Not much went right for the Florida Panthers last year, as they finished last in the NHL with just 36 points. They also allowed the most goals in the league and were outscored by an average of 1.27 per game, which for lack of better terms is ridiculously bad. They do have some exciting young talent, so if nothing else they'll be fun to watch. The realignment matches them with the former Northeast Division, its old rival Tampa Bay, and conference newcomer Detroit. Suffice it to say, the Panthers will have an uphill battle this year.
Projected Forward Lines:
Tomas Fleischmann - Shawn Matthias - Kris Versteeg
Jonathan Huberdeau - Alexander Barkov - Drew Shore
Sean Bergenheim - Marcel Goc - Tomas Kopecky
Scottie Upshall - Scott Gomez - Joey Crabb
Nick Bjugstad - Jesse Winchester
Expect these lines to look very different by season's end. Bjugstad and Barkov will probably be the top two centers late in the year, with Huberdeau moving up to the 1LW slot. As stated in the intro, this is a young and fast group who will make games exciting. They may not score a lot, they may not win a lot, but they'll be entertaining while doing whatever they'll be doing. Matthias really broke out last year with some huge goals and I believe he'll be the 1C on opening night... or at least he should be. The kid line will be the most exciting, and if you haven't seen any of Huberdeau, now is the time to go on YouTube and watch videos of him. There's plenty on there to enjoy.
Projected Defensive Pairings:
Ed Jovanovski - Brian Campbell
Dmitry Kulikov - Filip Kuba
Eric Gudbranson - Mike Weaver
Matt Gilroy
The defense brings years of experience to the table and should help pace the Panthers in the early going. Jovanovski and Campbell are both offensive threats, and Kuba's big shot is not to be overlooked. Gudbranson is the young gun of the bunch and he is already a very responsible defender. The Panthers brought Gilroy in to compete for a job and I think he'll end up as the 7th defenseman on the depth chart. This unit as a whole has to be leaps and bounds better, though, but at least from where they were last year, there's nowhere to go but up.
Goaltending:
Jacob Markstrom
Scott Clemmensen
This is Markstrom's job to lose now. He's been waiting in the wings for three years now, and he has to assume the starter position and perform well for this team to have any sort of success this year. He is 10-19-2 in his NHL career, with a 3.09 GAA and a .906 save percentage (yuck). It would obviously help him greatly if the bumbling defense in front of him didn't hang him out to dry so much, but it's a two-way street; Markstrom has to prove that he can win at this level. He does have a quality backup in Clemmensen, so the Panthers can turn to him if need be.
Special Teams:
Florida was actually very good on the power play, finishing 6th with a 20.4% conversion rate. Their problem was getting the power play on the ice, as their 142 opportunities were the 5th-fewest in the NHL. There are plenty of players on this team that skate well, but they must use it to their advantage to draw penalties and give themselves a better chance to score. They were pretty good at staying out of the box too, sitting in the top ten in fewest times shorthanded, but they still had a -9 differential and they were completely awful on the penalty kill. They posted a woeful 74.2% kill rate, worst in the league. Between Markstrom, the defense, and the forwards, they all must rally together and fix that atrocity.
X-Factor:
The progress of Huberdeau, Barkov, Markstrom, and Bjugstad. These guys are the future of the franchise, without a doubt. Florida is going to finish far out of the playoffs this year and so it behooves them to play the rookies and other young players as much as possible this season. Get them as many games out of the full 82 as possible. Let them skate, score, make mistakes, and learn. While it's true that just two years ago, a completely ragtag group of guys playing for the Panthers rode their experience, grittiness, and 18 overtime losses to a division title, they won't be able to duplicate that this year. Not in a situation where they go from the weakest division to one where the top five can match up pretty well with any other division's top five. It's a good time for Dale Tallon to take stock and see where he wants to take this team in the future.
The Panthers will make the playoffs if...
... nope.
The Panthers will miss the playoffs if...
... no if. They will miss the playoffs. The only things that matter this year is how the youth fares and whether or not Markstrom can be counted on for the future.
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