Panthers trade for Hoffman is a bit of a gamble

Dale Tallon is certainly one of the more interesting hockey minds currently working for an NHL team. The work he’s done rebuilding the Panthers franchise is nothing short of commendable; when he took over back in 2010, the team had missed the playoffs in nine straight seasons and had just finished in 28th place with a 32-37-13 record. The prospect cupboard was relatively bare, and the best players on the roster were Stephen Weiss and Nathan Horton.

Under Tallon, the Panthers have built themselves into a competitive team, one that made the playoffs in two of the past seven seasons and missed out on the postseason by just one point last year. The team’s young core almost exclusively consists…