George Richards, FHN Publisher
Bill Zito was officially named the new GM of the Florida Panthers history Wednesday morning but he was informed of the team’s decision the day before.
He swears he kept it to himself.
Well, save for telling his family and perhaps a few close friends. That was the extent of it.
“I was under strict orders not to say anything from the Army guys,” Zito joked.
Well, look who is talking now.
Zito has been inundated with interview requests and has been sought out by personnel from the Panthers as well as those from around the hockey world since he took over for Dale Tallon as the Panthers’ new GM.
Thursday afternoon, Zito spoke to FloridaHockeyNow.com in a wide-ranging conversation.
Among the topics discussed: Zito’s thoughts on the offer sheet, reuniting with goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, and his kids quickly warming to the idea of moving to South Florida.
It sounds like the Zitos have a few road trips up to Disney World in their future.
Not that he has any spare time right now.
This has definitely been a wild week for the 55-year-old Zito, a guy who may be too busy to celebrate his birthday come Sept. 16.
He knows everyone within the Columbus Blue Jackets’ organization after serving in a variety of roles within that team’s front office the past seven years.
The Panthers, he admits, are all mostly new to him. He has a lot of catching up to do in what may be a compact offseason.
In this era of COVID, a number of people he is meeting for the first time is being done so through a computer screen.
Even the players he spoke to on Thursday such as Bobrovsky and Sasha Barkov, were done on a video call.
It is not the way Zito wants to go about things but, at least when it came to Bobrovsky, he didn’t have to introduce himself.
Below is the conversation I had with Zito — with bonus questions from my podcast (The Panthers Press Box) at the end.
BILL ZITO Q&A
How busy have the past couple of days been for you?
It has been a whirlwind. It’s funny, I spoke to Nicky (Foligno) last night and he was like ‘didn’t we just have our exit meeting on Monday?’ I was like, ‘yeah, I know.’ Crazy times. It has been surreal. But, wonderful nonetheless. Really exciting.
What are some of the first things on your Florida Panthers to-do list?
Assess and listen. Just try to get it. I don’t want to be knee jerk, don’t want to come in and think ‘oh I have all the answers.’ I want to find out what the people here think, get aligned. You remember when we came into Columbus, we had to get everybody collectively aligned.
Okay, what are the issues? What are the options available to us to begin to remedy them? And then, how do we do it together? So, the first thing to do is to assess what’s going on and to do it right. And to really interact meet people, say hello. I had a Zoom call this morning with the scouts and with the players, and I mean they were like five minutes long.
It was just to say ‘Hello, I’m Bill. I’m sorry I can’t meet you in person but I’d like to.’ I’m going to try to call everybody in person, have one-on-one calls but I have to get through the course of business as well. And it’s going to take me a while. But I just wanted to reach out and tell everybody that there’s a plan in place here, and we’ll get to you. Administratively, it’s daunting.
In your eyes — I know you came into your meetings with Matt Caldwell as well as Michael Viola and then Vinnie Viola with details — where do the Panthers stand as an organization?
Well, you’re gonna think that I’m full of fluff. But I came in the practice facility and I almost fell over. In fact, I said to Mike the strength coach, I said ‘I got to take pictures and text him to Jarmo and make fun of him because he’s gonna be jealous.’
Just how wonderful the facilities are, and how excited I am about this — sincerely — believing in the ability here to move forward.
Differences between the Panthers today and the Blue Jackets organization seven years ago?
I think that they’re similar but just generically. If you want to look at pieces of value, we’re a little bit ahead. But there were some pretty good pieces in Columbus. There’s some great pieces here. You have to make some adds, restock the depth. Jumpstart the kids and get some prospects in. Then there’s the development.
Back then, we moved teams from Springfield to Cleveland and here, they’ve just moved from Springfield to Charlotte. We’re going to have to populate Charlotte with prospects and develop them. So there are a few similarities, similar paths of responsibility with regard to work that we have to focus on.
On a personal note how did the family respond? Ohio is all your kids really know. They fired up for Florida?
Well, at first they were shocked. Like, they were really shocked. And then it probably took … I was sad with their initial reaction. So then I had to start selling it: ‘You guys, we could buy an elephant! We’re going to parasail! We’ll buy a submarine!’ I was grasping for anything I could think of.
Then, after about an hour and a half, they were like ‘there’s the beach, the palm trees.’ We were playing and they said ‘They have dolphins!’
We’re big Disney people so they were excited to learn we could now drive to Disney. So, they came around. They’re great kids who have been through an awful lot in the last couple of years.
Going to miss Columbus?
I can speak for my family; part of my soul is, for sure, going to be in Columbus. I don’t know about you, but for sure part of my soul is there. That’s a special place. For Jules and the kids too.
This is a this is a new chapter and a new adventure for the family and stuff, but exciting and we’re really enthusiastic and excited. I can’t sleep. I woke up at 3 this morning. I couldn’t sleep.
Any thoughts on potential trades or is that something that comes from talking to other GMs around the league?
You’ve got to go through the process. It’s funny. In my experience over the last seven seasons, many times the trades that you end up — either executing or gaining traction on — are not the ones that you set out looking for. They just sort of happened organically in the course of discussions. So you’re right. You have to have those discussions with GMs and teams and things happen.
