George Richards, FHN Publisher
Well, we opened up the FHN Florida Panthers Mailbag for July and, holy schnikes, did you all come correct!
The very well may be our biggest Mailbag in the history of Florida Hockey Now — and that’s saying something, folks.
Seems y’all are excited about the Florida Panthers.
And why not.
Everyone is still running high on Stanley Cup fever and probably will for some time.
Yet there are plenty of questions regarding the future.
Why certain players had to leave the Panthers in the wake of the championship, why some stayed — and who could be joining them in sunny South Florida.
We also have questions about who gets their name on the Stanley Cup, why the Panthers don’t have a store at Sawgrass Mills, the new television deal and, oh, so much more.
Settle in, folks.
This is a long one.
Is Patric Hornquist still part of the Panthers Organization? If so will his name be on the cup? What are the rules regarding coaches, broadcastes (like Goldie and Randy). Also, are there rules on who will get championship rings? Thanks! Also, love all of the updates! — Hugh and Kathy Enos
Patric Hornqvist is still a member of the organization as a scout. He has spent most of the season at home in Sweden, but was on the ice after Game 7.
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I do not think he gets his name on the Cup this time. The Panthers only have 52 spots and that includes ownership, front office, coaches, trainers, and players. Same goes for Randy, Goldie, etc.
As for rings, well, that is up to ownership since they are paying for them. They can give rings out to anyone they want — including sponsors, friends, relatives, whomever. Up to the team on that one.
What is the current deal between Broward and Panthers on Amerant Bank Arena? For how many years are they locked in to play there? — HockeyNerd
The lease runs through 2028 but that does not mean they are leaving by then or anything like that. Unlike 10 years ago, the team and Broward County have a very comfortable relationship.
Are there any players on the Panthers with contracts favorable for potential trades? What would be the timing and reasoning behind any potential deals? — Anthony
One thing people forget with free agency opening up last week — and the draft now a distant memory — is that trades will happen over the summer although, with most front offices off to their vacation places, don’t expect much. But, the Matthew Tkachuk deal went down three weeks after free agency happened.
As for contracts, I mean, there are some out there like Aaron Ekblad and Sergei Bobrovsky as both no longer have full no-movement clauses.
They can only request 12 teams they won’t go to — I have seen people speculate Ekblad to Ottawa, but there is no way Ottawa is one of the teams he would go to — and I don’t even know if Bill Zito has asked either for their lists.
Hi George, big fan of your work. What are the chances that Ekblad would be willing to take a hometown discount so that Panthers have enough to also extend Swaggy and Benny? — Elliot M.
Hi Elliot, Big fan of your question. That would be a question for Aaron, one I have not broached with him. But this is home for him, he has a real life outside of the rink here. I would think he would try and get something done. Look at Gus Forsling: He knew he could get much more somewhere else but really, really, really wanted to stay here.
With the Panthers winning the Cup, South Florida now has won a championship in each of the major sports. I imagine most of your readers don’t remember the last time the Fins won—I was two years old—so in your opinion what are the chances the Dolphins win a Super Bowl in our lifetime, and what do they need to do to make it happen. — Jon Baldwin
Well, it starts with the quarterback, right? Is Tua the guy who can lead the Dolphins to the promised land? I think he cold be. There certainly is a ton of talent on that side of the ball.
Beating Buffalo would be a good start. And try to get home field advantage for that first playoff game to avoid the frostbite.
Over the course of the last four games of the Stanley Cup finals while the Panthers/Oilers were taking their respective 2500 mile one way jaunts chasing the Cup, it occurred to me that the Cup, by necessity, was also chasing them as it had to be ready for presentation at each venue. Question: how is the cup transported each time? Commercial? Private charter? Shared flight with press pool? And who is personally responsible for making the arrangements? — Zeke1961
Press pool? They all flew commercial save for a couple of NHL.com writers. There was a charter flight for television and executives — and the Cup flew on the NHL charter. So it wasn’t too bad.
But, usually, it flies commercial just like the rest of us. And they do have to check it. Sometimes you see the stickers on the case. But, the airlines know it is very precious cargo and it gets first-class treatment.
Lots of turnover on defense. Who do you see as the final six or seven? I see Ekblad, Forsling, Kulikov, Mikkola, Schmidt, Balinskis and maybe Bjornfot or Hovorka. And do you think they carry on the high level of defensive play? — PantherPaw
I like the way you think. The Panthers did not expect Toby Bjornfot to play much this season after picking him up and he did not. They are going to give him a real look in camp.
