George Richards, FHN Publisher
As the Florida Panthers gear up for Game 4 against the New York Islanders on Friday at noon, I thought I would answer some of your most pressing questions about the team in our latest mailbag.
Got a lot of good ones for what is my first Q&A here at FloridaHockeyNow.
Always fun.
I will try and do one of these per month. Thanks, as always, for your support in my coverage of the team. Been a strange few months.
How strange? We did not have one question asking whether the Panthers will have a third jersey next season. That’s a first.
On to the Mailbag!
Any idea when our new AHL team will be announced? I’m really enjoying your new site! — @pamela_abrell
Thanks! Word is it is coming soon. Nothing official, but it will be the Charlotte Checkers. Once Vegas bought the San Antonio AHL team and moved them to Nevada, it set things in motion.
All of a sudden, St. Louis needed a place to go. That led to the Blues moving to Springfield, Carolina taking Vegas’ place in Chicago and leaving Charlotte and the Panthers without a dance partner.
So, hello Charlotte Cats. Carolina Panthers? Has a ring to it.
Will Vatrano be in Game 4? With his speed and ability to get to the puck and along with physical play or has his lack of impact in the series going to make him a scratch on Friday? — @TheSportsNutzFL
I would definitely not be surprised to see Frank back in the lineup on Friday although Joel Quenneville was giving no such hints away on Thursday afternoon.
He did say Wednesday that the decision to scratch the players he did was a tough one, and I do not doubt that. But who do you take out?
Lucas Wallmark played well in his return to the lineup but Vatrano gives you more offensive-upside. Dryden Hunt basically replaced Colton Sceviour so that is a different decision. What about putting Alexsi Saarela back in? Lot of options.
What’s the long term plan for goaltending? We have Bob signed on a long term contact and Knight coming up looking like he could be a potenatial franchise goalie. — @Cody_Shamon
Since I am not signing the checks, I would say this is a good problem to have. Spencer Knight will return to Boston College for his sophomore season so we will assume Chris Driedger backs up next year with Sam Montembeault in the mix.
Driedger would be UFA, Montembeault could be lost to Seattle in the expansion draft. That opens up the spot for Knight to back up Bob in 2021-22 which will be Year 3 of the seven-year contract. And then we’ll see.
Any chance Tippett gets in? And can they possible move Matheson to another team? — @prairiebilbo
I don’t see Owen Tippett getting into this series — if the Panthers win, maybe down the road?
Here’s the deal: Tippett is probably going to be on this team next year. He is going to play, just not right now. And I say that based on what we have seen. Tippett was not part of the top 12 during training camp even when other regulars were out. He did not play in the exhibition game. It does not look like he is in their immediate plans (this series/postseason) but they have big plans for him.
Who do we prioritize signing in the offseason? Hoffman vs. Dadonov? — @joeshamon2
This is a doozy, right? With a flat salary cap and no indication the Panthers want to spend to the cap again this year, you have to think it is one or the other (which is what the thought was way back in September). Both bring a lot to the table.
I would have said Dadonov would be the guy — for sure — in January but the way Hoffman played coming out of the break was impressive. He played like a guy who wanted to be here and has kind of forced their hand. He may price himself out of here, however.
Again, with the flat cap and not knowing how teams are going to be when it comes to signing free agents this year, it is kind of an unknown. But Hoffman’s stock internally has definitely risen.
With the building of the new practice facility in Fort Lauderdale, do you believe the team is looking to have an arena built east as well? — @1panthers
That was the plan before all of this hit, now I don’t know what is going on. Things in our world have definitely changed. The Panthers want the Holiday Park complex to be the best training facility in the league and have done a lot of research into it. Sounds like they’re going to spend some big bucks to make it so as well.
They are definitely trending east in the future. Makes sense since more than half the team lives on that side of town and they think a new arena on the east side would consistently draw more fans — especially walk ups.
Why are Hunt & Toninato ahead of Tippett on the depth chart? Team seems to be clueless on developing talent. — @Im_thee_Walrus
I think it is due to the position and not necessarily a statement on Tippett. Hunt and Toninato are playing bottom-six (three?) roles, something that is probably not Tippett’s strong suit.
