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Florida Panthers Mailbag: Playoffs, Trades and Caddyshack (+)

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5 months ago

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Florida panthers

The Florida Panthers will open up the second round of the playoffs in the coming days and that is now, save for the Marlins’ sweep of Colorado, the talk of the town.

Well, there is still some Dolphins draft talk lingering, but for the most part, everyone is talking about the Panthers.

With the Heat losing to Boston, the Panthers are the only real game in town right now and this team has the talent, the will, and the intangibles to win it all.

Yet some of you are already looking ahead to the offseason.

Hey, with this long break in the action, that’s natural.

The Panthers have plenty of questions once this season comes to a close — they hope it ends in mid-June — and you have questions about their questions.

Well, that’s what we are here for.

This edition of the FHN Mailbag deals with a number of tough questions the Panthers will have to address in the offseason, including roster moves and free agency.

So, let’s get to them!

George, I’m going to call it a near lock that the LA Kings will back a Brinks truck up to Stolarz. Do the Panthers feel Knight has come back on track with his development enough that he can serve as a back-up (play 18-24 games) for Bob next season? — Ed Purchase

There will be a number of teams calling Anthony Stolarz this summer and whether he stays or not depends on how confident the team is with Spencer Knight as the backup.

By everything I have heard, Knight is their guy.

They have been very happy with how he played and simply did the work in Charlotte this season.

Knight is back with the Panthers and will get the opportunity to continue moving forward. Florida could sign another veteran goalie for next season to push Knight a bit in camp.

Spencer Knight is Back with the Florida Panthers

Of course, the Panthers could decide they want to keep Stolarz and work out some sort of multi-year contract — but that would mean finding a new home for Knight either by trade or by buyout.

He is due $9 million over the next two seasons and they won’t pay a large portion of that for AHL duty again next season.

Will Stolarz get a start in any game moving forward? — Rich Donoson

Do you expect Stolarz to get any starts? Really thought he should have started game 3 or 4 against Tampa — @dennisgriffin7

Sergei Bobrovsky being sat for a playoff game is not going to happen, barring injury, unless he has a couple of bad games and the Panthers are desperate to get back into a series.

This is Bob’s net until it is not.

How do the players stay loose during the series breaks?  Any fun rituals?  — @Calvey4r

Well, a lot of them like driving golf carts through Fort Lauderdale.

There really isn’t one thing players do in their downtime except what they normally do.

You have a lot of family guys on this team, and they spend time with their family.

The single guys do what single guys do in Fort Lauderdale — like playing tennis or pickleball. Right?

Do you think Maurice keeps the Barkov-Reinhart-Tarasenko line together to start game 1, or is the Barkov-Tkachuk-Verhaeghe a real possibility to stick going forward post game 5 success. — @Pcdunc

Based on today’s practice, Vladimir Tarasenko is on the third line with Eetu Luostarinen moving up to the second line to play with Anton Lundell again.

Paul Maurice quietly switched things up in Game 5 and really liked what he saw. So, those lines will stick until they feel like it’s time for another change.

Who on the payoff roster including Bennett do you expect not to be on the roster next season? — Michael Harris

Yeah, with only one year left on his contract, I could see the Panthers clearing up some cap space by trading Sam Bennett. But he has such good chemistry with Matthew Tkachuk that I could also see him coming back and getting an extension.

Brandon Montour remains a pending free agent and could be on the move if he finds a bigger payday with more term somewhere else. But it would not be a surprise to see him get a new deal here, either.

Sam Reinhart Makes Florida Panthers History with 60th Goal

I know we have home ice in round 2. I might be getting ahead of myself, but how will round 3 work. If the NYR win they have home ice. But if the Canes win does it go off them having 1 more point than us, or do we get it since we were a 1 seed and they are a 2? — @daleJH66

The Panthers would be the road team if they make it to the Eastern Conference finals whether it is New York or Carolina.

Although Carolina did not win a division as Florida did, it had 111 points to 110 for the Panthers.

Per the NHL: ‘In the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final, home-ice advantage goes to the team that had the better regular-season record — regardless of the teams’ final standing in their respective divisions.’

