Pro Hockey Rumors

Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2025-26 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.  We’re currently covering the Atlantic Division, next up are the Panthers.

Florida Panthers

Current Cap Hit: $103,050,261 (above the $95.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

None who are on the active roster on a full-time basis.

Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level

D Uvis Balinskis ($850K, UFA)
G Sergei Bobrovsky ($10MM, UFA)
F A.J. Greer ($850K, UFA)
F Noah Gregor ($775K, UFA)
F Luke Kunin ($775K, UFA)
F Tomas Nosek ($775K, UFA)
D Jeff Petry ($775K, UFA)
F Mackie Samoskevich ($775K, RFA)
D Donovan Sebrango ($775K, RFA)
F Cole Schwindt ($825K, UFA)
G Daniil Tarasov ($1.05MM, UFA)

Potential Bonuses
Petry: $250K

Greer has found a nice role in Florida, setting a career high offensively last season while more than doubling his career high in hits as well.  This season, he’s off to an even better start.  Given his role and Florida’s top-heavy salary structure though, they may not be able to afford to keep him if his price tag pushes towards the $1.5MM mark.  Schwindt was a waiver claim from Vegas last month but played sparingly (before being injured earlier this month) after being in and out of the lineup last season.  Unless his role changes considerably, he’s probably going to be capped at the league minimum on his next deal.  Realistically, the same can be said for any of Nosek, Kunin, and Gregor.

However, Samoskevich is a much different situation.  He accepted a one-way deal this past summer, taking less than his qualifying offer to get the guaranteed salary.  In doing so, he’s setting himself up to have salary arbitration rights next summer.  If he plays the middle-six role he currently has all season and beats his 31 points from a year ago, he should easily triple this price tag at a minimum; quadrupling it isn’t unrealistic if he has a big second half.

Balinskis performed well last season in his first full year on the third pairing and is being deployed similarly in the early going this year.  As is the case with Greer, he’d need to stay around the minimum to stay in Florida while his market value might be more in the $1.5MM range.

Petry had a tough year with Detroit last season which certainly hurt his market.  At 37, he’s best served as a third pairing or depth defender and this price tag reflects that.  He has four $50K bonuses tied to games played that are achievable if he stays healthy while the other $50K is dependent on a Stanley Cup victory.  There’s a good chance he stays near the minimum if he keeps playing beyond this season.  Sebrango was claimed off waivers with Florida dealing with injuries.  He’s just looking to get established as an NHL regular at this point but his arbitration eligibility could work against him if Florida thinks that filing for a hearing could push him into seven figures, a risk they might not want to take as he should also stay at the minimum.

There were times in this contract that Bobrovsky’s contract looked like a complete anchor on the books.  However, he has become a bit more consistent in recent years and when Florida traded Spencer Knight at the trade deadline last season, it suggested that their plan is to stick with Bobrovsky beyond this deal as they don’t have anyone else in their system that’s ready.  He’ll be entering his age-38 season in 2026-27 so a long-term deal isn’t likely.  However, a two-year pact could be doable, one that might land closer to half this amount.  Alternatively, if they were to go with a one-year offer, he’d be eligible for performance incentives which could give Florida some shorter-term wiggle room next season.

Tarasov had a rough year in Columbus, ultimately finishing as the third-string goaltender and getting moved for cheap in the summer.  If he can re-establish himself to the level he was at in 2023-24, he could make a case to land closer to $1.75MM or so on his next contract although that’s a price tag Florida likely can’t afford.

Signed Through 2026-27

F Jesper Boqvist ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Eetu Luostarinen ($3MM, UFA)
F Evan Rodrigues ($3MM, UFA)

Free agency hasn’t been kind to Rodrigues which helped explain why he signed a four-year deal for this price tag, a contract that had a chance to become team-friendly pretty quickly.  So far, so good on that front.  As a player who consistently passes 30 points and can play down the middle in a pinch, he should be able to land something in the $4MM range on his next contract.

Luostarinen has been a player who has produced a point total in the 20s in three of the last four seasons.  The production he had last playoffs (19 points in 23 games) was the outlier but for the most part, he has been a third liner making third-line money.  With his production generally being more limited, he might not be able to land as much as Rodrigues next time out.  Boqvist signed this deal near the trade deadline last season and he might have done better than he would have on the open market where he didn’t have a lot of luck in 2024.  As a fourth liner with a bit of versatility, his value should hover somewhere around this mark two years from now.

Signed Through 2027-28

F Jonah Gadjovich ($775K in 2025-26, $905K after)
D Dmitry Kulikov ($1.15MM, UFA)

Gadjovich hasn’t played a lot since joining Florida in 2023 but he has been a serviceable fourth liner who fits the physical style they want to play.  As a 13th forward in an ideal situation, keeping him at just over the minimum salary starting next season isn’t a bad deal for them.

The fact Kulikov received a four-year deal last summer was a surprise but he also left a fair bit of money on the table had he opted to go with shorter-term contracts.  The end result is that he gets a bit of security while the Panthers get a bargain deal for someone who, when healthy (which he currently isn’t), is still a pretty dependable third-pairing defenseman at this point.

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