Florida Panthers State Their Intentions To Return To Cup Final With Tarasenko Trade

For the second straight season, Vladimir Tarasenko has been dealt just before the NHL trade deadline, and this time he is headed to a definite contender: the Florida Panthers.

The St. Louis Blue shipped Tarasenko to the New York Rangers last season before the deadline, and that just didn't pan out. He signed with the Ottawa Senators over the offseason, and while there's definitely some promise in what Ottawa is building, the 32-year-old was never part of the long-term plans.

The Cats sent two draft picks — a third-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick — to Ottawa in return for the Russian forward.

Ottawa is also hanging on to 50% of Tarasenko's salary to help facilitate the deal with Florida getting close to the salary cap.

Why would Ottawa agree to a deal like this? Well, Tarasenko was on a one-year deal with the Senators and he had a No Trade Clause. This was about as much of a return as they could get.

What a deal for the Panthers who are leading the Atlantic Division at the moment and after a trip to the Stanley Cup Final last season, are clearly in win-now mode.

Now, they just added a guy who will pretty easily eclipse the 50-point mark and already has a Cup to his credit.

And guess what? The deadline is Friday, so they might still have a move left in them, but I doubt it will be as splashy as picking up Tarasenko.

Going into the postseason, there's not a team out there I'd like to play a series against than the Florida Panthers. They're talented, have depth, have solid goaltending,  and are mean. That's a team built for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Playing one game or two against them doesn't sound fun, now imagine having to play at least four and as many as seven. 

What a nightmare.

I think we're going to see a lot of rubber rats this postseason.