I think the top 6 is set with the names you listed — but I want to see Matt Kiersted. He has quite a few pro games under his belt now and has played well the past few times he was up. If he comes in and has a strong camp, he may just make it.
The Panthers signed a 6 year $30M contract with Lundell. If they needed more cap space next season, and the player was willing to do so, could they have done the following. Before July 1 sign Lundell to a 1 year $1M contract. Then on July 1st when they could do an extension, sign him to a 5 year extension for $29M. The AAV would be hire in 25-26 than the $5M per year contract he signed, but it would have given them more cap space next season. Maybe to make it worth it to Lundell they pay more of the extension as bonus money. I’m really just curious if this is allowed under the CBA and has any team ever done something like this? — Dale Huber
I mean, maybe? That would certainly be looked at as pure cap circumvention and probably kicked back by the league. He would, at minimum, have to sign a one-year at around $3 million — and his agent would not agree to a handshake deal for the rest of it.
Remember, Zito was an agent and he wants to treat his guys fair. That’s one reason players want to come here.
George, thanks a always for the great coverage. Do you ever get time off? If so, where do you vacation? Beach, mountains, lake, stalk players around the world? — RuthK191
Ruth, thank you for reading and supporting this little site. I don’t remember the last time I got time off, probably during Covid when I had a real job with paid vacation and all that good stuff.
Remember, this site has a story about the Panthers every single day. That means, I have to write something every single day — or do a couple in a day and space them out.
But that’s fine with me. I enjoy working (if you call this that). I am a simple guy when it comes to vacation. I just like getting out of our swampy summer heat so, I usually head up north where 82 feels like 68. If that makes any sense.
And the only players I have ever stalked were Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin in 2019 when they were on South Beach. But that was based on their Instagram stories so it wasn’t really stalking. And it certainly wasn’t a vacation (for me).
I have read your coverage of the Panthers from back when you were at the Miami Herald. What did it mean for you when the Panthers won the Stanley Cup? — @hlamp
Well, thank you for that. We’ve come a long way from the On Frozen Pond days, right?
As far as the Stanley Cup went, I was very happy to see what it meant to so many in the organization whom I have worked with all these years. They muddled through the rough years and really got to enjoy this.
Seeing Goldie and Randy below the arena as we waited to get onto the ice was nice. Hanging out with Vinnie Viola for a few minutes was cool, just seeing his reaction to everyone else. He seemed to have the same attitude I did: He was just enjoying the moment for them.
Hello! I saw the news that the Panthers game are going to be free to watch on TV this upcoming season which I believe is great to grow the sport. What else can be done? Why haven’t they opened a Panthers store at the sawgrass Mall??? A lot of people visit that mall and have absolutely NO clue there is a hockey team across the street. — Miguel Villanueva
Hey! I agree that the free TV thing is really going to be good for the local growth of the game — and for the Panthers brand.
As far as Sawgrass goes, you ever go in there? A kiosk might work, but a whole store probably would cost a lot more than the effort. A lot of folks shopping there have no idea who the Panthers are much less that there is an arena across the street.
Anyway, winning the Stanley Cup has put the Panthers right up there with the top teams in this area. Winning is always great, but winning it all puts them on another level. And, I am sure plenty of stores at Sawgrass now carry Panthers stuff. Which was not the case before.
Ok, as of July 1st, Swaggy, Bennett and Ekblad are pending UFA’s and eligible for extensions. When is Zito going to sign them or is he going to let them play out their contracts and watch one of them score 57 goals and then try to sign them? — @RalphLucarella
Honestly do not know. They could just play things out and see where things land. It’s obvious after the Reinhart deal that the Panthers wanted to keep him — but at a price which was fair to both. Remember all the talk that he priced his way off the Panthers? Remember what I told you? The Panthers are going to pay their people fair and spread it around. That’s how they’re going to keep winning.
When will we know whose names are on the cup? Has the list been released yet? — @harleykesselman
Have not seen the list yet, but trust me, when I do you will as well.
Are the panthers looking at signing Adam Boqvist? — @mpgmatthew
Any chance they take a look a Adam Boqvist? They could use a RD and he is young enough at 23 to take chance on. — KRW
This is a good question. They already have Jesper. Since Adam got bought out by the Jackets, one would think Florida would be a good spot for him — but as we noted up above, there does not seem to be much room on the blueline right now and, no money to do much else. I bet Adam gets a one-year deal somewhere aside from Florida and, perhaps next year, he ends up here.
George, can you provide any insights into the Goalie Center of Excellence? I feel like it is the aspect of the team I understand the least. — Ed Purchase
Ed, I can try. Before the Panthers started that, they were like every other team in the league and just tried to find big goalies who had good stats. Now, the department led by Roberto Luongo scours tape and scouting reports on goalies all over the world.
