Florida Panthers Acquire the Negotiation Rights of UFA Keith Yandle from the New York Rangers

The Florida Panthers acquired the rights to defenseman Keith Yandle from the New York Rangers for a 2016 sixth round draft pick and a conditional fourth rounder in 2017, on Monday. 

The 29-year-old Yandle scored five goals and 42 assists in 82 games for the Rangers this past season. In 661 games with the Arizona Coyotes and the Rangers, Yandle has put up 72 goals and 297 assists. 

While Panthers general manager, Tom Rowe expects veteran defenseman Brian Campbell to test the free agent market, they are negotiating with Yandle, who could also become an unrestricted free agent on July 1^st. If the Cats are able to sign Yandle, the Rangers would receive the conditional pick as a part of the trade. 

George Richards of the Miami Herald, noted that as the Panthers do not appear close to resigning Campbell, Rowe did diffuse rumors that he is shopping Dmitry Kulikov. Campbell spent the last five seasons in Sunrise, where he scored 28 goals and 175 points in 376 games defending the blue line for the Cats. 

Rowe said that acquiring the rights to Yandle was a risk worth taking for the Panthers. In a conference call Rowe said that his assistant general managers Eric Joyce and Steve Werier were negotiating a deal with Yandle’s agent on Monday evening. 

Rowe added, “We would not have made the trade if we were not confident we could come to a conclusion and get him into our system. I thought it was a risk worth taking given the ability of the player, the way the game is going and the way we were able to increase our procession numbers under head coach Gerard Gallant was real impressive. And we thought adding a player of Keith’s ability was going to make us that much more a playoff team and serious contender going forward.”

 

With three 50 point seasons, along with his ability to move the puck, could give the Panthers a huge boost with their young, talented forwards. Rowe said, “We want to build on the momentum we started last year and continue growing. We want the players to also know we are serious about winning and want to become a consistent playoff team.”