Defenseman Jaycob Megna has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Florida Panthers for the 2024–25 NHL season. Megna is joining his fourth team of the career and will get the NHL league minimum salary of $775K under the terms of the agreement.
Megna signed a two-year contract with the San Jose Sharks two summers ago, which would pay him $1.525 million total. Megna’s time in San Jose would be brief under this deal, as the organization traded him for a conditional fourth-round selection in early February 2023 and sent him to the Seattle Kraken. Megna finished with six games as the Kraken’s depth player as they advanced to the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Megna was placed on waivers by the Kraken over two weeks after he concluded his conditioning assignment in the AHL Coachella Valley, due to an injury sustained at the beginning of the season and increased defense depth on the NHL team. After finding Megna on waivers, the Chicago Blackhawks offered the defenseman a lot more NHL chances. Megna played in 44 games for the Original Six team while averaging 17:31 minutes on the ice in Chicago. Despite just having two assists for the season, the defenseman made 60 body checks on opponents and blocked 87 shots.
The Panthers’ blue line has become much thinner as a result of Josh Mahura, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Brandon Montour leaving during the first few days of free agency. Megna should begin the season with the team’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte despite the loss of skill, and he can fill in for an injury at any time during the regular season.
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