George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers made a number of moves this offseason and have changed the look of a team that had its most successful regular season in franchise history.
Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar were traded away while Claude Giroux, Ben Chiarot and Noel Acciari left as free agents.
A number of players were signed to replace them — with the acquisition of Matthew Tkachuk in the Huberdeau/Weegar trade obviously the biggest move of them all.
It may go down as the biggest trade in Panthers’ history when you look at the players involved.
In this edition of the FHN Mailbag, you had plenty of questions about how everything is going to look — and what is next for the Panthers.
We know the team is still above the salary cap, so, some more moves will have to be made before Opening Night.
And, guess what? We are not too far away from hockey getting under way once more.
Thanks as always for all of your questions.
Here are my answers to all of them:
Given the attrition from last year’s roster, it would appear there are roster spots available for some of the youngsters. Which prospects do you see as best possibilities to make the jump this year? — Matthew Kristal
The Panthers have added Colin White, Nick Cousins and Rudolfs Balcers — among others — and all three will make the team.
That leaves openings for the likes of Anton Levtchi, Aleksi Heponiemi and Grigori Denisenko.
Is this the time for Denisenko to really break out? He will be given the chance if he is fully recovered from his broken knee cap, which he should be since it happened in January.
With the team being right up against the Cap and our next 3x 1st Rounders traded away, do you see anyway the team could make a move for a player during the season if needed? — Zach Kennedy
Right now the team is over the salary cap — and that includes the $3 million going to LTIR due to Anthony Duclair’s Achilles tendon surgery.
So, not right now, no. Of course, the team could make a trade or have another long-term injury which could free up some space.
The Panthers will want to have some kind of cap flexibility throughout the season and at the deadline. It should be interesting to see how they maneuver around it.
How safe is Sam bennett looking- in regards to staying in south florida for as long as possible! — Robert Doyle
He does have two more years left on his contract, so he should be here for a little while longer. He has endeared himself to the Panthers in his season-plus here.
Seems like every other day we’re hearing about serious off-season Achilles injuries… Anthony Duclair of course, Max Pacioretty, and now San Jose’s Nikolai Knyzhov. Is there some change to training regimens that seems to be putting players at higher risk than I can remember? — @MarkWeber1
It seems to be one of those things, right? I don’t know that there is any kind of change when it comes to offseason training causing this — perhaps it’s just an unlucky coincidence.
Do you know if Vegas has called about Bob? — @Dragons_Quest
I have not heard but would be surprised. Don’t think the Knights want to take on a contract that big. They have plenty of contractual problems as it is.
George! Give me a player that will breakout from each position.
In my opinion it will be, Montour driving the power play and Levtchi playing with Barkov… In addition I also see Duclair traded after coming back, to improve the blue line. What do you think? — Miguel Villanueva
Miguel! I don’t know that Duclair will be traded but that is an interesting theory. Some other move will be made, but not sure that one will be it.
As far as my breakout players: Eetu Luostarinen among the forwards and Lucas Carlsson among the d-men.
Know the cap is tight and not many assets to offer. Any chance the Panthers get involved in the Jacob Chychrun market? — @Jackkelly56
Unlike some of the other trades we have seen the Panthers pull off, they do not hold any sort of a hammer in this deal.
Sure, Jakob may say he wants to come home to South Florida — but he has three years left on his deal and does not hold a no-trade.
Arizona, if it chooses to trade him, is going to make the best deal for the Coyotes. And that would involve a lot of moving parts including high draft picks of which the Panthers do not possess anymore.
Did the organization find someone for the mascot gig yet & has there been any whispers around the place regarding what the new Reverse Retros may look like? I’m behind on stuff because it’s summer. I appreciate you for all that you do for us Panthers fans, George! — @hawk954
I have heard what the Reverse Retros will look like and they are going to cause a lot of conversation around the fans. But they do sound cool.
As far as a new mascot goes, I have seen a Stanley C. showing up at some events so perhaps a new one has been hired.
Clearly, our roster overall has taken a step backward from last year with a lot more unknowns this year. Hopefully, our coaching has taken a step forward for the playoffs. What are our realistic expectations for this season? — Bryan Geary
There are some unknowns, sure. Colin White coming back from a couple of injury-plagued seasons in Ottawa one of them. But this team looks solid. The Panthers remain a contender. I expect a lot out of this team — just don’t overreact if the team goes though some growing pains during the regular season. They will be fine.
With the huge loss on defense, do you think Forsling will be able to handle being on the top pair? — Andrew Levine
I certainly do. Forsling has already proved himself to be one of Florida’s most reliable defenseman and now he’s going to be able to take a big step forward.
People are taking about trading Bob, who will be the #1 goaltender? Do you think Knight is ready if not, then what will be the plan? — Miguel Villanueva
First off, they are not trading Bob. People have been talking about that since 2020. It’s not happening, at least not for a while.
If Bob was to get hurt, however, I do think Spencer Knight would be more than capable of moving into the starting role and handling it quite well.
