Florida Panthers add another veteran forward ahead of NHL trade deadline

Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito wasn’t done making moves after acquiring forward Vladimir Tarasenko on Wednesday.

The Panthers on Friday, hours ahead of the NHL’s 3 p.m. trade deadline, acquired forward Kyle Okposo from the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman prospect Calle Sjalin and a conditional seventh-round pick.

“Kyle is an exceptionally respected veteran who brings leadership and a competitive edge to our team, and we are thrilled to be able to add him to our group,” Zito said in a press release.

Okposo, 35, is in his 17th NHL season and has 614 points (242 goals, 372 assists) over 1,045 career games. He has spent the past eight with the Sabres and was Buffalo’s captain each of the past two years. Okposo’s career began with the New York Islanders, who selected him seventh overall in the 2006 NHL Draft.

Okposo this season has recorded 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) over 61 games.

Okposo has a cap hit of $2.5 million, meaning the Panthers currently are only about $300,000 under the salary cap according to CapFriendly.

What Okposo had to say

Shortly after the trade, Okposo spoke on ESPN’s The Point about the deal. Here are the highlights from his interview.

▪ His reaction to the trade: “There’s a lot going on. It’s been an extremely hectic day, but at the end of the day, I’m really looking forward to joining a team who’s been just phenomenal right from the drop of the puck this year. I’m looking forward to trying to go be a piece. They really have a legitimate shot to win and obviously anything can happen in the postseason, but just over the moon to be to be joining a team like Florida.”

▪ On what he sees from the Panthers as a team: “I love how they play. They play nasty, in your face. You kind of know what you’re getting from them. You’re getting a hard game. It’s gonna be a lot of fun to learn the intricacies of their style and how a coach like Paul Maurice wants to do things. I’m just looking forward to being a piece. You can just tell what kind of team they are by the way that they compete and the way that they play on the ice. Obviously, they’ve got a top line that’s extremely effective. Reino [Sam Reinhart’s] almost at 50 [goals] this year. [Aleksander] Barkov’s an elite playmaker. And then you’ve got [Sam] Bennett, [Matthew] Tkachuk on the second line who have just been driving the play and a great back end, too. You’ve got six [defensemen] that you don’t want to play against. They do they do a ton of things well, and I’m really excited to be joining the group.”

Panthers claim a defenseman, add another goalie

The Panthers on Friday also claimed defenseman Tobais Bjornfot, who was placed on waivers by the Vegas Golden Knights, and acquired goaltender Magnus Hellberg from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for goaltender Ludovic Waeber and a conditional 2025 seventh-round draft pick.

Bjornfot, 22, was the No. 22 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and has played in 119 career NHL games with one goal and 14 assists.

He has only played in three games this season.

Bjornfot is under contract through the 2024-25 season, at $775,000 a year, before becoming a restricted free agent.

Hellberg, 32, has appeared in three games with the Penguins in 2023-24, recording a 1-0-0 record, .922 save percentage and 2.50 goals against average. He has also played in 19 American Hockey League (AHL) games with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, producing a 9-8-2 record, .905 save percentage and 2.92 goals against average.