Report card grades for all 31 NHL teams at the trade deadline

Florida Panthers: C-

The Florida Panthers have been playing well lately but still find themselves seven points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Dale Tallon kept quiet during the deadline, making only one small deal. The Panthers acquired Frank Vatrano from the Boston Bruins for a 2018 third-round pick. Tallon’s plan is to stick with the team he has and not mortgage the future to make a late run this season.

Vatrano is in the last year of his first restricted free agent contract. Vatrano has had mixed results everywhere he plays. He will go on some runs where he looks like a legitimate NHL player, and other times he can look lost in the game. A third-round pick is not a major investment, and the commitment is only one year for Florida. If he works out they can re-sign him; if they decide it isn’t a fit, they can release him at the end of the season.

Florida is stuck in the middle right now between legitimately pushing for a playoff spot or calling the season over and working on securing a better draft position. Due to Tallon not being aggressive at the deadline, he was able to save future assets and he didn’t dump his roster for draft picks. It is not impossible to imagine Florida going on a late-season run and sneaking into the playoffs. Florida did not get better and at the same time, it did not get worse. That result gets the Panthers a C- rating for this year.