Who has the best peak in florida panthers history?

[Felidae]

Only considering the players their peak (one or a few seasons at their absolute best). So career and prime have no bearing here.

Let me know if I should add anyone on the poll.

The main candidates imo.

Pavel Bure

1999 in particular, Franchise record for most goals in a single season(59) won the rocket richard missing 8 games, finished 3rd in Hart voting and runner up to the Art ross. Definitely the best goalscoring season and arguably for overall offense as well.


Aleksander Barkov

Only selke winner in franchise history. In 2020-21, finished 9th in goals and 10th in PPG while winning the selke and 6th in Hart voting

In 2023-24. While not has prolific offensively, had better defensive metrics (can't find them atm) and did it in 70 games rather than 50.

Either way, easily the best two way player in franchise history.




Jonathan Huberdeau (2021-22)

Franchise record for most points in a single season (115), runner up to the Art ross and 4th in Hart voting. Alongside Bure's 1999 year, probably the best offensive season.


Matthew Tkachuk. (2022-23)

2nd most points in franchise history (109). Finished 6th in points and 3rd in Hart voting. Not as prolific offensively as Bure or Huberdeau, but brings a unique physical/pest element which may offset the small difference in production.


Sam Reinhart (2023-24)

Tied with Bure for most goals in franchise history and finished 2nd in goals and selke voting. 2nd best goalscoring season in franchise history, and the 2nd best two way player of any Panthers player that finished top 10 in an offensive category.


Roberto Luongo 2003-04

Finished 3rd in vezina and 6th in Hart voting. 3rd in sv%, 1st in GSAA, 1st in shots against on a team that was 22nd in GA. Had the least help of all the "best" goalie seasons in Panthers history.


John Vanbiesbrouck

2nd in vezina voting and 3rd in Hart voting, 2nd in sv%, 1st in GSAA, 8th in shots against. Team was 4th in GA. Closest to winning the vezina and the only goalie in franchise history that was a hart finalist.


Tomas Vokoun

In 2008-09 finished 2nd in sv% and GSAA


In 2009-10, finished 3rd in sv% and 2nd in GSAA.

Very similar statistically so not sure which one is his best, though in 2009 his team was 20th in GA compared to 10th the year prior. Definitely should have gotten vezina votes.




I don't think any Panthers defenseman have a legit argument for best peak of all time, but feel free to make your case if you think otherwise.

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[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Bure or Barkov. Voted Barkov just because of how dominant he's been all over the ice.

 

[bobholly39]

I voted Bure.

If we're talking best overall individual season - I think Huberdeau has Barkov beat. I wouldn't say his overall peak is better per se - but he does have the better season.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

Got to say Bure. It's not just that he scored so much. But the rest of the team was so anemic and he still managed to produce.

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

Luongo

In my memory Luongo was the best goalie in the world for a good part of the 00s.

 

[Idiot Stick]

Laus had the best peak in PIM

 

[Felidae]

I voted Bure.

If we're talking best overall individual season - I think Huberdeau has Barkov beat. I wouldn't say his overall peak is better per se - but he does have the better season.

Yeah Barkov unfortunately missed time during his best offensive seasons, but for 2 straight years he was top 10 in PPG and GPG.

He'd have a stronger argument had he completed those seasons and maintained those paces over a full season.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Bure/Barkov

 

[Felidae]

Everyone talks about Bure's lack of supporting cast but his team was actually not so bad. 6th in goals for and 9th in goals against.

Luongo's 2003-04 season is what I'd consider a bad supporting cast. 22nd in GA and 23rd in GF. He faced the most shots of any goalie in the league and was 4th in GP.

Despite that he still managed to lead the league in GSAA and finish 3rd in sv%. The players that finished ahead of him in sv% played half the amount of games he did.

You can't convince me otherwise he didn't deserve the Vezina and I'd go as far to say he was the best candidate for the hart.

 

[John Mandalorian]

If you’re going counting stats, it’s Bure. There are many who only care about this.

If you go by impacting team success, it’s Barkov. His point production is adequate given his overall game and how it impacts team success.

To be fair, Barkov has a much better team around him. But if you swap the two, those Florida teams aren’t winning with Barkov. But I’m also not sure the 2024 Panthers win with Bure instead of Barkov. So I voted Barkov.

 

[Albatros]

Luongo was the only thing making a terrible team respectable.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Bure, Luongo, Tkachuk

 

[bobholly39]

Everyone talks about Bure's lack of supporting cast but his team was actually not so bad. 6th in goals for and 9th in goals against.

Luongo's 2003-04 season is what I'd consider a bad supporting cast. 22nd in GA and 23rd in GF. He faced the most shots of any goalie in the league and was 4th in GP.

Despite that he still managed to lead the league in GSAA and finish 3rd in sv%. The players that finished ahead of him in sv% played half the amount of games he did.

You can't convince me otherwise he didn't deserve the Vezina and I'd go as far to say he was the best candidate for the hart.

Luongo had a bad finish to the season in 2003-2004. I don't think he should have won the hart - and I also understand why he didn't win the Vezina, though I'd probably have been fine if he had won Vezina.

First 57 games - .935 sv%, 2.21 GAA
Last 15 games - 912 sv%, 3.07 GAA

Before this final 15 game stretch - Florida were 7 points out of a playoff spot. They finished the season 16 points out of playoff spot.

I'm not as fanatic as some are around the idea that a player on a non-playoff team shouldn't ever win the hart or other individual trophies - but in this case, there's a direct correlation between both team and player finishing the season off on a bad stretch.

