Aaron Harris / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Toronto's Bryan McCabe recently became a scapegoat for fans who thought his performance dipped after he signed a five-year, $28.75-million contract in 2005-06.

The Panthers, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2000 and haven’t won a postseason series since reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1996, have been equally busy. Among the notable moves, captain Olli Jokinen was traded to Phoenix for defensemen Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton, two-time Stanley Cup champion forward Cory Stillman was added in free agency, Jay Bouwmeester was re-signed for another season and now Martin got the blueliner he may have coveted most.

“I’ve been here for three years now, and over the three years I’ve felt our defense needed to improve,” Martin said. “With the addition of Ballard and Boynton and now Bryan, we’ve looked at the better teams in the league, we felt that was an area we needed to improve and I’m definitely excited about this team. I think we have more pieces of the puzzle in the right places.”

McCabe missed almost two months last season due to a broken hand. He played in 54 games, scoring five goals and 23 points, and said he hopes he can be part of the core that pushes Florida back into the postseason.

“I really, truly believe they have an opportunity to absolutely make the playoffs and hopefully make a run for the ultimate prize,” McCabe said.

His best two seasons in Toronto came immediately before and after the lockout. In 2003-04, McCabe put up 53 points — including 16 goals — and a plus-22 rating. He finished fourth in Norris Trophy voting as the NHL’s top defenseman.

He had a career-best 68 points (19 goals, 49 assists) the season after the lockout and played for Canada at the 2006 Turin Olympics.

Van Ryn spent the past four seasons with Florida, where he twice reached a career-high 37 points. The 29-year-old defenseman played just 20 games last season because of a wrist injury.

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