The decision to bring in these two was based on their contracts both Riley Sheahan and Derick Brassard’s deals will expire after this season, giving the Florida Panthers free cap space to push for a big name during the 2019 offseason.
Bringing in Brassard from Pittsburgh was a move that the 31-year-old center desperately needed. For the last two seasons, his career has been awfully puzzling from his emergence with the New York Rangers back in the early part of this decade.
Following his time in New York, Brassard grew as one of the key members of the Ottawa Senators squad that surprised the NHL by getting to game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals, only to be knocked out on a sudden-death overtime goal by Chris Kunitz and the Pittsburgh Penguins.