Panthers swing another trade to bolster forward depth. What to know
The Florida Panthers on Thursday continued to bolster their forward depth, acquiring Garnet Hathaway in a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Florida sent a 2026 fifth-round pick and 2027 fourth-round pick to Philadelphia to complete the trade. The Panthers are also getting a 2026 sixth-round pick in the deal, and the Flyers are retaining half of Hathaway’s $2.4 million salary.
Hathaway, 34, has played 11 NHL seasons, spending time with the Calgary Flames (2015-2019), Washington Capitals (2019-2023), Boston Bruins (2023) and Philadelphia (2023-2026). He has 163 career points (76 goals, 87 assists) over 672 games.
The winger is known for his physicality, with 2,181 career hits. He has at least 250 hits in each of the past five seasons.
“Garnet is a physical and highly competitive player who will complement our group well,” Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito said in a press release announcing the deal. “We’re excited to add his veteran presence to our group for the upcoming season.”
Considering Florida’s forward depth, which was bolstered Sunday when it acquired star Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators, Hathaway will almost assuredly be on the Panthers’ fourth line.
Who joins him there remains the main question. The Panthers have plenty of options.
Assuming the top three forward lines are as expected — with Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell the centers, with both Tkachuk brothers, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, Brad Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen on the wings — the Panthers’ options for the fourth line among guys under contract include Hathaway, Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist, Jonah Gadjovich, Cole Reinhardt, Cole Schwindt (a restricted free agent) and prospect Sandis Vilmanis.
Hathaway is also an option to kill penalties for the Panthers.
What also needs to be taken into consideration: Florida’s salary cap.
After acquiring Hathaway and adding his $1.2 million cap hit, Florida has about $5.87 million left in cap space and needs to acquire two goaltenders. Some salary will need to be shed.
Rodrigues ($3.08 million) and Boqvist ($1.5 million) are each on the final year of their contracts, so they would be logical options to flip should Florida find a potential suitor.
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