- Florida signed Radko Gudas to a six-year deal worth $9 million, a $1.5 million cap hit
- The Panthers grabbed his rights from Anaheim on Monday, then locked him up before free agency opened
- Read below for what the 36-year-old brings back to South Florida
Radko Gudas is heading back to Florida.
The Panthers signed the veteran defenseman to a six-year contract on Wednesday, worth $9 million with a $1.5 million cap hit. Elliotte Friedman reported the terms shortly before free agency opened.
Florida made it official with a video announcement:
This one was in motion for a few days. The Panthers acquired Gudas’ rights from the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, sending the rights to A.J. Greer the other way. Anaheim turned around and signed Greer to a four-year deal. Locking Gudas up before the market opened kept a physical right-shot defenseman off a board that would have called plenty.
Gudas knows the building. He spent three seasons in South Florida from 2020 to 2023 and skated in the 2023 Cup Final before the group fell to Vegas. He walked that summer, then watched the Panthers win back-to-back titles without him. Now he gets another crack at it.
At 36, Gudas isn’t the same guy who once led the league in hits, but the reputation still travels. He has been suspended five times for 26 total games across a 14-year career, and forwards cutting through the slot keep their heads up when he steps over the boards.
Take a look at the kind of hockey he plays:
Last season in Anaheim, Gudas put up two goals and 13 points with 67 penalty minutes in 56 games. He projects onto Florida’s third pair, likely alongside Dmitry Kulikov, handing Paul Maurice another veteran body on the back end.
Six years is a long term for a defenseman his age. Florida clearly isn’t sweating that part.
