George Richards, FHN Publisher
An already interesting Florida Panthers offseason is about to hit its zenith.
The NHL’s free agency period opens Friday at noon and according to Puckpedia.com, the Panthers have 13 NHLers currently under contract.
That leaves a lot of work — and some big decisions — for new GM Bill Zito.
With an estimated cap hit of roughly $62.5 million for next season’s Panthers — and with the NHL salary capped at $81.5 million — Florida has a little over $19 million to work even after factoring in retained money, buyouts and Roberto Luongo’s early retirement recapture penalty.
The Panthers have five unrestricted free agents. Will they stay or will they go? Should they stay or should they go?
We’ll break it down player by player.
Today: Mike Hoffman
Up Next: Mark Pysyk
Previous Free Agent Focus: Evgenii Dadonov; Erik Haula; Brian Boyle
The Panthers got Mike Hoffman on the cheap in an end-around deal with San Jose but it is time to pay up or watch the high-scoring winger test the free agency market and head to another team.
When this past season started, it was assumed Florida could only afford to re-sign one of its top two free agents if it wanted to.
Although neither Hoffman nor Evgenii Dadonov was traded at the February deadline, it still appears the Panthers can only afford one of them.
Hoffman, again, was assumed to be the player who would leave.
It still appears that way although, depending on what he finds on the market, there remains a chance he returns.
The Panthers appear open to having Hoffman return if they feel they can afford it.
Throughout the past season, Hoffman spoke of wanting to remain with the Panthers and his hope something could be worked out.
Although there is a case of ‘well, what else is he going to say?,’ Hoffman appears to have turned his career around with the Panthers. His off-ice controversy in Ottawa in 2018 has all but been forgotten.
Teammates have raved about him as a teammate and his play on the ice has stood out the past two seasons.
“I like it here, the two years I have been here have been great,’’ Hoffman told me before the trade deadline in February.
“I have built some strong friendships and I want to stay, want to make that happen. At the end of the day, all you can do is produce. Work on your on-ice habits and usually the other stuff follows.”
The Good
When it comes to scoring goals, Mike Hoffman delivers.
Hoffman has led the Panthers in goals in each of the two seasons he has played here after being acquired by Dale Tallon for two draft picks in a 2018 summer trade with San Jose.
Of Hoffman’s 65 goals in Florida, 28 have come on the power play (43 percent) with a majority of those coming off his booming shot from the right circle.
Over the past two seasons, the Panthers have scored 117 power play goals; Hoffman accounts for 24 percent of them.
That will be hard to replace.
The Bad
The knock on Hoffman’s game has always been his defensive play and his play away from the puck.
Yeah, the guy can score, but that’s about it.
In his first season with the Panthers, that was pretty much true. If Hoffman was not scoring — and as most scorers, he is prone to be a little streaky — he was not offering much else.
But that changed over the course of this past season as Hoffman was very noticeable either putting a body on a player, going into the corner fighting for a puck or (gasp!) even blocking a few shots.
Is Hoffman turning into a grinder? No. But his defensive improvement was noticeable.
“He has done some good things defensively,” coach Joel Quenneville said in February.
“Offensively, he is good as there is and he had some real dangerous looks up the gut. He is a threat on power play, when he has the puck in the offensive zone anywhere.
“I like his attitude, like his game.”
The Bottom Line
Hoffman is considered one of the top free agents on the market but it will be interesting to see what kind of offers he gets. Hoffman turns 31 next month and brings a terrific offensive game but in an uncertain market, will he get what he wants?
Perhaps from a team memorized by the big shot — something the Panthers had not had before he arrived and hope to have it in rookie Owen Tippett.
The Panthers did not do much in the postseason, losing in four to the Islanders but Hoffman showed up by scoring three goals with five points.
It would not be shocking to see Hoffman back in Sunrise but it would be a little surprising.
Look for Detroit, the Islanders, New Jersey and Columbus to show interest.
Projected Contract: 4 years, $7.2 million AAV