The Florida Panthers have fired Dale Tallon which is honestly the best thing for the franchise moving forward. Tallon was one of those old hockey guys who continued to find work based on those laurels as opposed to any actual skill or ability to build a roster.

Tallon was gifted a skilled core with the likes of Trocheck, Barkov, Huberdeau, Ekblad, Reilly Smith, and Jonathan Marchessault and managed to squander most of it away. Luckily the Panthers still have some solid pieces in place and are searching for a new GM, prepared to not make the same mistakes twice.

Now I hear the Peter Chiarelli is currently the front runner for the job.

And I couldn't be happier... for the Panthers that is.

Chiarelli and Tallon are nothing alike; one signed a bunch of plugs to overpriced contracts, made the playoffs once in a seven year period, and traded skilled players away for peanuts, and the other is Tallon.... no wait Chiarelli? Anyways these two couldn't be any more different.

Despite there currently being 31 different teams in the league, it's common to see teams trade among the same smaller circle. This is because some GM's get along better than others and will go back to the guys they know. Chiarelli knows a number of the Oilers players rather well and should he become GM, there are a number of trades that could be made.

Today I thought it would be fun for Oilers fans and Panthers fans to take a look at some of the very balanced trades that we can expect to see occur this off-season.

1.) Oilers Trade Kris Russell For Brett Connolly

Taking a look at the Panthers roster with the likes of Hoffman, Dadanov, and Haula all likely being lost to free agency there is a clear need for Florida; that's right, it is left shot defensemen. Kris Russell is a shot blocking machine and a cowboy to boot. Russell had 101 blocked shots this past year while Connolly only had 17. It's almost as if Connolly spent more time in the oppositions end with a 52.59 CF% at 5 on 5 or something.

2.) Oilers Trade Andreas Athanasiou For A 2nd and 3rd Round Pick

Florida might need a couple wingers too and Chiarelli will need to look no further than pending RFA Andreas Athanasiou. Ken Holland will want to get back the two second round picks that he lost but Pete is a shrewd negotiator and will manage to lose only a second and a third in exchange for the speedy winger.

Chiarelli will then do what he does best and will lock Athanasiou up to a 6 year contract worth 4.1 million a season... of course with a NMC as well.

3.) Edmonton Trades Tyler Benson to the Panthers in exchange for a 2020 1st round pick and a 2021 second round pick

Peter Chiarelli likes to take gambles on young players that he believes can step in and immediately improve the team such as when he traded a first and a second round pick for Griffin Reinhart. Reinhart ended up being so good that he is now playing in the KHL because it wasn't fair to the other players in the NHL. Benson might even end up being better than Reinhart if anyone can believe that.

4.) Oilers Trade Adam Larsson and Zack Kassian For Jonathan Huberdeau

You have to respect Peter Chiarelli; you might be able to fool him once.... or twice.... or even a third and a fourth and a fifth time, but eventually he figures it out. Chiarelli was lambasted for his infamous "one for one" deal which sent Taylor Hall out to New Jersey in exchange for Adam Larsson. To this day it is still labelled as one of the worst trades of all time. Chiarelli will never make a one for one deal like that ever again.

Which is exactly why he is going to get two assets in exchange for Jonathan Huberdeau. The Panthers clearly need a culture change and a move like this will certainly send shock-waves through the locker room. Luckily for the team they will get a whole bunch of toughness in Larsson and Kassian. As Pete did in Edmonton, the surest way to build a successful team in the modern NHL is to enlist big slow tough players in key positions throughout the lineup.

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So there you have it, both the Panthers and Oilers look to be perfect trading partners. Ken Holland will need to be on his toes around Peter Chiarelli as the Oilers former GM is a dastardly fellow who is old, a man, and has been employed by hockey organizations for years.

He should be a breath of fresh air for the Florida Panthers.

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