[bigrangy]

I have to say I agree (*shivers*) with Ricardo here. Yandle (and Gio) are great defensemen, and UFA's get paaaaaaaid. Both of their contracts have serious potential to hurt a team in the later years, even though I'm of the opinion that both players will play at a high level for the duration of their contracts. Yandle is exactly what the Panthers need, an elite puck moving defensemen to take the load off their group of way-above-average defensive centers. This is a move a contending team makes when it wants to step up nd play with the big boys.

As (*shivers*) s7ark said on HF, sometimes teams need to worry about the future in the future. Florida's window is open while Luongo is still an elite goalie. Asset management is necessry and important when you're a rebuilding club, but this is an obvious sign by Florida management that the rebuild is over, it's time to win.