Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

At least the Panthers are trying to hang on to Jason Garrison

Boston Bruins v Florida Panthers

SUNRISE, FL - MARCH 15: Jason Garrison #52 of the Florida Panthers skates prior to the game against the Boston Bruins on March 15, 2012 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

Getty Images

You don’t usually think of the Florida Panthers being under the wire when it comes to getting anyone signed, but they’ve got a potential problem when July 1 rolls around.

The Panthers got a breakout season from defenseman Jason Garrison and now it’s time for the Panthers to try and lock him up before becoming a free agent. Florida GM Dale Tallon tells George Richards of On Frozen Pond he’s expecting things to be tricky when it comes to negotiations.

“We’re going to go right to the wire with this,’' Tallon said. “We’ll see where it goes. We’re optimistic, but we have to have contingency plans just in case. We have young players who we’re going to have to count on sooner or later.’'

With how thin the free agent market will be once Ryan Suter decides what he’s going to do, Garrison could stand to cash in. He’s a big guy with a big shot from the point and scored a bunch of goals last year. That sounds pretty marketable in a thin market to me.