The Florida Panthers enter the 2025-26 NHL season seeking their third straight Stanley Cup championship. The Buffalo Sabres will attempt to reach the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. The contrast is stark between the Atlantic Division counterparts.
Buffalo's roster isn't without at least some high-end talent, though. Several players from the Sabres would be capable of sliding into the Cats' lineup without the two-time defending champions missing a beat as they attempt to chase down another title.
Each of the selections below is made in a vacuum. It's not suggesting all seven players would join the Florida roster at the same time because each move has trickle-down effects, which would make the process too convoluted. Thus, every choice is independent from the others.
Forwards
Tage Thompson (second line center)
Thompson, a two-time 40-goal scorer, would give the Panthers another elite offensive weapon for their top six. Florida actually finished a modest 15th in goals scored during the regular season last year. Tage's arrival would allow Sam Bennett to a more fitting third-line center role.
Alex Tuch (second line right wing)
Tuch is exactly the type of highly effective two-way player Florida has built its budding dynasty on. He scored 36 goals and set an NHL record for blocked shots by a forward (113) last season. He'd represent an upgrade over Brad Marchand and Mackie Samoskevich.
Ryan McLeod (fourth line center)
McLeod enjoyed a breakthrough 2024-25 season to cement himself as a high-end third-line center. The Cats already have a strong center spine in Aleksander Barkov, Bennett and Anton Lundell, however, which would probably drop him into a more defensive-minded role in Florida.
Zach Benson (fourth line left wing)
Benson is another Panthers-esque player with strong defensive impacts and underlying offensive metrics that suggest more goals are on the way. That said, he'd land on the fourth line for the Panthers and would probably drop out of the lineup when Matthew Tkachuk returns from injury.
Defensemen
Rasmus Dahlin (first pair left defense)
Dahlin would instantly become the best defenseman on the Panthers. He's a perennial Norris Trophy candidate who'd garner far more respect if he played for a Stanley Cup contender. He could even be viewed as the NHL's best blueliner on a top-tier club like Florida.
Owen Power (third pair left defense)
Power hasn't lived up to the expectations that came with being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. Yet, he's still made enough progress over the past four years to believe he'd provide a greater impact for the Cats than Dmitry Kulikov.
Goalies
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (backup goalie)
UPL took a significant step back last season (.887 save percentage) and he's dealing with an injury ahead of training camp. His past performance (.910 SV% in 2023-24) suggests he'd be a better option than Daniil Tarasov behind Sergei Bobrovsky, though.