PANTHERS

FLORIDA

There might not be a GM with an easier summer from a contract standpoint than Florida’s Dale Tallon. Most of the heavy lifting with the core players has already been done. They could have a pending arbitration with Alex Petrovic, but with almost $12 million in cap space, the Panthers’ biggest decision will be whether to stick to a budget or look elsewhere to replace all the goals they lost with Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith heading to Vegas. Defensemen Petrovic and Mackenzie Weegar, along with winger Frank Vatrano, are RFAs with arbitration rights. Petrovic is coming off a one-year deal and merits a longer-term deal at a higher salary. The Panthers will move on from UFA RADIM VRBATA, who lost his scoring touch at 36 and retired in April.