Sobotka still available after deal falls through

Just minutes after dealing Richard Panik to the St. Louis Blues, the Florida Panthers (17-25-14) were approached with an inquiry about their lone remaining player on the trading block: Vladimir Sobotka.

An offer was made to Florida and after some due diligence Kuntz agreed to the terms and said, "Deal. Go ahead and post it."

It appeared Sobotka would be packing his bags to head off to the Western Conference and compete in the tight play-off race taking place. That is, until the rival GM told Kuntz he wasn't going to complete the deal after-all.

No problem, said the Panthers' boss, choosing to protect the identity of the other team involved.

“There's still two weeks left until the trade deadline,” Kuntz explained, adding, “So if there's a team out there who needs a middle-six or depth forward who can step in on special teams, I have a player that may interest you.”

Best of all, according to Kuntz, is that the player in question still has another year left on their contract.

“Look, there's an opportunity here for another team to bolster their line-up. You can't have too many good players this time of year. And if nothing happens, no worries, the player in question will still be under contract with us for next season,” Kuntz said.

Kuntz also deflected rumors that he had just fielded a 6-for-1 offer for Mark Stone, saying “Not accurate. While a significant offer was made for Stone, and it did involve a lot of assets coming back our way, the statement that it was 6-for-1 is simply not a correct detail.”

As for the Panthers 2018-19 season, Kuntz lamented, “A lot of over-time and shootout losses this year. Had we won a few maybe we'd be closer in the play-off race and be looking to be buyers instead of sellers.”

Florida has been playing better of late, going 5-3-2 in their last 10. An EHE source has said that Kuntz literally put on his application to become the Panthers' GM that this season would be mostly about waiting for re-rates and shifting assets around. Kuntz apparently knew he'd need to be patient this year and wait for next season before making a push.

The Panthers have been active on the trade front, and apparently have at least one more deal left to make before the EHE trade deadline.