Thoughts on the Florida Panthers?

[nmbr_24]

They lost their top 3 players though, and when they returned they probably weren't 100%. Would Tampa have been so much better than Florida this year if on top of Stamkos' injury, they lost Hedman and Kucherov as well? Probably not.

Injuries are a massive factor in the NHL. When you lose your top line in Barkov and Huberdeau, in addition to your 1D, not only does it make the team worse in a cascading effect, but it inflates point totals in lesser players like Marchessault. It seems now that Florida's core is now 100% healthy, so that means they will likely be the most improved team in the division. Losing some winger depth is not a huge deal imo, especially considering the wingers they added are pretty good.

Every team deals with injuries and exactly what you describe happening to Florida last year is what I think has to happen to someone else for them to get into a playoff spot. It might have to happen to a few teams.

It's a good thing for them that the rest of the division is mediocre. I guess it gives them a chance but I still don't think it's a very good one.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Boston-Toronto or whoever. As far as Im concerned that team just needs to play to their potential and the spot will be there for them somehow. They are in the drivers seat

Hope you're right, but I have both those teams significantly in front of the Panthers (especially the Leafs). It is hard to build a non-homer case having them in the P/O's. They would have to stay healthy, have a bunch of guys step up, and get a bounce back.year from Lu.

 

[Bleedred]

I thought they could have bounced back from that disaster of last season, and wound up making the playoffs.

Then this offseason happened..... And a really rough one it was.

 

[major major]

I thought they could have bounced back from that disaster of last season, and wound up making the playoffs.

Then this offseason happened..... And a really rough one it was.

More or less my thoughts. They did a rebuild and look weaker now. I will feel bad if it doesn't work, just when the team looked ready to pop.

I really don't understand giving away Marchessault and Smith and buyout out Jokinen. That's just nuts to me.

 

[Bleedred]

More or less my thoughts. They did a rebuild and look weaker now. I will feel bad if it doesn't work, just when the team looked ready to pop.

I really don't understand giving away Marchessault and Smith and buyout out Jokinen. That's just nuts to me.

I think they might have had one of the worst offseason's in the league. And after I previously defended and commended their ownership group, they look to not be so great themselves. Sticking their noses where they didn't belong, they also have an internal cap now. They should just sign Jagr, but I'm not sure what their deal is.

 

[Depch]

Delete

 

[Byron Bitz]

They are nothing special but they have enough good players to compete for a playoff spot.

 

[I am not exposed]

More or less my thoughts. They did a rebuild and look weaker now. I will feel bad if it doesn't work, just when the team looked ready to pop.

I really don't understand giving away Marchessault and Smith and buyout out Jokinen. That's just nuts to me.

Trust me, a lot of fans thought it was nuts!

 

[I am not exposed]

I'd argue they valued Pysyk too high. Even if Marchessault drops down to 20 goals, those 20 goals are more valuable to this team than Pysyk playing 3rd pairing minutes.

So no i don't agree that it was a good outcome for them. Smith also had 50 points and 20 goals 2 times the past 4 years. Even if he's overpaid, he was still valuable to team as a secondary scorer when they had everybody healthy and had familiarity with Trocheck. He's just not a driver and a guy doing heavy lifting when their top guys are injured.

Without Pysyk (and the signing of Vrbata), they wouldn't have had to get rid of either Smith or Demers, both whom i think are going to have bounce back seasons (and how about trading those contracts away after that happens).

You're going to see this team struggle to score next season, and then people will start asking "why did they get rid of Smith and Marchessault again?"

Well said again.

Smith is also good on the PK and defensively. If he was overpaid, it was only slightly. And if you look at his career, he will probably bounce back this year offensively.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

I wish they went back to the old uniforms. Other than that they feel like the Edmonton Oilers of the east before they got McDavid. They have so much young talent but the cohesiveness of the team is really inconsistent.

 

[topshelf15]

They are like most in the Atlantic. Healthy they should be in the mix for a P.O. spot.,lose a couple of front line players and they could be drafting in the top 10

 

[BlueDream]

I don't think they'll be as bad as most people are assuming. I see them finishing around 9th or 10th, they'll still compete for a spot. They have some talent.

 

[Lays]

To put things into perspective, if in the ED they went 7/3/1, they could've protected

Barkov/Huberdeau/Trocheck/Marchessault/Bjugstad/Smith/w/e
Ekblad/Yandle/Petrovic
goalie

Leaving guys like Pysyk and Demers exposed. Vegas probably doesn't touch Demers so they go with Pysyk.

Then they sign Dadonov (no need for Vrbata) and bring in Haapala for depth, and look for 3rd pair replacement in guys like Schlemko, Quincey etc. etc.

Huberdeau - Barkov - Dadonov
Marchessault - Trocheck - Smith
Haapala - Malgin - Bjugstad
McCann - MacKenzie - Sceviour

Matheson - Ekblad
Yandle - Demers
X - Petrovic

That looks like a team capable of making the playoffs, with enough scoring spread across the lineup. And their young guys in the system would've been call-ups in case of injuries and whatnot.

Instead they're looking something like:

Huberdeau - Barkov - Dadonov
Haapala - Trocheck - Vrbata
X - Malgin - Bjugstad
X - MacKenzie - Haley (lol)

X's filled by young guys who might not be ready yet, and they literally have no forward depth in the system. Haapala now forced to perhaps play too much as well.

Boggles the mind how things unfolded. Giving up a cheap player in Marchessault who just scored 30 goals just to get rid of Smith who has been important part of the team is just such a weird way to handle things. You would've thought if they need to shed salary they could've done it a different way.

yup, that team just does not look good. Haapala is interesting but should not be playing top 6. zero depth. I like the Daddynov signing but that's about it. Didn't like the Tippett pick although it fits their needs. They don't have any bluechip prospects outside of Tippett either. I see a bottom 10 team and if Barkov or Huberdeau get injured again, their forward group would have a tough time scoring above 1-2 goals a game. Luongo is getting old as well and Ekblad had a down year. I expect Ekblad to bounce back and breakout this year but Yandle is getting older and Demers and Bjugie have fallen off a cliff. Might also be poised to have the worst 4th line. At least Matheson is looking like a good top 4 dman but I don't see top pairing potential in him at all. I really like Barkov and he's for sure on the Jeich/Matthews tier but him and Ekblad's injury problems are concerning. I feel for Panther fans because their team looked extremely promising 2 years ago but it looks like they are at rock bottom again. Welp, there's all my thoughts on them right now. Oh yeah and I also really dislike any jersey they ever had, and all color schemes+logos they had. I feel like we need a purple team in the league to switch up the colors and they could be them (half kidding but some panthers have a purplish hue to them, yes i get the Florida Panther is an actual animal and it is not purple-ish but dammit we need a ****ing purple team in this league i'm tired of different shades of red and blue with the occasional different colored teams sprinkled in, 20 teams in the league have a shade of red or blue as a semi-major part of their jersey..okay this is getting off topic but can we all agree to start a movement for a purple team?)