Wild trade proposed in response to Matthew Tkachuk injury.

The Florida Panthers have been hit with a rather unfortunate situation after star forward Matthew Tkachuk suffered an injury at the Four Nations Face-Off tournament, one that whispers around the league have suggested could prove to be very serious indeed.

Although the situation is less than ideal for the Panthers it may also be one on which they can capitalize, something that National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman suggested during his most recent podcast. During that episode, Friedman would go on to propose a blockbuster trade involving the Panthers, one that he admits would only work in the event that the whispers of a worst case scenario season ending injury were to occur.

"I wanna stress that this is purely my own thinking," began Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast. "Matthew Tkachuk, I don't know what his timeline is gonna be yet... I do recognize this could be a while... I do think it's gonna be some time here for Tkachuk... If he misses time I wonder if Florida does it."

What Friedman was hinting at here was a massive trade, one that would see the Panthers going all in at the trade deadline to acquire a player that has just recently demanded a trade.

"Florida needs another defenseman, a right shot, they've been looking for a right shot all year, and I admit I haven't looked into the future of how all the pieces would fit, but from a pure hockey point of view I wonder if Florida tries to do it for Seth Jones," said Friedman dropping a bombshell trade proposal.

Jones of ocurse hasn't looked great in recent years on a bottom feeding Chicago Blackhawks team but it is clear that he reamins a highly respected and even coveted defenseman in the National Hockey League. Jones has 6 goals and 20 assists for the Blackhawks this season for a total of 26 points over 40 games, but the biggest hurdle to this move would of course be his massive contract.

Jones is currently in just the third year of an eight year deal that carries an average annual value of $9.5 million per season and that contract is viewed as something of an albatross. Friedman believes however that, should the whispers of a season ending injury for Tkachuk prove to be true, that Florida could potentially pull it off.

"Right now it would take Tkachuk being out for the rest of the regular season and I just don't know if that timeline fits yet," admitted Friedman.

Would you attempt to acquire Seth Jones if you were the Florida Panthers GM? How much would you be willing to give up to make it a reality? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.