If anything, the Panthers know how to send a message loud and clear: the Stanley Cup champions are doing whatever it takes to defend their title. Acquiring Seth Jones was popular and, hopefully for the team, needle-moving.
Former Florida defenseman Keith Yandle, who played five-season with the Panthers, thinks the move could be the latter.
"He's going to be like, 'Okay, this is my time to win. This is my opportunity, coming to a winning organization, a team that's committed to winning," said Yandle on Spittin' Chiclets podcast.
The decision came with another win for the Cats where Seth recorded 22:56 ice time in his first game as a Panthers.
And if you agree with Yandle, this was just an example of what having Jones would translate to.
"And I think you're going to just see his stock just go higher and higher. It's just one of those things where, if you can go out and get an all-star defenseman, like they did in Seth Jones, and he's not just a skill guy that's going to give you power play minutes. He's playing hard minutes, he's playing a lot of minutes, he's really good defensively and really good offensively. So I think it's a home run deal for Florida," Yandle said.
"They beef up the back end, and I don't think they're done. I think they're going to go out and get a depth forward as well. But really love this trade for the Cats."
The deal comes at an excellent time for Florida with the NHL deadline stirring up all kinds of chaos and rebuilds within other organizations.
It gives a level of assurance that another push at the Stanley is right around the corner for the Panthers.