Rumor: This Panthers Defenseman May Be Bought Out This Summer

The Florida Panthers may buyout veteran defenseman Keith Yandle this summer, according to Frank Seravalli. This does not seem like much of a surprise, as his role with the team certainly was lowered this year. At the beginning of the season, Yandle was inches away from being a healthy scratch. This was significant, as it would have put an end to his current Ironman Streak. The team also ended up scratching him multiple times during their playoff series against the Lightning. Thankfully, his Ironman Streak is still active though, as it only counts during the regular season.

Yandle is still a very effective offensive defenseman, though. In 56 games this regular season, the 34-year-old scored three goals and recorded 27 points in total. Therefore, he still is a great option to quarterback any team's power play. However, his healthy scratches during the postseason was because of his inconsistent play defensively. It seems that the Panthers may have had enough of this.

Yandle has two years left on his contract, and it carries a $6.35 cap hit. His spot in the Panthers' top-six is in serious jeopardy after this postseason, so buying him out does make sense for them. It would give them extra cap space to bring in talent elsewhere. You simply can't have a player making over $6 million not playing during the postseason.

If Yandle hits the open market, there still should be teams interested in him, though. At a smaller cap hit, he could be a great bottom-pair defenseman. Of course, he would also need to be on a team's first power play unit. We will see if the Panthers end up buying him out soon, but it seems quite likely.