May 19, 2025, 5:50pm
Sunrise, Fla. – No one on the Florida Panthers’ roster has collected more points than Brad Merchand in these playoffs so far. Skaters don’t record more ice times than Seth Jones. Meet the latest examples of Bill Jeet pressing all the appropriate buttons.
The Panthers general manager and president of hockey operations is likely the biggest splash at the NHL trade deadline, hoping to land Chicago’s Jones from Boston and give the Stanley Cup champion the best chance to win the title again this year.
It is clear that the movement was correct. Merchand has scored 12 points in the playoffs so far, and has been linked with Eetu Luostarinen for a team lead. Jones scored his first goal in Florida’s 6-1 victory in Toronto. And on Tuesday night, when the Panthers take on the Carolina hurricane in Game 1 of the East Final, Marchand and Jones will be part of Florida’s offense.
“On the ice, they’re advertised, they’re going to be,” Zito said.
Few people thought it was possible to pull off such a move. Jones remained on the Chicago deal for five years, but even with the Blackhawks holding 26%, it means Florida has committed about $35 million to the defensive man.
In the short term, it helped the Panthers get paid cap space when defensive man Aaron Eckblad was suspended without 20 games for violating conditions of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancement Substances Program. Ekblad’s $7.5 million salary was not counted against the salary cap while he was suspended. And now, in the postseason where there is no cap limit on the NHL roster, two elite defenders, Jones and Eckblad, are both in the lineup.
Meanwhile, Marchand was spending his career in Florida rival Boston. It makes sense to think that the Bruins are not seeking help the Panthers this spring.
From day one, Jones and Merchand felt like Panthers for their lives. Zito insisted that it would be.
“One of the main things that surprised me was that it was easy to be satisfied, especially after they won the Cup, and I didn’t know how it would feel, but coming to you can feel the drive of winning another victory and getting better every day,” Jones said. “And it’s all different, from the individual guys, our best players, our leading liner to our fourth liner.
Editor’s Pick
2 Related
Zito didn’t just win Marchand and Jones. The Panthers had specific needs as the season progressed, and penalty killing was identified as a top priority.
Zito went to work. Results: Four wins from his third straight trip to the Eastern Conference Finals and three trips to the Stanley Cup finals.
“You praise Bill Jeet and his group,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ve reached a trade deadline, where we need to get better. Again, last year we lost some important killers from our team, and he delivered.”
But this is what Zito does — and he’s been going since being hired by the Panthers in 2020. He was at the Panthers Championship Parade last June. It’s a tremendous downpour of thunder and lightning, knowing that his roster will change within 24 hours. Some players had left. He had candidates who kept them in mind. The cap space was premium. The deal he was trying to attack had to work, or the chances of defending the title would be a huge hit.
So far, so good. He signed Nate Schmidt, the defensive man who became a big part of the Panthers’ core. He signed AJ Greer, who had a team-high seven hits in Game 7 in Toronto (along with Sam Bennett). He signed Thomas Nose. Thomas Nose played a major role in the rally from 3-1 to 3-1 in Game 3 against Toronto, who presumably saved the series. And he did it all last summer, thinking about how to offer Sam Reinhart, Dmitry Klikov, Anton Randell Extensions and another player last fall for Carter Verhaege.
These are just a few of Jeet’s most recent months of work, including landing Calgary’s Matt Tokachuk, seducing Maurice from what could best be described as a semi-retirement, and seducing Maurice in a deal that could protect him in Florida throughout his career. The result is a club that is defensively, strong offensive and as deep as everyone else.
“We weren’t on the same page [the Panthers] Toronto captain Matthews said on Sunday night, and you’re chasing the game, and you get that momentum, and you’re chasing the game.
Zito has previously been a GM of the Year candidate and should be the strongest, if not the strongest this year. But he also argues that it is a collective effort. Yes, he oversees it, but he was able to speak to people within the organization about a particular move before making the ultimate decision.
“We rely heavily on scouts, people in analytics to identify players and then find a way to fit the pieces into the puzzle,” Zito said. “And it’s not necessarily the most expensive or the cheapest. It’s the best. It’s the best for that part. And our peers have done a great job of identifying the right people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
