Are the Panthers Moving Vokoun?
Reports out of Florida indicate that the Panthers are shopping around goalie Tomas Vokoun. GM Randy Sexton is said to be contacting other GMs around the league with the intention of moving his goaltender and figuring out his options, so the veteran keeper could be on the move possibly even before the holiday roster freeze.
Some analysts are saying that Vokoun has become almost expendable in Florida with prospect Jacob Markstrom looking to join the club at the start of the next season.
The Panthers are said to be ready to move Vokoun prior to Markstrom’s arrival and have been looking at packaging other players up with him, such as forward Nathan Horton and Rostislav Olesz.
There is a sense among the league’s GMs that Sexton is simply asking too much for Vokoun’s services at this point. While Vokoun is only 33 years of age, there’s a sense that the goalie’s better days may be behind him and that he has already come into his top form.
Then there’s the cap hit on the goalie, which sits at a juicy $6.3 million. Vokoun has one year remaining on his deal with Florida and that could be a hard thing to move over at this point and time.
While the Panthers may be eager to move him sooner, the logical answer would be to let Vokoun ride out the remainder of the year in relative ease before letting him go to market. Moving him sooner than that simply seems like a headache for Sexton and Co. unless a reasonable package deal can be arranged that would also help the club offload Horton and Olesz.
Posted by Jordan Richardson.
Tags: Florida Panthers, nathan horton, randy sexton, tomas vokoun