I think Florida would rather just bite the bullet and buy him out. It gives them more cap savings during the contracts active years and cost 1.75 for four years after the contract is over. It's not great but it's better than this

probably wouldnt move their 2023 pick cause of how good that draft is supposed to be

So if it's a 2024 first it would make more sense?

No chance Florida does that

I think there is some spice to the Florida trade, for sure. Jarry only has a couple of years left on his deal, so he could make a nice tandem to ease Knight into the NHL without causing headache after Knight's ELC runs out.

The Panthers save 1,5M a season during the first two years and 5M for three years after that. That's valuable for a team trying to contend. The other option, buyout, would mean a yearly penalty of 6,75M in dead cap until 2026 and 1,67M for every year that gets bought out. Thats a tough pill to swallow.

The Panthers would probably prefer the 2023 1st rounder to be switched to a prospect they do not see a future with or a later 1st rounder as the -23 draft is looking pretty strong, and they have already traded away their 2022 1st rounder

Can't see Florida doing anything with Bobrovsky until Knight needs a new deal, till then they'll have a goalie tandem that costs $10.925M against the cap.

Yeah, but next season could get rough.

Key UFAs: Barkov and Vatrano who should certainly get raises, Barkov's will be significant.
Key RFA: Tippet

Just those three combined will cause some tight situations, so I'd think they need to do something sooner rather than later. Maybe not THIS season, but I'd expect before the 22/23 season starts.

What about Denisenko or Levi?

They already traded Levi in the Reinhart trade. Denisenko could be an option, though he could also be a valuable and cheap depth player with upside for the Panthers. I'm not sure which they'd prefer more: the 2024 first or Denisenko.

The Panthers do have a deep prospect pool so they can afford to trade Denisenko for cap relief. It's also rich with other prospects if the Pens don't highly value him.