Bill Zito playing ‘fantasy hockey’ as he puts final touches on Panthers’ roster
This is the time of year when Bill Zito likes to have fun.
His job as the Florida Panthers’ president of hockey operations and general manager in many ways is no different from how fans perceive it. As he assembles the Panthers’ roster for the season, he is going through all the hypotheticals — many realistic, some unlikely, others downright outlandish — to see what deals he might be able to make reality.
It’s a never-ending evaluation process for Zito and his front office.
“We sit back there and play fantasy hockey,” Zito said, “trying to figure out ways to improve, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Except in Zito’s case, the fantasy here is very much reality. Every move he makes has a ripple effect on the next. Signing one player or trading for another could impact whether he can successfully accomplish the next task on his checklist.
It’s why he’s so meticulous before executing any action.
It’s also why he has been so successful leading the Panthers.
And right now, Zito is in the middle of potentially yet another successful round of offseason work.
Even before free agency starts at noon Wednesday, Zito has made his share of moves to upgrade the roster of a team that is already a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
In the span of 10 days, Zito has traded for forwards Brady Tkachuk and Garnet Hathaway, respectively adding a star forward to a group of star forwards and a gritty depth piece just as he was about to lose a player of identical caliber; acquired the rights to pending free agent defenseman and former Panther Radko Gudas, giving him a two-day head start to sign a fan favorite and beef up the blue line; and traded for goaltender Akira Schmid, picking up one half of Florida’s tandem in net for the season.
It’s a solid start before the real action even begins.
But Zito emphasizes that it is just that: The start.
“We’re not done,” Zito said last week during Brady Tkachuk’s introductory news conference. “We’ll be very focused, very thorough in how we evaluate each position moving forward, and as you add more and more pieces, the cap shrinks more and more, so your margin of error is gone. We have to get it right, so it’s a little bit of a daunting task. But it’s actually a lot of fun, and kudos to our scouts for the jobs that they’ve done to be able to identify players and keep the train going.”
Zito’s mention of the cap is notable, considering Florida’s situation. The Panthers have just about $5.8 million in cap space right now. That figure doesn’t include the salary for Schmid, a restricted free agent who is likely going to be making around $1 million next season. Nor does it include a potential salary for Gudas should the Panthers strike a deal with him. Figure that will take at least $1.5 million to get done.
Florida still needs a starting-caliber goaltender, whether that’s through a last-minute deal with pending free agent Sergei Bobrovsky, a free agent once the market opens (think Stuart Skinner, Frederik Andersen, Connor Ingram or Cam Talbot among the potential suitors) or a trade (Connor Hellebuyck and Jordan Binnington being the two names to watch if Zito wants to swing big). Acquiring Schmid, who had a 2.59 goals against average and .893 save percentage in 34 games for Vegas last season, gives them a capable backup, but Florida ideally wants someone more established to be their primary netminder.
The Panthers, despite their wealth of forward depth, could also look to add a true fourth-line center when the market opens.
There’s a challenge here for Zito just in terms of pure money, but a couple quick reminders.
First, the Panthers have a couple of players whose salaries they can shed through trades. Namely, forwards Evan Rodrigues ($3 million cap hit in 2026-27) and Jesper Boqvist ($1.5 million cap hit) could be on the move if Zito feels the need to add cap space. Both are entering the final year of their deals and both will likely be relegated to the fourth line for the season.
Second, teams can spend up to 10% above the $104 million cap over the offseason and simply need to be cap compliant by the start of the season. That means the Panthers right now can actually spend closer to $16.2 million this offseason but would need to get down to that $104 million number before action actually begins in October.
And through it all, remember that Zito has worked his magic before, showing he can make deals that seemed unlikely happen.
Four years ago, he pulled off one of the NHL’s biggest blockbusters by acquiring Matthew Tkachuk from the Calgary Flames.
Last offseason, he managed to re-sign all three of his major free agents in defenseman Aaron Ekblad plus forwards Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand.
And this year, he has already swung four deals to round out a star-studded roster that has reached three Stanley Cup Finals and won it all in 2024 and 2025.
He will be aggressive in pursuing what he thinks will make the Panthers better. He won’t leave any stone unturned.
And he’ll once again attempt to make his latest run of playing fantasy hockey a reality.
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