This is the postseason. I have to assume they have had long talks with Tippett about this. If they need a top-six guy, that’s where he fits.
Hey George! Do you see Tippett on this roster next year? It seems like they keep skipping over him when filling in the line-up (Toninato, Pysyk, Saarela, Wallmark, etc). It appears coach Q must not be a big fan of his game – at least defensively. – @atshockley
See the answer above. Let’s not forget, Tippett was hurt in January — either a hand injury or a wrist. Something like that. Perhaps there is a risk factor being taken into consideration.
Which players do you see as most likely to find themselves with the Kraken? — @scottus6
Right this second, I think it has to be one of Florida’s defensemen — unless there are some moves between now and then.
With the seven forwards/three defensemen split, Florida (again, right this second) would have to keep (either by contract or by desire) Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle and Anton Stralman. That means leaving available: Mike Matheson, MacKenzie Weegar, Riley Stillman, Josh Brown, Brady Keeper, Chase Priskie, etc.
On the goalie front, Sergei Bobrovsky has a no-movement so you have to/want to protect him, leaving Sam Montembeault exposed.
Florida could just keep four forwards and four defenseman … nah, no one would do that.
A deal could also be worked out (like the Vegas deal) where Seattle takes a player the Panthers are OK losing in exchange for something else tacked on. Who knows right now.
I know people were upset with Florida losing two forwards to the Knights, but at the time, they wanted to keep two extra defensemen (Mark Pysyk and Alex Petrovic) and were OK with losing the five years and $25 million of Reilly Smith and did not want to pay a similar price for Jonathan Marchessault.
Looking at the production those two have put up in the desert, taking both on worked out well for the Knights.
It didn’t look great at the time for the Panthers — and it did not age well as the two defensemen saved eventually fell out of favor with the team. Pysyk, it should definitely be noted, is back in their good graces.
The Panthers did find cheaper options for those two forwards — Dadonov signed as a UFA not long after the expansion draft and they traded for Hoffman the following summer.
Over the past two seasons, Dadonov/Hoffman (108 goals, 246 points) put up better offensive numbers than Smith/Marchessault (93 goals, 213 points). Just saying.
I know the coach needs to choose words wisely for the media. Will Q keep Matheson out of the line up for the rest of the series? When do you think he might comeback? Currently Panthers play better when he is sitting. – @Dragons_Quest
We will see Friday morning, eh? I do think Matheson gets in although not sure about Game 4. I am putting him in the lineup over Brown, however. Again, we will find out soon enough.
How is the roster going to improve given the cap situation and Quenneville not playing young players? — @VKS82
Listen, Quenneville is trying to win postseason games here, not try and get some younger players some experience.
Those younger guys we have been talking about are going to get that chance next regular season when the stakes are not so high. He is trying to win — right now — and is going about it with the players (veteran players for the most part) he feels can help do that not, necessarily, the prospect of it.
If the Panthers fail to win Game 4 or Game 5, do you foresee any big changes in the front office or do you think Tallon and co return for another season? — @RedSteeg32
This is a tough question because I think whatever move the Panthers would make to their front office happens regardless of what happens here.
Do you think the moves made in 2016 just happened when Florida lost in six to the Islanders? No, those had been in the works long before that double-OT loss in Game 6. What ever they’re going to do moving forward has already been decided on I think.
If they lose this series, does Tallon get Fired? — @lens_darkly
See above. I don’t know if Dale gets fired, is asked to stay in some capacity or things continue as they are — regardless of what happens this postseason (save for winning the Cup or really going deep). I know Vinnie Viola and the rest of his management team have a lot of respect for what Dale does and what he brings to the table. We will see what happens.
More important question. What is your future merchandising plans? FHN ballcaps? t-shirts with the Panthers Press Box podcast logo? How about an autograph George Richards puck? Love all the content you have been providing at FHN. — @hlamp
Thank you for that. I don’t know about t-shirts or anything like that, but we can probably figure out some merch for next season.