NHL Free Agency 2025: Which 10 Blockbuster Contracts Are Redefining the Game?
Second, the Panthers’ track record of rehabilitating out-of-favor defensemen is tremendous. They don’t hit on every cheap back-end signing (Adam Boqvist and Mike Reilly are two examples), but Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Niko Mikkola and Nate Schmidt stand out as depth acquisitions on the blue line who were far better on the Panthers than they were on their previous team.
The on-ice environment and a player’s fit play an underrated role in determining whether a defenseman will succeed on a given team. Cam Fowler, for example, had some of the worst underlying metrics of all NHL defensemen over the last couple of years with the Ducks and looked potentially washed. He had an immediate, dramatic glow-up and returned to thriving in a top-four role as soon as he left Anaheim’s miserable on-ice environment. Petry is older and worse than Fowler was when he got traded, but the former’s role and expected workload in Florida will also be dramatically easier.
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