"Even though we had success in the regular season, we had a great year, at the end of the day we got knocked out in the first round," said Rowe, who was named Panthers GM on May 16. "Some people may say, 'That's great, you made the playoffs, you got into the first round,' but we need to get better. We need to continue to improve."
Yandle joined the Rangers on March 1, 2015 when he was acquired in a trade with the Coyotes along with defenseman Chris Summers and a fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft for defenseman John Moore, forward Anthony Duclair, a second-round pick and a conditional first-round pick.
Along with the loss of Gudbranson and the possible departure of Campbell, the Panthers could lose captain Willie Mitchell from their defensive corps because of concussion issues.
Rowe said that contrary to published reports, the Panthers are not shopping defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. He said he expects 2013 second-round pick Ian McCoshen, who signed an entry-level contract after playing three seasons at Boston College, to compete for a roster spot out of training camp this September.
Adding Yandle would be just one more piece to the rebuilding of the Panthers' defense corps.
"Everything is a risk when you don't have him tied into a restricted free agency type of setup," Rowe said. "It's a risk, but we were very comfortable taking the risk. We didn't make the decision (with) one or two people. We're in Buffalo (for the draft). We had a real good discussion about it this morning with our pro scouts and they were confident, as our ownership was very confident, that it was worth the risk. He's a very good player, very good character guy, a guy that we think really helps us get a little bit closer."