Panthers Actively Working On Re-Signing 2 Defensemen

The Florida Panthers are working hard to keep their top defensemen on the team who helped them reach the Stanley Cup Final, Kevin Weekes reported. He said that the team is actively working to re-sign Brandon Montour and Gustav Forsling.

Both Montour and Forsling are in line for significant raises and are both UFAs at the end of the season. Montour was great offensively last season and throughout the run to the Cup. He broke out for 16 goals and 73 points in 80 games and added eight goals and 13 points in 21 playoff games. The Panthers are only paying him $3.5 million AAV for this season, the last of a three-year deal signed with Florida.

Forsling is a completely different type of player. You could either say he fell in the Panthers' lap when he was claimed on waivers, or the team knew what they were getting. Either way, he has become a very strong top-four defenseman that focuses on the defensive side of the game. He only has a cap hit of $2.667 million AAV and is also in the final year of a three-year deal signed with Florida.

Montour is 29 years old and Forsling is 27. These two have turned into pillars on the Panthers' back-end and both bring something that is very difficult to find and add to a team. I can see both salaries bring doubled at the very least, so the Panthers will have to find a way to open up that cap space for them.