Rodrigues had 16 goals, 23 assists, 184 SOG, 30 PIMs and a +7 plus/minis through 69 games with Colorado in 2022-23 and has signed a four-year, $12 Million contract ($3,000,000 AAV) with Florida. The 29-year-old centre will be joining his third team in three years and has 69 goals, 99 assists, and 885 SOG across 385 career NHL games.

Kulikov had three goals, 13 assists, 84 SOG, 34 PIMs and a -13 plus/minus through 67 games with both Anaheim and Pittsburgh in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year contract with Florida worth $1.0 million. The 32-year-old defensemen returns to the team that originally drafted him in the first-round of the 2009 Draft (14th overall) where he had 28 goals and 138 points across seven seasons and 460 games played in Florida to begin his career.

Mikkola had a goal, five assists, 62 SOG, 58 PIMs and a +6 plus/minus through 81 games with both St.Louis and the New York Rangers in 2022-23 and has now signed a three-year contract worth $7.5 million ($2.5M AAV) with Florida. The 27-year-old stay-at-home defensemen will be joining his third NHL team and brings five goals and 23 points with 124 PIMs across 170 career NHL games to the Panthers.

Bussi posted an impressive 22-5-4 record, .924 SV% and 2.40 GAA across 32 games with the Providence Bruins (AHL) in 2022-23 after starting the season in the ECHL and has signed a one-way, two-way contract extension with the Boston Bruins through the 2023-24 season worth $775,000. The 24-year-old has yet to see any NHL action after signing from Western Michigan University (NCAA) after his 2021-22 season.

Balinskis is an undrafted free agent from Latvia who has spent the last three season in the Czech Extraliga. The 26-year-old blue liner had 11 goals and 24 assists (35 points) in 50 games with Liberec Bili Tygri HC in 2023. He represented Latvia in the 2022 Olympics, tallying three assists in four games.

Luostarinen reportedly tried to play on his broken leg, but could not go. Luostarinen is expected to avoid surgery, so he should be ready for training camp for the 2023-24 season. Luostarinen finished the 2022-23 season with 43 points (17G / 26A) in 82 games.

Ekblad played through a broken foot, two shoulder dislocations and multiple oblique tears throughout the postseason and his shoulder will require offseason surgery. Ekblad will not be ready in time for training camp. His injury isn't expected to linger too deep into the 2023-24 season, but expect a more detailed timetable following his surgery.

Tkachuk suffered an upper-body injury in Game 3, fought through it in Game 4 but will not play in a must-win Game 5. With Tkachuk unavailable, Grigori Denisenko is expected to make his playoff debut.

Bobrovsky was pulled in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final after allowing four goals on 13 shots (.692 SV%) as Florida dropped to 0-2 in the series but is expected to take the crease again for Game 3 vs. Vegas on Thursday. The 34-year-old has been a godsend throughout the playoffs, leading Florida with an 11-4-0 record, 2.50 GAA and .925 SV%. He will hope to get his team in the winning column for the first time in the Finals as he takes on Vegas, who has won three straight and finished the regular season 11th in the NHL in goals allowed per game (2.74).

Barkov left Game 3 with an undisclosed injury after just 3:51 TOI and his status for Game 4 was originally up in the air before head coach Paul Maurice confirmed Wednesday that the Panthers' captain would be joining the lineup ahead of their matchup vs. Vegas. It is a massive sigh of relief for the Panthers as the 27-year-old had four goals, eight assists, 40 SOG, eight PIMs and a +6 plus/minus through 15 playoff games so far this year.