Florida Panthers Cap Space: Examining the Cats' salary in the off-season

The Florida Panthers were the Cinderella team of the Stanley Cup playoffs last year.

Florida was the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference but made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights.

In the off-season, they have had to let some key players leave in free agency due to cap restraints.

Currently, Florida has just over $5.6 million in cap space - after placing some players on LTIR.

The Florida Panthers' off-season moves

The Florida Panthers didn't have a ton of cap space to work with, which forced them to trade Anthony Duclair and see Radko Gudas and Marc Staal leave in free agency.

Alex Lyon also signed elsewhere, but the Panthers have done a nice job replacing those players.

Florida had a fairly old defensive core last season, so they made that a point in improving that this off-season. They signed Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a one-year $2.25 million deal, Mike Reilly to a one-year deal worth $1 million, Niko Mikkola to a three-year deal worth $2.5 million per year, and Dmitry Kulikov to a one-year deal worth $1 million.

Although the Florida Panthers have changed their entire D-Core, GM Bill Zito said at a press conference that he expects all of them to play a key role this season (via NHL.com):

“We’re going to have opportunities for everybody — which is the most important part — that are real, so people feel fulfilled. 'Did I really get a chance?' Yeah, you’re really going to get a chance.”

Up front, Florida dealt Anthony Duclair but did sign Evan Rodrigues to a four-year deal. Rodrigues played a checking role with some offense, but he said he felt like the Panthers were the best fit for him (via NHL.com).

"It was a place that I thought fit perfectly for me," said Rodrigues. "There were other teams interested, but I just thought that Florida checked a lot of the boxes. It's a place that we were really excited about and my family really wanted to go to.

"We're really excited. I can't wait to get down there and get started. It's a great team and a great city. It's a team that's going to contend for a Stanley Cup, and that's kind of the most important thing."

GM Bill Zito made some necessary changes to the Florida Panthers, and with a bit of cap space, could still look to add to their offense. But, as of right now, there is no clear need for Florida.