NHL Rumors: Keith Yandle agrees to 7-year deal with Panthers
The Florida Panthers have reportedly come to terms with pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Keith Yandle on a seven-year deal worth more than $6 million per season.
The Florida Panthers surprised many people when they traded a sixth round pick to the New York Rangers for the free agent rights to defenseman Keith Yandle.
It appears that they knew what they were doing because they have reportedly agreed to terms with Yandle. The deal is for seven years and will be worth an average of $6.35 million per season.
Keith Yandle has agreed to terms with the Florida Panthers: seven years and $6.35 million average per season
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 23, 2016
A very bold signing by the Panthers, who are effectively replacing Brian Campbell. Replacing Campbell was going to be a hard task, but the Panthers just signed one of the few free agent defensemen who was up to the task of replacing him.
Yandle should help the Panthers blue line become more productive. He should especially help them on the power play, where the Panthers have consistently been inconsistent for several years.
He will be expected to be a member of either the first or second pairing with the Panthers. The former New York Rangers defenseman is coming off a 47 point season for the Rangers. He played for the Rangers for two seasons after playing the first nine seasons of his career with the Arizona Coyotes.
With this signing, the Panthers still have quite a bit of cap space remaining. General Fanager estimates they still have over $15 million of cap space remaining.
For more NHL Free Agency coverage, check out our NHL hub page.