3 Defensemen Who Could be Traded to the Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers were in the market for adding a defenseman before the nasty injury to Aaron Ekblad on Sunday night and management is certainly going to turn up the heat on their offers. The Panthers continues to talk to multiple teams and here are three defensemen who could be traded to the Sunshine State before April 12th:

David Savard, Columbus Blue Jackets

There is nobody in the league who can replace Aaron Ekblad for the Panthers, so don't expect that from Savard. Columbus is ramping up trade talks as they have fallen out of the playoff picture and there's heavy interest in their right-handed defenseman. The 'rental' 30-year-old is having a down season with no goals and only five assists in 35 games, however, he's been solid the past few seasons and was a beast in the bubble playoffs. He won't cost more than a mid-round pick and a prospect so he could be someone who finds his way to Florida.

Brandon Montour, Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres are trying to move all of their assets before the April 12th deadline and that certainly includes pending free-agent Montour. The 26-year-old is a great skater who has a ton of offensive potential but just hasn't put it together consistently since his second year. Nine points in 31 games doesn't jump off the page but Montour could be a great pickup for the Panthers who now have a huge hole on their right-side.

Jamie Oleksiak, Dallas Stars

The towering defender would provide the Panthers with a different element for their blue-line and bring in someone who was a beast for the Stars all the way to the Stanley Cup finals last season. Oleksiak is in the final season of his contract paying him $2.13 million. An affordable contract for someone with his type of skill set and he's managed to chip in with eight points in 32 games so far this season.

While the Panthers wait for word on how bad Ekblad's injury will be, he's likely to miss the remainder of this season and the playoffs and the team could look to these three defensemen to replace some of his minutes.