George Richards, FHN Publisher
Fresh starts have kind of been a thing with the Florida Panthers thing over the past year from Anthony Duclair, Alex Wennberg and Sam Bennett. Olli Juolevi is the latest to get the opportunity to turn things around with the Panthers.
In October, the Panthers acquired the defenseman from the Vancouver Canucks in a trade which sent Noah Juulsen and Juho Lammikko west.
Although it has taken a couple of months, the Panthers are finally going to see what Juolevi brings when the game lights are on.
After being out the opening months of the season with a groin pull, Juolevi has been activated and interim coach Andrew Brunette said the plan is for him to make his debut with the Panthers on Friday night against the host Arizona Coyotes.
Sasha Barkov and Anthony Duclair are also expected to be back in the lineup Friday.
“He’s going to play (Friday),” Brunette said. “As of right now, he is scheduled to play barring anything I am not aware of. He will be playing. When he first got here, he probably wasn’t in top physical condition by being backed up all summer.
“Ulf (Samuelsson) has done an excellent job of getting him up to speed. It was a little bit of a project for us and he has been getting better every day. Since he got back from the groin pull, his pace has been at another level. We have been excited.”
It was by no means a blockbuster of a deal, one involving one player who had already passed through waivers (Juulsen) and two others who probably would have gotten claimed had their respective teams claimed them.
Vancouver and the Panthers basically gave themselves a player they both hoped would help them without giving another up for nothing which would have happened if Juolevi and Lammikko hit the waiver wire.
Still, the prospect of being waived marked a long fall for Juolevi within the Cancucks organization.
The fifth-overall pick in the 2016 draft, Juolevi never lived up to those lofty expectations in a hockey-crazed market.
In Vancouver, fans never missed a chance to remind everyone the Canucks would have been better served selecting someone else with that high of a pick.
Juolevi, 23, played in 23 games for the Canucks last season scoring two goals with three points.
“This is a really good chance and I am really happy to be here,” Juolevi said after a team practice in October shortly after joining the Panthers. “This is a good team and it feels like a really good place to play hockey right now.”
In South Florida, however, where Vancouver picked Juolevi in the draft matters to no one but the random Canucks fan living in the area.
As was the case with Sam Bennett, who was the fourth overall pick in 2014 by Calgary, Juolevi comes east with a clean slate in Florida.
No one here cares where Calgary picked Bennett and certainly does not remember where Vancouver took Juolevi.
Of course, with the Panthers invested so little in the defenseman, if he doesn’t appear to be working out, they could move on with little regret.
For Juolevi, however, this is a tremendous opportunity. Florida, with Markus Nutivaara out with a long-term injury and Kevin Connauton lost to waivers earlier this week, needs some defensive depth.
This is Juolevi’s shot to make a difference.
“I think I can move the puck really well, make good passes to the forwards and help their game,” Juolevi said. “My defensive game has gotten a lot better but I can show my offensive skill here.
“I am far away from Vancouver, but I know there are a lot of good things going on here. This is a good team. And I am really excited. … This is a fresh start and I am getting a new opportunity. I am really happy about that.”
Juolevi, as it stands right now, is Florida’s 6-7 defenseman now that Connauton was waived and picked up by Philadelphia earlier this week.
At practice on Thursday — per Jameson Olive — the Panthers had Juolevi splitting time with Lucas Carlsson as Brandon Montour’s partner.
The only games Juolevi have played this season have come for AHL Charlotte on rehab stints but he has been practicing with the Panthers all week.
And, to activate him from IR, Florida took the risk of losing Connauton on waivers.
The opportunity is right in front of him now.
“He can move the puck, is a really good first-pass guy,” Brunette said. “Heavy shot, can run a power play if we need him to. We’re excited to see him. He was in Charlotte and played a couple of good games and they were really happy with him. This is a good opportunity and we’re excited to see what he can do.
”The time off was crucial for him. To get in with Ulf, work on his conditioning and his footwork and get back to the pace. We practice fast, so to get up to our speed … he was getting better and better and we could see that.”