George Richards, FHN Publisher
SUNRISE — Frank Vatrano saw his time end with the Florida Panthers in the most Frank Vatrano way possible.
On March 15, Vatrano helped his Panthers rally from a slow start in San Jose with the game-tying goal in the third period before he won it with a beautiful goal in overtime.
“I get two goals in San Jose, we get the win and I am traded nine hours later,” he said with a laugh on Sunday afternoon from the visitors’ locker room at FLA Live Arena.
Yes, not long after Vatrano’s heroics in San Jose, the Panthers traded him to the New York Rangers in a cap-saving move before the NHL Trade Deadline.
Today, for the first time since the trade, Vatrano is back in South Florida as the Panthers play host to his Anaheim Ducks at 1 p.m.
Vatrano is happy to be back — adding he never wanted to leave in the first place.
With Vatrano being a pending free agent — and the Panthers not able to play him as much as they nor he would have preferred — general manager Bill Zito traded him to a place he would be able to be a bigger part of the equation.
Before his San Jose heroics, Vatrano had gone through a stretch where he was a healthy scratch by the Panthers in nine of 12 games.
Zito was criticized by some for only getting a fourth-round pick for a player such as Vatrano but, as has been the case in previous moves, the Florida GM was looking out for a player who meant a lot to the organization.
He did Vatrano a solid by getting what he could while sending him to a team Zito thought would use Vatrano the right way and where he would fit right in.
It was appreciated.
”Bill and I had multiple conversations throughout the year and were on the same page,” said Vatrano, who signed a three-year, $11 million deal with the Ducks during the offseason.
“I told him my heart was in Florida and I wanted to stay here if possible. But if there was not a chance of me playing, I needed the chance to be in the playoffs. It was a big year for me, my first chance to go UFA.
“Bill was more than accommodating. He got to to a place where I was needed and I was used. It was a run I will never forget. The farther you go in the playoffs, you realize why this is the hardest trophy to win in sports. It was a great experience.”
Upon finally arriving in New York, Vatrano was a counted on piece with the Rangers. Coach Gerard Gallant immediately placed Vatrano in New York’s top-6 where he ended up scoring eight goals with 13 points in 22 games.
Vatrano also had five goals and 13 points in 20 playoff games as the Rangers went to the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the Lightning after taking an early series lead.
“We didn’t want to part with Frankie Vatrano,” Zito told FHN after acquiring Ben Chiarot not long after trading Vatrano to the Rangers.
“He is a class act, a class individual and a huge part of our room. We wish him nothing but the best. It was very difficult to part ways with Frankie. Sometimes you have to do difficult things and that was difficult.”
Vatrano’s performance with the Rangers both at the end of the season and in the playoffs helped him when it came time to find a home.
Had the Panthers kept him and continued to only use him sparingly what with them setting their sights on acquiring Claude Giroux, it probably would have cost him in free agency.
Vatrano joined the Panthers near the end of the 2017-18 season and quickly became a fan favorite.
Although he was hurt at the time of the trade with his hometown Boston Bruins, once healthy, he scored five goals in 16 games.
The following season, his first full campaign with Florida, Vatrano broke out and scored a career-high 24 goals with 39 points and signed a three-year extension with the team.
That offseason, the Panthers made a number of high-profile moves including acquiring Sergei Bobrovsky.
Vatrano gave up his No. 72 for a price: After originally asking for free meals for a year, Bobrovsky agreed to gift him a Rolex, fancy bottle of wine and a double Quarter Pounder from McDonald’s.
Vatrano switched to No. 77 — the number he continues to wear to this day.
It only continued to endear him with the Florida fanbase and inside the room among his teammates.
“Frankie has been part of this family at least since I have been here and he is a tremendous teammate, person,” Andrew Brunette said after Vatrano had said his goodbyes to the team at their hotel in Las Vegas.
“He has been such a good player for us since I have been here. It is part of hockey. Things happen. We wish Frankie nothing but the best. For him, it’s exciting. It’s a big year for him contractually and now he may get a bigger role and a different opportunity.
“We’re going to miss him. He is one of my all-time favorite guys. Such a good part of our core group. We wish him the best — and we’ll miss him.”
This season has been one Vatrano has had to adjust to.
After playing in meaningful games with both the Panthers and Rangers, he is in the midst of a rebuild with the Ducks.
Anaheim comes into Monday’s game tied with Columbus with 40 points — fewest in the league.
Vatrano knew things would be different when he agreed to terms with the Ducks as new GM Pat Verbeek has torn things down and is slowly building things back up.
One of Anaheim’s building blocks in Vatrano.
“It has been good although, team-wise, it hasn’t been the best year for us,” Vatrano said. “But coming to the rink every day with such a great group of guys, when things aren’t going well, we deal with it together.
“And, living in Southern California isn’t too bad. It‘s Florida without the humidity. There is never a bad day in the NHL and some days you forget that when things aren’t going well. But we try to come in every day, get better and have fun doing it.”
This afternoon, the Panthers will be trying to get back in the win column and continue their chase for the playoffs.
The team plans on honoring Vatrano during the first period and he seems excited to play in Sunrise once again.
This Anaheim team, Vatrano says, kind of takes him back to when he initially came to the Panthers.
“Usually, at this part of the season you are playing for the postseason,’’ he said. “When I first got to Florida, we were kind of on the cusp of making the playoffs and we finally, as an organization, made that turn. But it took some time.
“Here, we need to build on these final 25 games of this season and take it into next year and make the turn ourselves. We have the pieces here just as we did then in Florida. I remember being a part of that and there is that familiarity.”