On paper, it looks like the Panthers D is considerably weaker than last season. Do you think a Paul Maurice system in which the team won’t play as much run and gun offense as in the past will help compensate for that and if it does, will the team be able to compensate for the less goals scored with even less goals given up? — lucarel
This team is still going to press, Paul Maurice said as much to me not long after getting hired. He’s not going to change what this team is good at. But there are going to be some changes, this team should be tougher to play against and one would think goals will go down on both sides of the ledger.
After Eric Staal left the Wild, his goal scoring fell off a cliff. last year he played 4 games in the AHL. What is his story? Would you say his chances of making the Panther’s roster is remote at best? — Harry Lampley
I would not say remote, I think he is coming here to show whether he has anything left in the tank. If he looks good in camp, he’s going to make the team as one of the 12 forwards.
with the loss of some key guys and with a new system no doubt being implemented, where do you Invision our offense, do we remain elite, maybe top 5, or do we fall back to earth and end up middle of the pack? — surveyjay
Again, this is a contending team. They will be among the top three in the division and that will be fine. They will make the playoffs and will be a tough team to beat. I think there is room for plenty of optimism with this year’s team. Should be another exciting one.
Any insight as to how Barkov reacted to the Huberdeau trade? I know we are against the cap, but any other rumblings of possible trades or signings with the team? — Cats and Leafs
There have not been any more rumblings about moves or players coming to town. The heavy lifting has been done. What comes next is some roster tweaking.
As for Barkov, I have not been able to talk to him but I am sure he is disappointed to lose his buddy. He and Huberdeau have been together since Day 1. The first player to reach out to him when he got here in 2013 was Huberdeau. They may not be the best of friends off the ice, but they are close, no doubt.
That said, Barkov is a team-first guy who recognizes what the Panthers are getting in Matthew Tkachuk. This could be a dynamic duo in Florida for a long, long time. One chapter ends, another begins.
Your second home team in Columbus has suffered a similar identity crisis and lack of player desire to reside there as the Cats did a few years back. With Laine re-signing and Gaudreau taking the leap, how does it change the landscape for the Jackets? — Cats and Leafs
I think it means their rebuild is closer to being complete.
The past couple of years have been tough on the Blue Jackets — seeing players like Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin and more walk away after the team went for it all in 2019 would be rough on any organization.
Now, the Jackets still have holes to fill but should be competitive in a very tough Eastern Conference. It’s a nice place to live although it’s not for everyone as we have seen over the past few years. They’ll be OK.
Any update on War Memorial driving by there doesn’t look like it will open on time. — David
The Panthers had planned on opening up the new War Memorial practice facility for training camp this September — but that is not going to happen.
The team will open camp either in Coral Springs or the arena as usual and will continue to use the IceDen for the next few months. Last I heard, they were hoping to be in there after the New Year but we will see. It does sound like they will be in there at some point this season.
One more now that Covid protocols for the season have been announced. With the new coach Sylvain Lefebvre being a vax holdout (previously), do we know if he will be able to coach this season? — Bryan Geary
From what I read on the new Covid guidelines, players and coaches do not need to be vaccinated anymore although if local laws require it then they go with that.
Do you foresee any other moves? Think Bob would allow a trade? — gnodom
Well, the team is still over the salary cap with at least one PTO (Eric Staal) likely needing a minimum deal. Something will happen with the roster at some point but nothing major is expected. There could also be an injury come from training camp — there always is at least one — which could allow the team some cap breathing room.
As for Sergei, there is no plan now or before everything went down to move him.
How do you think the players feel with the loss of Huberdeau and Weegar, and bringing in Tkachuk? Any chance we see Tkachuk with an A? — pantherbot
I don’t think the players like seeing their friends move on — and make no mistake, Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar are as popular a teammate as were on the team. So, there is some sadness in losing them, for sure.
But players know that this is all part of the business. Matthew Tkachuk appears to be a likable fellow and after the weirdness of not having Huberdeau and Weegar at the start of camp passes, I think everything will be cool.
And, since Huberdeau wore an ‘A,’ I would not be surprised in the least to see Tkachuk take that over.
George, with all the changes the Cats most likely won’t win the Cursed Presidents Cup…but don’t you feel that this team is more playoff ready ….that guys like Cousins / Staal bring more of an edge ( of course along w Tkachuk) and Huby & Weegs free wheeling offensive style of play is not conducive to playoff hockey? And Barky / Tkachuk/ Reino / Duke / Swaggy / Hornquist/ Eckblad / Forsling / Lundell / Bennett etc is enough talent to win a Cup…plus the new additions and prospects….your thoughts? — Phil Gallo
We talked about the Presidents’ Trophy last year when the Panthers were closing in on it.
They had a chance to win it, so why not? They did not go out of their way just to win it, did not play injured players or anything — it was there, so they took it. Nothing wrong with that.
As far as this team goes, yeah. I don’t think they will have as many points as last year, don’t think they will even win the Atlantic. And so what? Just get into the playoffs and see how things go.
The moves Bill Zito made this offseason — from the free agent signings to the trade — was made not only looking into the future but to this year’s playoffs. I do think they are a little light defensively (as far as personnel goes) but that does not mean there will be much of a drop off. This team should be tougher to play against when it counts — and that’s not on a Tuesday night against Anaheim.
Do you like movies about gladiators? — Jon Baldwin
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.