NHL Trade Rumors: Florida Panthers have interest in Michael Raffl
The Florida Panthers have been expressing interest in Flyers forward Michael Raffl
The Florida Panthers have been looking to increase their forward depth and scoring depth by the NHL trade deadline on Feb. 29. While the team has generally avoided rental forwards, they are interested in Flyers forward Michael Raffl. Raffl will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Another winger #FlaPanthers are interested in is #Flyers UFA Michael Raffl...believed to be a true rental so price would have to come down.
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) February 27, 2016
It’s worth noting that the Panthers went after a “rental” forward last year in Jaromir Jagr and wound up deciding to keep him around for another year. That’s something that could happen with Raffl, except that Raffl could be more of a long-term option than Jagr thanks to his age.
Michael Raffl has eight goals and nine assists for 17 points this season in 60 games for the Flyers. He likely wouldn’t cost much to obtain since he’ll be a free agent after this season and the Flyers haven’t expressed too much interest in keeping him. Raffl has 67 points in 195 career NHL games. The 27 year old forward could fit in on the Panthers third line.
Florida has had issues getting production from their third line. Raffl could help change that and he’s capable of filling in on the second line should the need arise. Florida usually avoids rental forwards, but Raffl could be so cheap that it would be worth taking a flyer on him.