Florida Panthers and San Jose Sharks Officially Make a Trade Ahead of Deadline

Once again this year, the Florida Panthers will need to be taken seriously in the playoffs. Considered to be among the top contenders to win a Stanley Cup, management is looking to make the team even better ahead of the trade deadline.

After parting ways with Spencer Knight in the deal with the Chicago Blackhawks involving Seth Jones, the Panthers have been looking to add depth between the pipes on the trade market, and they have worked on a deal to solve that issue.

In breaking news, insider Elliotte Friedman revealed in a post on X that Florida acquired Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks for the 25-year-old forward Patrick Giles.

Vanecek, 29, is in the final season of his three-year, $3,400,000 AAV contract. In 18 games with the Sharks, he has only three wins but will be in a much better position to win games with the Panthers. However, he shouldn't get a lot of ice time, with Sergei Bobrovsky taking on most of the workload for the rest of the season, and all playoff games.

It's the second straight season that Vanecek changes teams at the deadline. The veteran goalie joined the Sharks last year in a deadline deal with the New Jersey Devils for Kaapo Kahkonen.

Patrick Giles, on the other hand, faces another reality. The undrafted forward took part in nine games with the Panthers this season but has been playing for their AHL affiliate team, the Charlotte Checkers, for the past three seasons.

This year, he scored seven points, including five goals, in 39 AHL games. He wasn't able to produce offensively for the Panthers in his nine opportunities.

With the Sharks, he should get an opportunity to play more minutes and keep developing in the NHL, at least for the rest of his two-year, $775,000 AAV contract signed last summer.