Florida Panthers ship defenseman Mike Matheson to Penguins for Patric Hornqvist
The first move of the Florida Panthers’ Bill Zito era is in the books.
The Panthers made their first move of the offseason Thursday, sending to players to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Patric Hornqvist. It’s the first move for Zito since Florida hired him as its new general manager Sept. 2.
“A proven winner and champion, Patric brings a level of competition to our club,” Zito said in a statement. “He is a talented veteran presence who plays with an edge and we look forward to what he can add to our group.”
To land the right wing, the Panthers sent defenseman Mike Matheson and winger Colton Sceviour to the Penguins.
Hornqvist logged 32 points in 52 regular-season games for Pittsburgh this season, scoring 17 goals and dishing out 15 assists. He also scored once and added an assist in four games for the Penguins in the qualifying round of the expanded 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. The 33-year-old Swede is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and scored the championship-winning goal for Pittsburgh in the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals.
An accomplished two-way forward, Hornqvist logged more than 100 hits five times in his six seasons with the Penguins, led their forwards in hits twice and led the team with 227 hits in the 2016-17 NHL season. In 770 career regular-season games, Hornqvist has scored 238 goals and recorded 242 assists. In 90 playoff games, he has 25 goals and 21 assists.
The deal ends Matheson’s underwhelming tenure in South Florida and gets the Panthers out of the final six years of the 26-year-old Canadian’s contract. A first-round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Matheson played in 299 games across five seasons with Florida, posting a plus-minus of minus-30.
Sceviour played four seasons with Florida, scoring 59 goals and handing out 82 assists.
“On behalf of the Florida Panthers organization, I would like to thank Mike and Colton for their contributions to the organization over the past several seasons,” Zito said. “We wish both them and their families well in all of their future endeavors.”
