Huberdeau and Weegar and yet another first-round pick (the fourth he had dealt in a 12-month span) with the vision that Tkachuk would bring a swagger and a toughness to a Florida roster that needed it. Couple that with the hiring of coach Paul Maurice who overhauled the Panthers’ system to make a high-flying Panthers team more defensively responsible, and Florida was on its way to becoming perennial contenders.
Tkachuk, who signed an eight-year extension immediately after the trade, has been a catalyst on and off the ice for Florida. He has 288 points (101 goals, 187 assists) in 242 regular-season games and 69 points (25 goals, 44 assists) in 67 playoff games with Florida. He is also highly respected in the dressing room and arguably the team’s biggest vocal leader.
March 6, 2024: Florida acquires Vladimir Tarasenko from the Ottawa Senators for 2025 and 2026 third-round picks; Ottawa retained half of Tarasenko’s salary
With Florida clearly in the hunt for the playoffs again after a run to the Cup Final fell short a year earlier, Zito pounced at the trade deadline. Tarasenko had a no-trade clause in his contract and would only waive it for Florida, which helped Zito swing the deal for only a minimal cost.
Tarasenko’s short time with the Panthers was fruitful. He put up 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 19 regular-season games and then was critical on Florida’s third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen during the team’s run to its first Stanley Cup — a second championship for Tarasenko.
March 1, 2025: Florida acquires Seth Jones and a 2026 fourth-round pick from the Chicago Blackhawks for Spencer Knight and a 2027 first-round pick; Chicago is retaining 26% of Jones’ salary each year
The Panthers were in position to add at the trade deadline once again in 2025 and made four moves in total. Two in particular stand out.
The first of those was Jones, who was an immediate boost to Florida’s defense corps during its second Cup run after being frustrated by the end of his tenure in Chicago despite still having five years left on an eight-year deal. Since joining the Panthers, he has established himself on Florida’s second defense pair with Niko Mikkola while also driving the Panthers’ power play and showing he can eat big minutes each night.
March 7, 2025: Florida acquires Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins for a 2028 first-round pick
Zito surprised the league with the 11th-hour acquisition of Marchand at the 2025 trade deadline. Marchand, a lifelong Bruin, was on an expiring deal on a team that wasn’t going to make the playoffs and Boston did right by the veteran winger to give him a chance to chase another Stanley Cup.
Marchand, loathed by the Panthers after their brushes with the Bruins during the previous two playoff runs, immediately fit into the dressing room and became a trusted voice. And he produced on the ice when it mattered, too. Marchand had 10 goals and 20 points during the 2025 playoff run that ended with a Stanley Cup and then signed a six-year extension in the offseason. During Florida’s 2025-26 season, Marchand put up 54 points (27 goals, 27 assists) and was a steady presence for a team that dealt with constant turnover due to injuries until the slew of injuries he himself was dealing with ended his season prematurely.
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