The Panthers have been linked to a lot of good players on the trade market that will help this team win a cup such as Pacioretty and Panarin. However the return would be costly. The Panthers aren’t giving up solidified offensive talents like Barkov, Dadonov or Trocheck and the defense has a lot of no movement deals. The prospect pool for the Panthers is mediocre. In this mediocrity, the team has one star prospect that rises above the rest.

In 2016, GM Tom Rowe went off the board when the division winning Panthers made the 23rd overall pick. Rowe selected Finnish center Henrik Borgstrom. Borgstrom had gone undrafted the previous year and was projected to be a mid round pick. However, Borgstrom quickly jumped out in the eyes of the Panthers prospect pool with two phenomenal seasons at the University of Denver. He was so good in fact, Dale Tallon decided to burn a year of his ELC by signing him late in the season after Denver was eliminated to help with the playoff run. Borgstrom only played 4 games and had 1 goal which was nice.

Before he was signed, the Panthers were trying to add pieces at the trade deadline. However many teams wanted Borgstrom. The Panthers didn’t want to part ways with their star prospect. This makes sense as the team has a weak prospect pool which was among the best until guys like Huberdeau, Barkov, Trocheck and Ekblad became regular NHL players. However should a Borgstrom trade be completely out of the question? I don’t know.

If the Panthers are going to trade Borgstrom the player that they trade for must agree to sign a contract extension. Borgstrom is very hit or miss. He will either be a star or not. However looking at this team right now up the middle I don’t see room for him. Barkov and Trocheck will hold down the top 2 spots for years and McCann is a solid third line center.

This is a hard one. Honestly I would wait to see what Borgstrom does at the start of next year before making a decision