The great balancing act

Florida is in a weird position where they actually have a lot of cap space but don't have enough to actually sign the guys on expiring deals. This begs the question of why you'd then go grab a guy on an infamously bad contract that's considered immovable? If Montreal is able to retain just a little bit, Anderson's cap hit would be equal or less than Reinhart's extension would be if Florida decided to extend him instead. The pick thrown in is to assist in the retention. Anderson feels like the perfect fit for this Florida team's current brand of "If we aren't better, we're put you through the boards first, score later" with his physically present game, and because he can play both wings, it's possible we see an Anderson-Bennett-Tkachuk line, which would probably be the scariest line in the NHL.

Montreal unfortunately has to retain for Florida to be willing to trade, but 1.75 mil isn't too bad for a tanking team to hold onto, and if Montreal is looking to be good near the end of the retention period, under 2 mil likely won't be too much of a problem with the cap constantly going up. The pick kinda helps the team ignore the retention, and we haven't even started about Reinhart. Along with being a valuable middle 6 who can dish it and finish it, Reinhart is gonna be a great alternative to Dach on the top line, because even though Dach will probably be better in short order, it'll help Montreal spread out the talent and put Dach at 2C with the top line right wing being Reinhart instead to have 2 threatening lines to play. Extending Reinhart also won't be a problem, because he'll likely sign at a price and term that'll be equal to Anderson's newly retained price anyways, and if not he'll be more movable if he signs short term, which'll be great for a rebuilding team who can turn him into picks at deadline if need be. Assuming he signs at 4 mil for 3 yrs, you get minimum NTC's on the contract and now you have a guy who can be flipped without much issue.

Though the Panthers don't get better after this trade, the pieces they add are going to be great long term, and Montour either would've taken all of the cap space Florida needs to sign everyone else, or would've walked for nothing which would be a massive loss for the team. Salomonsson is an defenseman with incredible upside, playing a great physical shutdown game, and is only 18. Heinola has had some struggles cracking the lineup, but is a great candidate for a breakout season if he can get actual minutes, and the 3rd is a good trade piece to land players at deadline if the option presents itself.

Winnipeg is retooling, there's no question that change is needed, and what better way to fuel a retool and get guys on board than to add an offensive defenseman who has been so stellar that he beat Ekblad for the pp1 spot. Being just shy of a ppg, he's put the Panthers on his back numerous important games this season, so for Winnipeg to be getting this guy without losing a full time roster player would be great