The Florida Panthers are going to be buyers, as per usual, ahead of the trade deadline in March, and there’s plenty of insiders who feel most of their leg work will be done before the Olympic break. This means the Panthers could be pulling off a huge trade in January, and they could be once again, involved with the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Panthers have been linked to Blackhawks defenceman Connor Murphy, who is a pending unrestricted free-agent and someone who will be dangled ahead of the deadline. The Blackhawks are trending in the wrong direction with Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar on the shelve, and while there was some hope early on this season, they’ll be sellers ahead of the deadline.

The Panthers on the other hand, they are going to be buying at the deadline, looking to stack another roster for a Cup run, and potential three peat. Murphy fits the bill for them of exactly what they need on the back end, and hockey insider Pierre LeBrun sees these two teams as the perfect fit for a deal:

The Jeff Petry flyer for $775,000 hasn’t turned out as good as hoped in South Florida, and my sense is the two-time Stanley Cup champs will try to upgrade on the right side of their third pairing. Murphy, 32, is a pending unrestricted free agent and fits the bill.

The hurdle for Florida would be finding the cap space. Murphy’s $4.4 million cap hit is rich, but obviously it would require Chicago retaining some, plus the Panthers have $3.8 million in long-term-injured-reserve money at their disposal with captain Aleksander Barkov out. The Panthers and Blackhawks made a trade a year ago involving Seth Jones. Obviously, this wouldn’t be at the same level, but it could be beneficial.

I also think the Blackhawks will want to do right by Murphy, who has long been respected in that room. He’s only played nine career playoff games and they were in the Edmonton pandemic bubble in 2020, so he hasn’t experienced a traditional playoff run with fans. Joining the Cup champs would be perfect.

Murphy’s averaging 15:19 of ice-time per game, and has chipped in with three assists in 36 games. He plays on the first penalty-kill unit and would give the Panthers a shut-down defender who loves to lay the body and block shots. 

The Panthers won’t have to give up anything like they did to acquire Seth Jones last year from the Blackhawks, and this will be a less significant deal, but one that could still have massive implications come playoff time.

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