FHN Florida Panthers Mailbag: Trade Deadline, Barkov Return, and More

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Before you warm up that stuffing for a leftover lunch, dive into the Black Friday Edition of the FHN Florida Panthers Mailbag!

This was a good one, with a couple of questions regarding the NHL Trade Deadline, injury stuff, the future of the Panthers goaltenders, and more.

Since today is Black Friday, we here at FHN have a sweet deal for you.

An annual subscription to FHN is usually $39.99 — but we have slashed that to $19.99.

That’s right, $20 for a season pass to the best coverage of the Florida Panthers anywhere.

A subscription to FHN brings you special access to FHN+ stories such as the Mailbag, but you also get a crisp and clean ad-free reading experience when logged in.

It’s a pretty sweet deal.

To get it, use the code BLACKFRIDAY and enjoy.

As always, thank you all for your support.

Enjoy the weekend!

Oh, and don’t park at the mall today. Going to be a zoo over there.

And now, on to the Mailbag…

The team has looked more cohesive recently (other than maybe in net). With the restrictions on playoff cap and the anticipation of our injured players eventually coming back, do you think the Cats will be active at the deadline or roll with what they have? — Cats and Oilers

Paul Maurice actually mentioned this the other day. The Panthers expect to get Matthew Tkachuk back in the next month, then other players who they have lost should start coming back perhaps after the Olympics like Dmitry Kulikov, Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich, and Cole Schwindt.

Their trade deadline acquisitions could just be getting their own players back.

Florida is up against the salary cap and does not have a lot of draft capital to deal with so, combined with what looks to be a pretty soft trade market, it would not be surprising to just see the Panthers make a minor pickup or two but stay about the same as they hoped to be when the season started.

George, this Thanksgiving I am thankful for you and for this site. Not living in SoFla has me feeling a lot of FOMO these past three seasons, but your writing and insights keep me close to the action and in the know. Muchas gracias, compadre.

My question is this: when it comes to former Panthers which ones are still plugged in to the team? By that I mean are seen going to games as fans, hanging around the practice rink, got their kiddos on the Jr. Panthers, etc. Surely a bunch of them are still full or 3/4 time residents. — Ed Purchase

Well, thank you for that. Appreciate the kind words.

The Panthers have tried to grow their alumni base over the years, and you see some guys come back here and there although there are not a great many who have remained down here.

Ray Sheppard has been a longtime coach here in South Florida, Denis Shvidki and Serge Payer are also coaching. You see Tomas Vokoun and Alexei Semenov around the rink at times. Obviously Peter Worrell is very involved in youth hockey down here.

Hi George, do you think that the team is finally finding their groove and meshing better? I feel like it could be uphill from here, like Stella is getting her groove back.  I know it’s wishful thinking.  Just wondering what your thoughts are on this subject? — Lisa

Hi Lisa, I do think we are seeing the team playing better without so many key pieces missing although there are a few games where they  played better than the final result.

Asked Maurice about that on Thursday; he says those kind of games (Edmonton and Philadelphia were the examples I offered) even out during the course of a long season.

Every time we speak to an opposing coach, they mention the sheer talent the Panthers are missing right now. A lot of teams would sink if they were missing what Florida is. But they’re at least keeping their head above water and just moving forward.

Think Devine will stay up for the rest of the year? Anybody else in Charlotte ready to take the next step? — John Skinner

Based on what the Panthers expect to have coming back as the season rolls along, I do not see there being room.

But if there are any more injuries, a spot may open up. He looks good out there, that line has been noticeable each game. He is doing enough to stay. You know the goals are going to come for this guy.

Any chance Barkov comes back for any part of the regular season or at least some part of the playoffs assuming the Panthers get in. — Arthur Carpentier

When the injury happened, I did not think so. I have changed my mind. I would not be surprised by Barkov coming back at least when the playoffs start. But that’s only if he is 100 percent.

As I have said many a time, I am not a doctor nor an orthopedist. The guy had his MCL and ACL surgically repaired. This is not a pain tolerance issue but a structural one. You do not want to rush this — not with what he means to the organization.

