Kane't Believe It!!!

 After a busy November, GM Wilson expected to be quiet leading up the next few months to the trade deadline. With a solid run since picking up the likes of Justin Faulk, Joffrey Lupul and Nazem Kadri; the team has seen a run of success, pitting themselves in a battle with the Maple Leafs for 1^st in the division.

After acquiring Ryane Clowe a week before Christmas and Todd Bertuzzi just after the holidays, it was expected that the Panthers would be quiet, with very little cap space left. “We felt we acquired two hard bruising veterans that could help us out and help us with an element of our game that we were missing.”

 With Christmas passing by, the Panthers were hard at work on another deal that would send Mikko Koivu out of town, to clear up cap space for another deal. With the deal finalized; sending the Gaunce brothers, Adam Pelech, Sondre Olden and 2^nd to the Panthers, it seemed imminent that the Panthers would be completing another trade. “We felt good about our depth down the middle and dealing Mikko was hard, but we felt we were getting some very good young players in the deal and we needed the cap space to bring in another player.”

 What the Panthers didn’t expect, was just mere hours later, two of the top players in the world to come on the block. After almost 6 years in the league, Dylan may have completed his biggest deal at the helm of the Florida Panthers. The deal saw Barkov, Strome, Kadri, Drouin, Barrie, McCoshen, Hagg and Jagr all head out for All-Stars and Elite players, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

“We have been amassing young talent for years here, and while we won the cup last year, this type of deal will make us great for at least the next 5 to 7 years. The hardest part of this deal, is that we know who we dealt will all become great players, especially the guys we drafted. Strome and Barrie have been with the organization for years, and they will both be excellent players. But getting Toews and Kane gives us two elite lines, and probably 3 of the top 10, maybe even top 5 forwards in the game right now.”

“I know we say it all the time, but this is probably the end of any big deals for quite a while. I think maybe we will look at improving in net. We have a top 6 core all under the age of 29 and a top of the line D core under 26 years old. So we have a young group that is only getting better and that should make us contenders for the next long while……sorry Ron.”