 

[Fatass]

Goalie Bob. Leads the club to a Cup Final and a Cup in two years of great play.

 

[Felidae]

Luongo had a bad finish to the season in 2003-2004. I don't think he should have won the hart - and I also understand why he didn't win the Vezina, though I'd probably have been fine if he had won Vezina.

First 57 games - .935 sv%, 2.21 GAA
Last 15 games - 912 sv%, 3.07 GAA

Before this final 15 game stretch - Florida were 7 points out of a playoff spot. They finished the season 16 points out of playoff spot.

I'm not as fanatic as some are around the idea that a player on a non-playoff team shouldn't ever win the hart or other individual trophies - but in this case, there's a direct correlation between both team and player finishing the season off on a bad stretch.

Luongo was also the reason they were even within a playoff spot to begin with.

A .912 sv% while a significant downgrade, isn't "bad". That puts him around the top 20-25 mark, which if anything is still decent considering the defense in front of him.

You'll seldom find a goalie playing a significant workload behind a bottom 10 defensive team finishing as high as he did in sv% (in fact I'd bet the majority of vezina winners are on very good defensive teams) Luongo being able to keep that level of play for 50+ games is incredible.

Has any goalie maintained a .935sv% over a full season behind a bottom 10 defensive team?

 

[amnesiac]

Bure 99-00

58G 94P in 74GP at the peak on the DPE playing with Viktor Kozlov and Ray Whitney

Richard winner
2nd in league scoring
3rd in Hart voting


honourable mention:

Beezer 93-94
924SV% in a very high scoring year
2nd for Vezina, 3rd for Hart

 

[bobholly39]

Luongo was also the reason they were even within a playoff spot to begin with.

A .912 sv% while a significant downgrade, isn't "bad". That puts him around the top 20-25 mark, which if anything is still decent considering the defense in front of him.

You'll seldom find a goalie playing a significant workload behind a bottom 10 defensive team finishing as high as he did in sv% (in fact I'd bet the majority of vezina winners are on very good defensive teams) Luongo being able to keep that level of play for 50+ games is incredible.

Has any goalie maintained a .935sv% over a full season behind a bottom 10 defensive team?

I'm not saying Luongo was "bad", and I'm also not blaming him for Florida missing playoffs. I think Florida was probably going to miss anyways, even if he got hot down the stretch, as 7 points back is still a big number.

But - from a hart perspective, I think it matters. I think it hurt him that he finished the season on a bad stretch, relatively speaking. If you change nothing to his overall season statistics - but just re-organize the games so that the last 15 games are his best 15 games and the narrative is that Florida - against all odds - is tyring to make a push for playoffs late in-year, I think it would have helped his Hart case.

I'm a Montreal fan - and just 2 years earlier Theodore had won a hart trophy on another "bubble" team, that did make the playoffs.

First 52 games - 926 sv%, 2.13 GAA
last 15 games - 946 sv%, 1.66 GAA

 

[Albatros]

What you don't mention is that they traded their best wingers (Valeri Bure & Viktor Kozlov), after which they were left with Niklas Hagman and Juraj Kolník.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Bure, but I think Barkov has surpassed both him and Luongo as best player in franchise history by a considerable margin now.

 

[Plural]

Bure, but I think Barkov has surpassed both him and Luongo as best player in franchise history by a considerable margin now.

I'm with you on this one. Bure has the highest peak (or he was the most talented).

Barkov took them to Cup and is generally considered as top-10 C in the game for years now. Greatest Panther ever = Barkov
Best Panthers player ever = Bure

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Bure AINEC

 

[KevinRedkey]

Pretty easy vote for Bure.

2nd place is a better poll IMO

 

[tmg]

I don't think any Panthers defenseman have a legit argument for best peak of all time, but feel free to make your case if you think otherwise.

While I wouldn’t put him ahead of the noteworthy forwards, I would put Forsling ahead of all the goalies and other defensemen. Going from waiver wire pickup to Conn Smythe Trophy vote getter is a pretty meteoric ascent to peak.

 

[I am not exposed]

While I wouldn’t put him ahead of the noteworthy forwards, I would put Forsling ahead of all the goalies and other defensemen. Going from waiver wire pickup to Conn Smythe Trophy vote getter is a pretty meteoric ascent to peak.

If we're taking playoffs into consideration then a good argument could be made for Tkachuk in 2022-2023.

 

[Felidae]

I'm not saying Luongo was "bad", and I'm also not blaming him for Florida missing playoffs. I think Florida was probably going to miss anyways, even if he got hot down the stretch, as 7 points back is still a big number.

But - from a hart perspective, I think it matters. I think it hurt him that he finished the season on a bad stretch, relatively speaking. If you change nothing to his overall season statistics - but just re-organize the games so that the last 15 games are his best 15 games and the narrative is that Florida - against all odds - is tyring to make a push for playoffs late in-year, I think it would have helped his Hart case.

I'm a Montreal fan - and just 2 years earlier Theodore had won a hart trophy on another "bubble" team, that did make the playoffs.

First 52 games - 926 sv%, 2.13 GAA
last 15 games - 946 sv%, 1.66 GAA

Yeah fair enough, I do think it does matter when it comes to the Hart narrative


I just don't agree that it should.



Like 2002-03, 2003-04 was a pretty weak year for forwards. Martin St Louis had a pretty strong supporting cast too, unlike Iginla. I do still think Luongo was the best player that year (at least among mostly healthy players), and almost certainly the best goalie.