I think right now with the volatility of the world, this may or may not be reflected in this marketplace as well. In addition to the flat cap, you have financial conditions of franchises. There’s a new CBA and perhaps there are teams who did not necessarily plan for there to be this flat cap and all the myriad of other things that go into it.
I was gonna say it’ll be the Wild Wild West, but I think that’s a poor characterization. I just think that we don’t necessarily know what the landscape is going to be and you’re right that once we get involved, we’ll get some more certainty as to what’s out there.
Some potential bargains to be found among this year’s free agents perhaps?
You can always do that. We just have to be thorough and prepared and then there’s always value players to be found. Well, not always — but frequently.
On the AHL side, you ran the Cleveland team for a few years with great success both on the ice and for the parent team. What are looking to do in Charlotte?
I don’t know yet. That’s one that I have to really sink my teeth into and work with the people here and see. You know I haven’t done a thorough assessment to see where they were. The one thing is, we have to get the draft right; we’ve got to get picks and prospects in there, and then move forward and put a put a solid development model. It has to yield future NHL players down the road. That’s the goal right?
There’s a reason everybody says ‘draft and develop.’ The draft is an opportunity to get those assets for free and you get them and you make them, you maximize what they are as players and people. And then you plug them in.
And so that’s incumbent upon us to do it and to do it right. We know the formula, because we’ve done it. And now we just have to execute and get those draft picks and get them in there.
The development part is fun. You get to watch guys get better and, if you get the right guys and the right character, they’ll develop and make it to the NHL. I remember Oliver Bjorkstrand when he finally made it and, you know, it’s wonderful. Part of the fun of this job is the people part.
Will Eric Joyce remain GM of the AHL team?
Well, that’s one of the things talking about right now. I’m just trying to figure out who does around here to begin with. I saw Roberto Luongo and I asked him ‘So, what do you do?’ No, that’s a joke.
But I’m trying to sit down and ascertain what role everybody plays. And then, efficiently, we will move forward with sort of the vision that I have in the most efficient way to run things.
Anyone you know around the league or with the Blue Jackets who you would like to bring down here?
I’m not positive. The one thing that I want to do is, if we’re going to hire someone or put someone in, my philosophy would be to get the best possible person not just the person I know.
So, now, the person I know maybe the best possible person, but I just want to be sure.
What’s your thoughts on signing a player to an offer sheet?
I can make both arguments. So you might get me one day and I’ll say ‘well it’s part of the CBA, and you can use it and exploit it.’ But on another day, culturally in this league, is it something you want to do? It is acceptable because it is part of the CBA and people do use it. On a case by case basis, you have to evaluate.
Florida has five unrestricted free agents. Are you leaning toward signing any of them?
I have a few thoughts of my own but I obviously need to get with everybody collectively to find out where everybody stands. Get with the scouts and the coaching staff and make an organizational decision.
PODCAST QUESTIONS
Could you put into words your excitement level for being in charge of your own NHL team?
It’s humbling and very exciting. It’s also daunting. There’s going to be a lot of hard work and I am not afraid of hard work. I know what’s in front of me and I am filled with excitement and enthusiasm. Last night I was just exhausted and still woke up at 3 a.m. I couldn’t go back to bed. I had to start writing my ideas down. I suspect that’s going to be my fate for the next few nights.
On NHL Network you mentioned an eight-hour meeting with Vinnie Viola. That’s a long meeting.
That was a marathon. But it was fun. It was really engaging, fun, a lot of interaction. It was neat. That’s the most appropriate word to explain it.
Your thoughts on working with Joel Quenneville?
The excitement level is considerable. I have said this a few times the past few days: The best path to follow, someone told me on a call the other day, is that no one listened themselves into trouble. When you have someone of that acumen, of that level of achievement, I’m gonna listen. I’m going to listen and learn — and act later.
The Panthers had a lot of expectations last season that they didn’t live up to. Where do you see the organization at right now?
If you maximize the potential of every player, it’s a pretty good group right? I don’t think everyone clicks at 100 percent all the time and that’s unrealistic. But, boy, if these guys could just will themselves, prepare themselves as professionals to get there, this is a pretty good group. I’m real optimistic.
You obviously know Sergei Bobrovsky; could you talk about how big a role he plays in the future of the Panthers?
The guy is a Vezina Trophy winner right? I mean, guys have ebbs and flows, ups and downs. I can’t speak to his season last year because I wasn’t here. But I can speak to his preparation and professionalism of which you are full aware.
I have never seen anyone work as hard or prepare as hard as he does. I can also speak to his person and how much he cares. This is a guy who takes his craft very seriously. I don’t shrug off guys who have down (years), but if there is anyone who is going to be at his best, it’s Bob. You’re telling me I have a Vezina Trophy goalie who cares as much as he does, who prepares as much as he does? I feel pretty good about it.
How did your Zoom meeting with the players go?
I spoke to Bob, spoke to Sasha. And then I Zoomed the other players. I am going to try and call everyone individually but I just don’t have the time right now. I just wanted to tell them that and basically apologize for the state that we’re in right now.
We live in this Zoom universe but I will do it appropriately. But I just wanted to say hello, introduce myself.