Florida Panthers make deal, clear cap space

The Florida Panthers have acquired forward Lucas Wallmark and defenseman Lucas Carlsson from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for forwards Brett Connolly, Henrik Borgstrom, defenseman Riley Stillman and a seventh-round pick, as reported by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

Wallmark, 25, played in seven regular season games as well as two playoff games for the Cats last season after he was acquired from Carolina as part of the Vincent Trocheck trade. Wallmark appeared in 16 games for Chicago this season, he will be a Restricted Free Agent (RFA) after this year. His current cap hit is $950k.

Carlsson, 23, split time between Chicago and their AHL affiliate, Rockford. He will also be an RFA after this season. The Swedish defenseman’s current cap hit is $792,500. 

Connolly has been in and out of the Panthers’ lineup all season. He has bounced between the active roster and taxi squad. The trade clears his $3.5 million AAV contract which was set to run through the 2022-2023 season. The 28-year-old had 4 points in 21 games this season with the Panthers.

Stillman, 23, played in eight games this season and has only played in 43 total games in his NHL career. The Panthers drafted Stillman 114th overall in the 2016 draft.

Borgstrom, also 23, was Florida’s 2016 first-round pick. The Finnish prospect only appeared in 54 games with the Panthers since he was drafted. Borgstrom is currently playing for HIFK in Liiga, Finland’s pro league.

With this trade, Florida clears additional cap space for both this season and for the future. Aleksander Barkov’s contract expires after next season, Jonathan Huberdeau’s deal expires after the 2022-2023 season. Capfriendly has Florida’s deadline capspace north of $18 million after these moves. 

The NHL trade deadline is April 12.