It doesn’t look like the Florida Panthers are going to make the playoffs.

After winning back-to-back Stanley Cups and making the finals in three consecutive seasons, Aleksander Barkov’s injury appears to be too much for them to overcome. Two days before March 6th’s trade deadline, the Panthers have a 30-28-3 record for 63 points. Right now, they’re 10 points out of a playoff spot with plenty of teams to jump over.

With Barkov’s status for a potential playoff return still up in the air, it may be a wise idea for the Panthers to treat the 2025-26 season as a punt year, as they’ve played a lot of hockey the last three seasons.

In Daily Faceoff’s latest trade board, they ranked five Panthers who could be on the move ahead of the deadline, all but one happen to be a pending unrestricted free agent. Let’s identify the Edmonton Oilers’ needs and what the Panthers have to offer.

Identifying the Oilers’ needs

Before the Oilers acquired Connor Murphy on Monday, their biggest need was a defenceman who could play on the second pairing’s right side. That move fixed that need, but now they need a third-line centre or a top-six winger (which would push Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to the third-line centre).

One could argue that the Oilers could use a netminder, as Tristan Jarry has an .863 save percentage since the trade, and Connor Ingram has an .894 save percentage since he was called up. That said, with the addition of a strong defensive defenceman in Murphy, hopefully the Oilers will limit the high-danger chances and make it easier for the netminders.

Funnily enough, the Panthers’ top asset........

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