NHL Rumors: Florida Panthers – Mike Hoffman, and Dale Tallon Talks Deadline
The Florida Panthers don't have to move Mike Hoffman, but they could listen to offers.
Panthers could listen to Mike Hoffman offers

TSN: Pierre LeBrun on TSN said that teams are checking in with the Florida Panthers about winger Mike Hoffman. The Panthers are in a playoff spot and are not shopping players, but they might listen to offers.

“They asked for his 10-team no-trade list in late December, it was submitted and I think at the bottom line with Florida is this they are a high-scoring team, they have young players coming up the pipeline, Owen Tippett comes to mind, who can fill in if they ever dealt Hoffman. The bottom line is Florida needs a defensive addition on the backend. That’s what would make it happen. It doesn’t mean they’ll move him, this could be something that plays out until the end of the year.”

Panthers GM Dale Tallon on the deadline, and how he prefers hockey deals to rentals

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: The Florida Panthers are in the playoff race this season. GM Dale Tallon isn’t shy about making moves at the deadline.

“No, and I’ve always had the same mantra, to make a deal that helps us not only now but long term. I don’t think in the history of trade deadline days, the band-aid guys (pending UFAs) have made that much of a difference in a lot of situations. So I try to avoid that because that’s an expensive proposition. We’re still at a point where we have a lot of good assets that are going to be important for us in the future and so I want to hang onto those as long as we can.”

The Panthers are the bottom third in the league at allowing goals. Tallon has said that he would prefer to make hockey trades as opposed to deals for rentals.

“Yeah, right, I mean that’s the thing. But I think, Pierre, if you just have an approach that’s consistent which we’ve done in the past, and which we’ll do in the future, it’s not really going to be the deciding factor for me. If it makes sense for us for the next three to four years, no matter if we’re in or out, I think we’re going to be in eventually, it’s just a matter of when and when we do get in, we want to go deep. That’s the goal.”