7 Biggest Trades in Florida Panthers History, Ranked

The Florida Panthers are proof that smart trades can change everything.

The Cats won their first Stanley Cup in 2024 with eight players that they acquired via trade, including Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, and Sam Bennett.

Those three champions are featured in my list ranking the seven biggest trades in Panthers history.

7 Biggest Florida Panthers Trades in Team History

1. Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a First-Round Pick for Matthew Tkachuk  

This will go down as one of the biggest moments in the history of the Florida Panthers. 

After winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2021-2022, the Panthers were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs and felt they needed a shakeup to go from a dominant regular-season team to a Stanley Cup contender.

The Panthers boldly traded away one of the best players in the franchise’s history, Jonathan Huberdeau, along with top-pair defenceman MacKenzie Weegar to the Calgary Flames for Matthew Tkachuk.

The deal paid off immediately as the Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Final in Tkachuk’s first season in Sunrise and then won it all in his second.

Florida went into his third season with the best hockey odds to win the Eastern Conference. 

2. Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha for Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen

Although this trade didn’t lead to a Stanley Cup, it landed Florida one of the best goaltenders of a generation. It is also considered one of the most lopsided deals in NHL history, as the New York Islanders sent Roberto Luongo to the Cats to make room for Rick DiPietro.

Luongo would become the face of the Panthers during his two stints in Sunrise, while injuries derailed DiPietro’s career. 

Luongo owns the franchise record for games played, wins, and shutouts among goaltenders. He also set an NHL record by making 2,303 saves in the 2003-2004 campaign. 

3. Devon Levi and a First-Round Pick for Sam Reinhart

The Panthers were busy in the 2021 offseason, but this was the biggest move the Cats made that summer.

Fed up with the direction of the Buffalo Sabres, Sam Reinhart requested a trade and was sent to Florida for blue chip goaltending prospect Devon Levi and a first-round pick. 

Reinhart had established himself as a consistent 20-goal scorer in Buffalo, but he took things to a whole new level with the Panthers.

Reinhart scored 57 goals for Florida in the 2023-24 season and potted the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. 

4. Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Kevin Weekes, Mike Brown, and a First-Round Pick for Pavel Bure, Bret Hedican, Brad Ference, and a Third-Round Pick

The Panthers enjoyed some early success in Sunrise, but the franchise stalled after their Cinderella run to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final. 

Looking to jolt the franchise, Florida pulled off a blockbuster trade for Pavel Bure, one of the game’s most exciting stars at the time of the deal.

The “Russian Rocket” established a franchise record when he scored 58 goals in 1999-2000 and then broke it when he netted 59 more the next season. Nobody has topped it since.

5. Emil Heinemann and a Second-Round Pick for Sam Bennett and a Sixth-Round Pick

Another savvy move made in the 2021 offseason, Sam Bennett joined the Panthers in a buy-low deal with the Calgary Flames.

Bennett’s career stalled in Alberta, but the Panthers were able to find the right role for the former fourth-overall pick. 

The trades for Tkachuk and Reinhart overshadow Florida’s move for Bennett, but the latter also played a massive role in winning the Panthers their first Stanley Cup. 

6. Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek, and a Sixth-Round Pick for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld, and Bryan Allen

This was a painful deal for the Panthers to make, but the team was struggling, and Luongo was desperate for a change of scenery and a chance to contend for a Stanley Cup.

The Panthers did their best to get an appropriate return for Luongo, but this ended up as a clear win for the Canucks. 

7. Third-Round Pick for Brandon Montour

This trade went almost entirely unnoticed when it was completed in April 2021. It was another shrewd pickup by general manager Bill Zito in a terrific offseason that turned the Panthers into a perennial favourite to win the Stanley Cup, according to the NHL odds.

Montour became a key contributor on the blueline for the Panthers during their back-to-back appearances in the Stanley Cup Final, and his 73 points in 2022-2023 are the most in a single season by a Panthers defenceman.