Has there been any talk of re-signing OEL, or will he walk and give guys like Carlsson and Uvis chances to win the job? — @otto_maddux

Lucas Carlsson has been hurt and missed the end of the season with the Checkers so I do not know what the future holds for him here. They love Uvis Balinskis and he will be on this team next season.

As far as Oliver Ekman-Larsson goes, I do think he likes playing for the Panthers and has certainly earned a new deal with Florida or somewhere else. The Panthers will have Montour here or OEL next year; probably not both.

Hi George. Tarasenko has been such a good fit on the ice, and in the locker room, for the Cats. Do you think Zito will try to extend him for next season? — @pamela_abrell

Hi Pamela. It all depends on Vladimir Tarasenko, right? He went looking for a big contract with term last summer and ended up getting a one-year deal with the Senators.

I know he would like to stay what with his family here and everything, but Florida cannot offer him the money nor term he would be looking for. Of course, I do not know where he would get what he is looking for anywhere else. So, maybe?

Hi George – Who do you think is on the roster now that could be traded so that the UFAs are able to fit under the cap. Do you see any blockbuster trades in the future? — TheXrayDave

Hi XrayDave — The Panthers do have some money to play with even with Gus Forsling getting his eight-year deal. He took less money than many of us thought, so that helps out when it comes to talks with Montour and OEL on the defensive side.

Aaron Ekblad loses his full no-trade clause on July 1, but I think he is such a big part of this team’s culture that they would not move him. With depth up the middle, perhaps Bennett could be a guy who fits into this category.

If you were on the Rules Committee, what’s the first thing you’d change? — Matt

I would like to see longer overtimes. Instead of going 3-on-3 for 5 minutes, how about 10?

Seems like there are fewer shootouts than there were in the past (which is good) and this would probably eliminate most of them with the game at least being decided by playing hockey.

Florida Panthers Watch Cup Playoffs, Wait for Toronto or Boston

Hockey front offices are notoriously tight lipped when it comes to ongoing contract negotiations, with that being said, have you heard anything at all about talks with Reinhart and/or Montour. Have they started, are they waiting untill after the playoffs to sit down, etc….
Also, Do you get any sense whatsoever whether or not they plan on bringing back any of the defenseman they signed to one year deals, as all have played better than expected. Keep up the great work guys! — SurveyJay

This one is even more tightlipped than usual. Bill Zito used to be an agent, so he knows the tricks of keeping things in the news — or out of it.

The Panthers had three high-profile free agents when the season started and got the Forsling deal done without a peep.

Reinhart has been saying consistently that he thinks something will get down, so you have to feel that talks have been ongoing if not all that serious. They both know how the other side feels.

As for Montour, the market has now been set, right? He is going to get a raise whether it is here or elsewhere.

Dmitry Kulikov has been reported to be in the mix for an extension and a return; Balinskis has already been extended. Niko Mikkola has a deal. We’ll see what happens with the rest.

As we head to the second round, who are the potential teams going forward that we match up best against and ones we don’t? Deep teams with similar styles to us like Carolina, Vegas and Dallas I think would be the toughest for us to face. — Cats and Oilers

You know, that’s a tricky question. When you get into this round of the playoffs, everyone offers big challenges. Florida did not beat Boston this season, but it only beat Toronto once last year — and this year, too. It does look like the West is more competitive this year and we’re going to see some battles out there. I think being healthy is the biggest thing.

Favorite quote from Caddyshack? — Jon Baldwin

I mean, come on. This is the toughest question I have ever received on one of these.

There are just too many to choose from.

I will not go with any of the ‘popular’ ones.

I dig the ones that slip by like ‘you two look like a couple of boobies,’ ‘Hooray for the Douglases!’ and ‘my dad … never liked you.’  

But the ones I use the most?

‘Well, tanks for nothin!’

Oh, and ‘you do drugs, Danny?’

How ‘bout a Fresca?!?

I like you Betty.

Ok, done.

Who wants to bet Colby doesn’t know what I’m talking about?

Good thing gambling is illegal at Bushwood, sir…

Bushwood? A dump?

For the most in-depth coverage of the Florida Panthers:

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
FLORIDA PANTHERS (ATL1) V. BOSTON (A2)/TORONTO (A3)
*Round 1 Series Tied 3-3
BEST-OF-7 SERIES
GAME 1

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