Flyers trade Garnet Hathaway to Florida Panthers

The Philadelphia Flyers made their second trade of the offseason on Thursday, sending Garnet Hathaway and a 2026 6th round pick to the Florida Panthers for a 2026 5th round pick and 2027 4th round pick.

The Flyers now own picks 21, 53, 136, and 213 in the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft. The 136th pick is the one they acquired in this deal.

Philadelphia also retained 50 percent of Hathaway’s salary in the deal. The Flyers will have $1,200,000 of Hathaway’s salary against the cap through the 2026-27 season before it expires. That leaves the Flyers with two salary retention spots left and $33,681,250 in cap space, according to PuckPedia.

Clearing out a roster spot also opens up an opportunity for other players to crack the lineup next season. Nikita Grebenkin may find himself in a full-time role if he can stay healthy, and other youngsters like Jett Luchanko, Alex Bump, and Denver Barkey will be fighting for consistent roles and ice time throughout the season, too.

Hathaway, a native of Naples, Florida, is coming off the worst offensive season of his career, notching just 1 goal and 2 assists in 66 games in 2025-26. He also tacked on 1 goal and 1 assist in 8 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Perhaps his shining moment in the playoffs, though, was his high-stick against Sidney Crosby that resulted in the first embellishment penalty in the Penguins captain’s career.

Florida is acquiring Hathaway for his grit, pesky attitude, and his defensive abilities. The Panthers are loading up for a run at their third Stanley Cup in four years and with a roster that features pests like Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, and now Brady Tkachuk, they have another – much cheaper – pest in Hathaway that will fit into their bottom-six and penalty kill unit.

Perhaps playing on a more loaded team will also boost Hathaway’s offensive numbers back up as well. The 34-year-old did record 17 goals and 21 assists through his first two seasons in Philadelphia.