What The Hell Has Happened To The Florida Panthers?

[Anomie2029]

A loss of some solid players like Weegar and Marchment, adding a coach like Maurice, and also following an incredible season - all meant they were going to be worse than last season.

The impact has been a lot more than expected, but I’m not overly surprised.

 

[dirtydanglez]

everything went down hill after that strip club

 

[centipede2233]

I can’t tell you how much I hope the Florida pick Montreal,has becomes the bedard pick. It would be a painful lesson for mr.zito

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Florida should have never done what they did. should have rerun the same group and made smaller tweaks over a major one. I still think they will get their shit together and start winning soon but I think it's going to be too little too late. I think they will atleast stay out of the bottom 10 where they give a real shot at Bedard for Montreal

 

[Reality Czech]

Last season they had a stellar regular season record and were the highest-scoring team in decades. Now they're under .500 heading into Christmas.

Yes, they lost Huberdeau, but they acquired Tkachuk and he's been better this season (although probably not as good as Huberdeau was last season). They've also lost Weegar and Marchment. I don't think these subtractions alone explain their immense drop-off, however.

What's wrong?

As a Leafs can, you should already know that the regular season means very little. Everyone knew they would need a bit of a retool after last season and the Tkachuk totally reshaped their team. It may take them a little time to reach true contender status but I wouldn't be that concerned right this moment.

 

[Panteras]

With the loss of Huberdeau, Weegar, Giroux, Marchment, Chiarot, Vatrano, Acciari, the Duclair injury, I would suggest this is a case of subtraction by subtraction.

Add Mamin too. He was a good depth player for us last year too.

 

[Ratsreign]

Florida should have never done what they did. should have rerun the same group and made smaller tweaks over a major one. I still think they will get their shit together and start winning soon but I think it's going to be too little too late. I think they will atleast stay out of the bottom 10 where they give a real shot at Bedard for Montreal

That wouldn’t have worked beyond this year. Weegar would still be gone, and extended Hubie would’ve eaten up the cap space they’ll have for next season. It was a long term move, with a little pain this year, from the get go. Injuries/illness and learning to play “Mo’s way” have made it worse than expected.

 

[Hockeyholic]

TB went all out for best record in 2018-2019. Had MVP's at different positions. Then, proceeded to get swept in round one.

Regular season is meaningless. Especially with this dumb new playoff format.

All that matters is getting into the postseason.

 

[Calad]

Coach is the most important position in hockey... and they added Paul Maurice

Add in a loss of some depth and its a recipe for disappointment.

 

[HuGo Sham]

Florida should have never done what they did. should have rerun the same group and made smaller tweaks over a major one. I still think they will get their shit together and start winning soon but I think it's going to be too little too late. I think they will atleast stay out of the bottom 10 where they give a real shot at Bedard for Montreal

like the 5th post in different threads where you keep posting this. you sound worried

 

[Arthur Morgan]

like the 5th post in different threads where you keep posting this. you sound worried

? what? worried about what, I dont care if Montreal gets Bedard. congrats to the fans if they do win him.but as a rival fan Id prefer them not get him. either way 2 prospects in the top 15 this year is going to be nice.

if anything Id prefer them not to win Bedard so Suzuki can stay long term as the number 1 to help my fantasy teams

 

[Mobiandi]

Is it really that shocking that they're out of a playoff spot?

 

[SomeDude]

Anyone that paid attention to their cap structure knew this year was coming. Zito made a smart move acquiring Tkachuk and giving it another run when they get some cap off next year via Hornqvist and Yandle and then the following year when they can maybe explore moving Bob.

Key injuries have made what was likely a wild card playoff finish out of grasp.

So you’re just assuming the guy who got them into these cap problems is going to wisely use the cap space?

 

[Gurglesons]

So you’re just assuming the guy who got them into these cap problems is going to wisely use the cap space?

What cap problems did Zito get them into exactly?

 

[SomeDude]

What cap problems did Zito get them into exactly?

I guess Tallon did most of their damage, my bad.

 

[super6646]

Is it really that shocking that they're out of a playoff spot?

I’m a little tbh. Not like stunned, but I thought they would’ve weathered the losses.

To be fair, it seems their goaltending has been sinking the team. Their fancy stats are still strong despite having a pretty bad defence.

 

[teugen]

What do you mean? We're back to where we've been for decades. Pain.

 

[teugen]

A loss of some solid players like Weegar and Marchment, adding a coach like Maurice, and also following an incredible season - all meant they were going to be worse than last season.

The impact has been a lot more than expected, but I’m not overly surprised.

Marchment was a stinging loss but Luostarinen has stepped up big time. The forward group is actually pretty similiar to last year except Staal. We have better players in AHL but still Sttaal is clocking first liner minutes out there.

Montour has stepped up after losing Weegar and I agree Weegar would add a lot offensive power to the backlines but this alone isn't the reason why we suck ass. The team actually didn't suffer that significant changes talent wise, but there is something wrong with the management.

Zito should take a look in the mirror and ask himself why Staals are with this team.

Maurice has a lot more questions to ask if he even owns a mirror.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

But giving $17m to Huberdeau and Weegar after this year isn't going to help them either.

They were an elite team in win now mode. They shouldn't have been scared to win now. Sometimes that's to give out contracts that might not age well. It's not easy to get back to elite level - they spent like a decade building just to throw it away. But tbh even more than that it's the coaching.

 

[Warden of the North]

Speaking as a Leafs fan who watched a team try to win on offense basically my whole life:

You can't outscore your problems indefinitely

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Making trades for the sake of making trades never works out. It ruins team chemistry. The Huberdeau for Tkachuk trade screwed both teams. Although Flames didn't have a choice because players wanted out

I don't know. This seems like armchair GM/HFBoards GM Academy 101.

First I would argue that the season isn't over...

 

[Dr Beinfest]

What cap problems did Zito get them into exactly?

I agree it’s largely not his fault, but don’t let him off that easy. He still awarded the contracts to Tkachuck, Duclair, Verhaeghe, Reinhart, Bennett, Barkov, Montour, Forsling, etc. etc. I’m also one to think he mismanaged the Yandle contract buyout given he didn’t fill the 6-7 with an NHL defender that year and it cost us an extra 300-400k this year when it mattered most.

Don’t mistake it, Zito did do poor cap (and asset) management. Fairly certain I could describe up a realistic scenario where one of Weegar or Marchment could still be a Panther, all else the same.

 

[Gurglesons]

I agree it’s largely not his fault, but don’t let him off that easy. He still awarded the contracts to Tkachuck, Duclair, Verhaeghe, Reinhart, Bennett, Barkov, Montour, Forsling, etc. etc. I’m also one to think he mismanaged the Yandle contract buyout given he didn’t fill the 6-7 with an NHL defender that year and it cost us an extra 300-400k this year when it mattered most.

Don’t mistake it, Zito did do poor cap (and asset) management. Fairly certain I could describe up a realistic scenario where one of Weegar or Marchment could still be a Panther, all else the same.

Which contact out of these is bad?

The only one currently you can probably dunk on is Barkov and he was given that contract as one of the best centers in the league.

 

[quietbruinfan]

It's the defense and Maurice. You have Ekblad and a bunch of third pairing guys.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Last season they had a stellar regular season record and were the highest-scoring team in decades. Now they're under .500 heading into Christmas.

Yes, they lost Huberdeau, but they acquired Tkachuk and he's been better this season (although probably not as good as Huberdeau was last season). They've also lost Weegar and Marchment. I don't think these subtractions alone explain their immense drop-off, however.

What's wrong?

Nothing. They just need to fight like hell to earn a wildcard spot. It's still possible.