Dale Tallon on Panthers at the deadline: ‘Who says we’re done?’
Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon laughed at a question about the one hour where he changed the makeup of his team with three trades.
What appeared like a frantic 60 minutes where Tallon acquired Jiri Hudler from the Calgary Flames, Jakub Kindl from the Detroit Red Wings and Teddy Purcell from the Edmonton Oilers actually took much longer to set up and eventually execute.
“The calls got done in that short period of time, but this has been going on for days,” Tallon said during a Saturday conference call. “It really got hot this morning and last night. This morning was when we really got cooking on stuff.”
Tallon said he could make more moves before the Monday trade deadline.
Added Tallon, “Who says we’re done?”
Tallon praised Kindl, who he picked up for a 2017 sixth-round pick, as someone who could contribute on the power play. He said he liked the fact that Purcell, who he got for a 2016 third-round pick, was a good playoff performer. He liked how Hudler, who he got for a 2016 second-round pick and a 2018 fourth-round pick could add balance to his team’s lines.
“These guys are really good hockey players and had success everywhere they’ve been,” Tallon said. “We’re very fortunate to get these deals done. Our staff really worked diligently and hard in putting this together and our whole organization came together putting this stuff together.”
Hudler has 10 goals and 35 points in 53 games this season, Last year he scored 31 goals. Purcell has 11 goals and 32 points in 61 games. Kindl has been waived twice by the Red Wings this season. In 25 games he has notched eight points and averaged 16:27 of ice-time per-game.
The surprising Panthers are in first place in the Atlantic Division, and Tallon was looking to ensure his team would make the postseason with the moves. He was also hoping the new players could make some noise in the playoffs. The Panthers have made it past the first-round of the playoffs just once in their history. That was 1995-96 when they made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Since then they’ve made the playoffs just three times.
Florida currently has 78 points in 61 games this year, tied for sixth-most in the NHL. The Panthers rank second in the league, allowing 2.28 goals allowed per-game, but were hoping to improve their power play, which ranks 27th at 16.6 percent.
“I just look at our team, what our needs were and where we’re at, what we want to accomplish,” Tallon said. “We’re ahead of schedule, but these guys give us some solid experience and playmaking ability and good hockey sense and it just completes our team a little bit more, gives us many more options and it takes an army to get to the playoffs and then hopefully when we get in they can take us deeper.”
Tallon was allowed to take a cavalier attitude at the trade deadline this season by ownership, which hasn’t always been the case since he took over the team as general manager in 2010. The Panthers had struggled more financially before Vincent Viola became the team’s owner in 2013.
According to General Fanager, the Panthers are expected to have about $15.6 million of salary cap space on trade deadline day, but around $3.3 million at the end of the season.
“It gives you a lot of confidence you can go out and be aggressive and when you’re given a command to go get them,” Tallon said. “That’s all I need, just open the barn door and let the horses out.”
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY
– – – – – – –
Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
