from Harvey Fialkov of the SunSentinel,

Changes are coming for the Florida Panthers this week and it will most likely begin with the expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights pilfering Jonathan Marchessault, Florida’s leading goal scorer last season, on Wednesday.

Marchessault, who led the Panthers with 30 goals in 2016-17, told TVA Sports in Canada on Monday that Panthers general manager Dale Tallon was unable to swing a deal with the Knights to keep them from picking him.

It’s possible that Vegas general manager George McPhee would take former 25-goal scorer Reilly Smith or top-four defenseman Jason Demers instead of Marchessault, but it’s highly unlikely McPhee will pass on the 26-year-old Marchessault, who’s in the final season of a bargain $750,000 contract.

“My ego took a hit but it’s not like I had a bad season,” Marchessault told TVA Sports. “My agent told me there were several options, including one where the Panthers asked the Golden Knights not to pick me in exchange for a draft pick.”

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