I still maintain the Panthers will look at this in February as they gear up for the trade deadline. The Panthers will make a decision on his immediate future status then. If they do not take the full LTIR on him, that says they believe he is coming back this season at some point.

With both our goalies set to be UFAs at the end of this year, any guesses on what the goalie room looks like for next year and what their cap hits could look like? I know its early in this year but I’ve thought Tarasov has looked good, does management have plans for him to be goalie of the future now that Knight is gone, or are there other options they are exploring as well? — Sievs

Maurice said last year that the future of the Panthers in goal is Sergei Bobrovsky and I figure he is going to be resigned at something in the five-six year range probably around $7 million per. The Panthers made good with Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad as far as term and dollars went, and they will likely do the same with Bobrovsky.

Again, the Panthers are looking at having a championship window into the 2030s; Bobrovsky is part of that plan, and they want him happy. Do not see him going anywhere.

As for Tarasov, it is still early but they are very happy with his progression. This is working out exactly the way they hoped it would. Things did not pan out for him in Columbus, but coming here has been a nice fit.

I would not be surprised to see them sign him to a three-four year deal. Maybe longer, I don’t know; too early just yet. But he looked terrific from the start of training camp through his last start. They are working closely with him, and seem to be impressed with his attitude, work ethic — and as we saw the other night in Nashville, his feistiness.

Hi George – Is there any chance that we’ll see those Game Day Parlays again? Also, provided that the injured are all back in mid- March, who’ll be the odd men out of the current squad? One more – I believe the Cats make the playoffs, but do you think the Leafs will? Thanks… — TheXrayDave

Hi Xray – I stopped doing the parlay thing once the NBA gambling scandal happened. That kind of threw a wet blanket on it. I still run the odds in the GameDay pieces, but I don’t get into the prop bets as I did at the start of the season.

Assuming there are no more injuries coming down the pike, I would see Devine being one of the odd men out only because he is not waiver eligible and can go back to Charlotte and start playing 18-minutes a night. It will be interesting to see what happens when Kulikov comes back. There will be a logjam there.

I also think the Panthers will make the playoffs but unless some big things change in Toronto, it would not be a shock to see the Leafs miss out.

Does the league still have the faceoff rule on time? Seems they are taking longer for the linesman to drop the puck. — Andrew Levine

This is one of those gray area deals. The referee allows players five seconds to get set up but, as we see on a nightly basis, it takes longer than that a lot of times. Which is OK. I just don’t like when officials kick guys out of the circle on every faceoff. That gets tiresome.

Good morning George. I saw the grades espn gave recently for the NHL teams so far. They gave the Panthers a B rank because Marchy has been playing amazing as well as Lundy but they did mention this is all while missing so many starters. What grade would you give them? — @BeezyClint

What letter grade do you give the Panthers at the first quarter mark of the season? Please base it in their record and efforts. — @MrEd315

I think a ‘B’ grade for the Panthers is fair. Again, they are missing two off of their top 6 in Barkov and Tkachuk, two fourth-line centers in Nosek and Schwindt, not to mention a starting defenseman and a hard-nosed fourth liner in Gadjovich.

It’s a lot.

They have been keeping things together OK and are still within spitting distance of a playoff spot with a lot of hockey left to be played. But as I mentioned to someone the other day, we haven’t seen the flu outbreak yet and, based on recent Panthers history, it’s coming, right?

The team is not stringing together a lot of wins, but they are not stringing together a lot of losing streaks, either. This is a team, to quote Maurice again, that is going to have to grind its way through this season.

But help will be coming eventually.

Dr. GR: Do people that configure their toilet paper to roll under instead of over have souls like the rest of us? — Earnest B.

Dr. EB: Sounds like you want me to say no.

ON DECK: GAME No. 23

CALGARY FLAMES at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Friday, 4 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last Season: Even 1-1 
• This Season — At Calgary: March 20. At Florida: Friday.
• All-Time Regular Season Series: Calgary leads 27-12-3, 3 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Tuesday vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)