Zito always gives them a pick in the draft to get a player they want. They deserve that. During the season, they all work very closely with the Florida goalies — and those in the system — to try and get the best out of them. So far, it has worked famously.
Most of the free agents who left clearly got more than they would have got by staying. The one exception was Mahura who signed a one year with the kraken for pretty close to minimum which seems like a contract we could have matched. Any word on why he left – did we not offer? Seems like he would have still been good to keep. Other than that, hearing anything on cousins and his plans? — Bryan Geary
I have to assume that the Panthers feel they know everything they could learn about Josh Mahura and decided to move on. That certainly was a number that they could have kept him at. Or, maybe, he wanted a fresh start. Have not heard anything on Cousins yet.
What factors would you say make Sam Bennett one of the toughest players on the Panthers aside from him playing 17 days after surgery? #AskGR — @AndySlater
I mean, he should have been out a lengthy amount of time, right? If that broken hand would have happened in January, he would have been. That’s just the truth of it.
The guy played with a busted hand and you could tell he was favoring it — until he wasn’t. Once he started taking faceoffs again, he was good to go. When it comes to toughness, Bennett is as good as you get. Not afraid to crash the net, defend a teammate, put someone into the corner. He’s a baller, man.
How have the changes to the roster helped or hurt our Special Teams? I’m really bummed about some of the losses. I am glad the players were able to leave and make more money but I think we lost some valuable team members both on the ice and in the team culture. I’m kind of surprised that players left considering the team success and the benefits of playing in South Florida. Were we close to signing any of those who left? — Kevin Hawkey
I don’t think they were too close on the big ticket guys like Montour and OEL. They got nice raises and, we have seen the Panthers add just complimentary pieces and are technically over the cap right now. They could not afford those deals. Lomberg more than doubled what he made here. He had to take that. So did the other guys.
Knight had a modest (26th in sv%) AHL season playing 45 games fresh out of player assistance. Better to give him another full season learning to managing the strain of being a starter (even in what essentially is a weekend league) or have him play one game every other week but in the NHL? — Chris
I think if Spencer Knight gets the backup job, he is going to play a little more. They do not want him sitting. Last season was good for him, he got to play, settled into Charlotte and worked very closely with Leo Luongo of the aforementioned Goalie Excellence Department of Southeastern Florida. I don’t take goalie stats in the AHL very seriously — except shutouts, which are impressive in that league — and by all accounts, Knight played very well throughout the season. They were thrilled with his season. He’s good to go.
Thought the loss to Vegas was in part due to the 4th line disparity. With Stenlund and Lamborghini gone, do the Cats have enough to repeat assuming Mackie is ready and plays some defense? — Michael Harris
I do not think Samoskevich plays on the fourth line all that much; his value is on the offensive side and they’re going to try and get him chances there. The Panthers have been pretty good about finding players who will thrive in those roles, and I think they did so again this past week. We shall see, but who’s to argue?
Stedlund only signed for 2 mil x 2 years. Could the Cats not have offered that to him and consequently signed one less person to compete for the bottom line? Did he leave because he has a shot at a greater role with Utah? — Cats and Oilers
Yeah, that one I was a little surprised about. You have to figure Florida could have offered $1.5 million — and maybe it did. Again, if you look at Zito’s history in building a fourth line, no one has ever made $1 million. His first trade (Mike Matheson) included Colton Sceviour because he made $1.5 million. Now, Noel Acciari was a bit of an outlier but I don’t know that he was a true fourth line guy. He played a lot all over the lineup.
Will Driedger need to clear waivers to be sent to the AHL? It looks like he makes the same amount whether he plays in the NHL or the AHL. I’m not clear on how waivers work when you sign a veteran who was in the AHL for another organization the previous season. — Dale Huber
Yeah, Driedger would have to go through waivers to get through to Charlotte — but his whole contract would be stashed there. If a team were to pick him up, they take the contract.
George, do you see any near term standouts from the development camp pool? I saw where 23 year old Liam McLinskey (third year holy Cross) had an intriguing 9G-8A 17 pts over his last 10 games. At 6’3” but only 165 lbs, he may need a mountain of beef stew to prep for the Bigs, but he’s obviously got skills. Anyone on your radar? — Zeke1961
To be honest, I really have not looked that closely at it. I will be looking at Liam now that you have brought him up. Been kind of a busy week and just got the roster on Saturday. Will look at it tomorrow and have a full story on it on Monday morning.