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The trade deadline came to the Florida Panthers the day after they finished a grueling 5-game road trip. With visits to Boston, New York (Rangers), New Jersey, Washington, and Atlanta, it was a tough stretch. But the Panthers came out the other side with a 3-2-0 record. Yes, the two losses were 6-1 and 7-2 blowouts against Boston and New Jersey, but they bounced back and earned a W each time. So heading into the deadline, all eyes were on Jay Bouwmeester. Florida has been playing well, sitting in the 6th spot in the east. Trading Bouwmeester means getting something in return, but losing one of the best defensemen in the league. Keeping Jay Bo means having him for the playoff run, but possibly, probably losing him in the offseason to free agency. What was GM Jacques Martin to do?
Well, it looks as though Jay Bouwmeester will indeed remain in Sunrise, FL for the duration of this season. Although Florida did make one move today, and it was not the Chris Neil trade, as was earlier rumored. The Panthers picked up Steve Eminger from Tampa Bay in exchange for Noah Welch and a 3rd round pick. Eminger has 4 G and 21 A for Tampa this year, and might be a sign of things to come with the Nick Boynton situation. Welch has shown signs of potential for the Panthers, but in the end, he wasn’t enough.
As for Bouwmeester, Florida “got their guy” by not trading Jay-Bo. The team’s chemistry doesn’t change, the makeup of this team isn’t affected. In fact, one could argue that the Panthers, as a team, might feel that they came out better then they were at the start of the day. Keith Ballard sent a text to TSN analyst Darren Pang shortly after the 3:00 deadline passed; “Perfect.” He’s excited that Bouwmeester is still here. David Booth likewise is happy to see Bouwmeester stick around. ”I think it’s awesome. All the talk was about whether Bo was going to stay with us and I’m really glad he is,” Booth said, to the Miami Herald’s Greg Richards. “He is such a big part of our team. We need a guy like that for our run to the playoffs.” This team has come together and gotten close. They know what they have to do, and they now know the same guys that started this season will finish it. Look for a new confidence down the stretch from this team.
What this means for Florida in the long term is unknown. Bouwmeester has shown no signs of planning on signing with Florida, so you would have to expect him to pack his bags as a UFA on July 1st. But for the next 2-3 months, Jay is a Panther, and expect him to do nothing less then his best, hopefully pushing Florida deep into the postseason. Fans in Florida are sure to have mixed feelings on the outcome of trading day, but this is the team that has gotten this far, and now we get to find out how far they can go. The push for the postseason kicks off tomorrow night with a crucial game against the 8th seed Penguins.
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