George Richards, FHN Publisher
With Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov gone, we knew the Florida Panthers would have a new look to its top power play unit. Having Aaron Ekblad run it as the ‘quarterback’ was a little bit of a surprise.
On Wednesday, the Panthers did special teams work for the first time since training camp opened Monday.
The top power play unit, at least right now, has Ekblad up top running things in place of Keith Yandle who has done so for the most part since he signed with the Panthers in 2016.
Joining Ekblad on PP1 are holdovers Sasha Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau as well as newcomers Anthony Duclair and Alexander Wennberg.
Right now, Yandle has replaced Ekblad on the second power play unit which appears to include Brett Connolly, Owen Tippett, Carter Verhaeghe and Patric Hornqvist.
On Wednesday, Huberdeau was getting double duty what with Hornqvist’s continued absence on the team’s ‘unfit to play’ list.
“There is a lot more puck movement, not that there wasn’t last year, but there was a lot of skill out there on power play 1,” said Noel Acciari, who was part of the penalty kill going against that top unit on Wednesday.
“Every guy out there is out there for a reason and it’s because they are dangerous. There is a lot of space for killers to cover. But for the first time for those guys on the ice together, they looked pretty good. They’re only going to get better.”
Coach Joel Quenneville hinted toward a change coming on the power play in his first press conference of the 2021 season on Sunday morning.
When asked about the power play, he mentioned a number of defensemen — Ekblad, Brady Keeper, Chase Priskie — who could get a look but did not mention Yandle.
Wednesday, Quenneville said the Panthers know what Yandle brings to the power play which is why he and his coaching staff are giving Ekblad at, the very least, an extended look.
When it comes to Ekblad, this is an “opportunity” since he has been working with the second power play team and rarely with the first.
That means limited time (the first unit could be on the ice for the entirety of a power play depending on how they controlled the puck) and limited chances on the second group.
“It’s a good opportunity to find out. I think he is capable of running it, of doing the job,” Quenneville said following Wednesday’s third day of training camp.
“Keeper is a guy that we’re watching; Priskie was a guy who is unfit right now but was another guy we’re looking at. We know what Yandle does. So that’s where it is at. We have a few new guys on that unit … I think everyone was moving around to different spots down low. I think different looks can help us as we go along.”
If Yandle is knocked off the first power play unit, it would be a continuation of his reduced playing time as he spent a lot of time last season on Florida’s third defensive pairing.
Still, he always had the power play and over his four seasons with the Panthers, his offensive production has been at an elite level.
Even last season, when his average ice time went down from 22:27 in 2018-19 to 19:42, Yandle’s 21 power play points ranked eighth in the NHL among defensemen.
The season before, his 39 power play points led all NHL defensemen with John Carlson finishing second with 33.
Yandle was Florida’s lone All-Star representative that year.
Since joining the Panthers in 2016, Yandle has scored 27 goals with 204 points (and hasn’t missed a single game) with almost half of those points coming on a Florida power play which has been ranked among the league’s top 10 in each of the past two seasons.
Over the past four years with the Panthers, Yandle’s 96 power play points are fifth-highest in the NHL among defensemen.
Ekblad, with substantially less power play time, is 45th with 35 total points.
In 2018-19, Florida’s power play — thanks in great part to the play of Yandle — was the best in franchise history and ranked second in the league only to Tampa Bay with a 26.8 percent success rate.
Last season, however, Florida’s power play did hit the skids in February as the team struggled and fell out of a playoff position it firmly held following a six-game winning streak going into the All-Star break.
The Florida power play was fifth in the NHL (24.5 percent) when it returned from the break Feb. 1 in Montreal; it ended the season ranked 10th with a 21.3 percent success rate after ending the season going 7-56 (12.5 percent).
In four games against the Islanders in Toronto, Florida went 4-14 on the power play.
Still, over the past two seasons, Florida’s power play production is ranked fourth in the league.
With Dadonov and Hoffman out, perhaps the Panthers are simply looking at retooling things around Barkov and Huberdeau.
Quenneville said it is going to be hard for the Panthers to replicate what Dadonov and Hoffman brought to the power play so new personnel may bring about a new look as well.
“We have some guys with great patience, play recognition and we want to keep playing to their strengths,” Quenneville said.
“Maybe we get a different shot from the top, off to the sides, we will have multiple looks. The bread and butter for how we scored in the past was there.
“We’re unpredictable right now. You don’t know what to expect. That will be an advantage early. There will be different looks, different options.”
Perhaps it is simply time for more change other than losing Hoffman and Dadonov.
It would not be surprising to see Yandle back up top of the first power play unit, but at least for now, it appears to be Ekblad’s job to lose.
Ekblad has a chance to run with it.
“It’s a big opportunity because getting the last 20 seconds or getting the first 1:30 is a big difference as far as getting looks, getting feels and touches,” Quenneville said. “You get more familiar to what the opposition is doing, what plays we’re looking for.
“With his shot, his patience and his playmaking ability with the puck, if you compare the two, both guys can do some things offensively. (Ekblad’s) going to at least start right now with a look at that unit.”
CAMP NEWS, NOTES
The Panthers added another player to their ‘unfit to play’ list as goalie Scott Darling did not participate in practice.
Darling, in camp on a PTO, is the latest player to be designated by Quenneville with that ubiquitous term.
Since camp opened Monday, Sergei Bobrovsky, Hornqvist, Markus Nutivaara and Juho Lammikko have yet to practice.
Sam Montembeault did not practice Monday but was back Tuesday and Wednesday. He was replaced on the list by Priskie.
Quenneville and the Panthers are not allowed to comment on why players are missing from practice due to the NHL’s new COVID-19 media rules.
— Quenneville said he and Yandle settled the friendly wager they made on Tuesday’s World Junior championship game.
Yandle, from Boston, bet on Florida goalie prospect Spencer Knight who led Team USA to a 2-0 victory over Quenneville’s Team Canada which was backstopped by Florida goalie prospect Devon Levi.
“I paid off the debt and, you know, it was a great game,” Quenneville said.
”It was fun watching them. The game was intense. Both teams had their chances … I think scoring first was very important. Give Spencer some credit, it was fun watching him do what he had to do.”
— The Panthers will hold a full team scrimmage at BB&T Center on Thursday night.
As is the case for the entirety of training camp, it is closed to the public.
The Panthers did announce they would start the season playing in front of fans at 25 percent of capacity.
“I think it is great,” Quenneville said. “Every city will be different. Even though it will be 25 percent of capacity, here it is an opportunity for the fans to see us play.
“We enjoy the support. We think we’ll get some excitement in the building for the games. The bubble was unique without any fans so I think to have any kind of fans will make a little different. We hope to take advantage of it.”