I am watching the last period of Florida Panthers hockey this season. For the 9th straight year the Panthers aren’t making the playoffs. This was the best Panthers season since 1999-2000. For once the reason the Panthers didn’t make the playoffs because of inconsistent effort and a lack of talent. This year the Panthers had good effort but did not have enough talent to make the playoffs. Two areas where talent can win a team games is the power play and the shootout. The Panthers had the 24th best power play in the league and they went 3-8 in the shootout. If the Panthers were just a little better in the shootout or the power play then they would have made the playoffs.
The Panthers simply weren’t good enough. The Panthers had to play their A game every night to make the playoffs. It is impossible over an 82 game season for everybody on a NHL team to play their A game every night. I don’t want to continue going over what went wrong with the season. There were two stretches that killed the team, the first 13 games of the season and the 10 games a couple of weeks ago when the team lost 8 of 10. So enough with that and let’s see who is staying and who is going?
The team’s unrestricted free agents are:
Jay Bouwmeester – It’s pretty much accepted around the hockey world that Jay Bouwmeester is leaving the Panthers this summer. I would have been okay with this if he had played better in the 10 games after the deadline when the Panthers fell apart. This was not Jay’s best year. He did not play well for very long stretches of the season while in other games he was a world class defenceman. I don’t know if he is worth $7 million a year for 6 or 7 years. I think he would me more effective if he played 24-25 minutes instead of 27 minutes a game. I can’t blame the guy for leaving though. He hasn’t played in a NHL playoff game. I hope he signs with a Western Conference team.
Nick Boynton – Since Steve Eminger is in the lineup tonight and Boynton was suspended by the team for arguing with Peter DeBoer. Boynton played fine when he was on the ice for the team but I think the trade for Eminger and the return of Bryan Allen next year means that he won’t be back.
Karlis Skrastins – Skrastins was prone to defensive miscues, especially around his own net but he was a solid player otherwise and was excellent at blocking shots. I can see Jacques Martin trying to re-sign Karlis but I’m not sure if he will be willing to spend much more than the $2.4 million that he made this season.
Jassen Cullimore – Cullimore played this year mainly because Allen was hurt early in the year and the Panthers did not trust Noah Welch to be the 6th defenceman. Cullimore gave the Panthers what they expected but wore down as the year went on and showed that he doesn’t have any puck skills and doesn’t play well in space. I don’t think he will be back with the Panthers.
Richard Zednik – Zednik was a great story this year coming back from a life threatening neck injury to play a full season except for one stint on the injured list in December. He gave the Panthers what you would expect from him with 17 goals. I don’t think Zednik will be back because he’s not really a third or fourth line player in that he’s not that effective of a defensive player. The Panthers are also hoping that Olesz and Frolik and maybe Michael Repik will take over a top 6 role. I hope he does catch on somewhere else though and plays well.
Radek Dvorak – I thought Radek played really well this year as a third line forward. He was very good on the PK and gave the Panthers what you would want from a third line winger. I think the Panthers are going to try and keep their third line together and will re-sign Dvorak and Peltonen to play with Campbell. This third line was one of the better third lines in the league this past year.
Ville Peltonen – Ville was a tough player for the Panthers this year, playing through injuries throughout the year. As with Dvorak I think the Panthers bring Ville back for one year at a reasonable number so the Panthers can keep the third line together.
Craig Anderson – This is an interesting case. I can’t see Craig Anderson coming back this summer. Why would he come back when he will probably have a better chance of being a starting goalie elsewhere. I don’t think the Panthers will trade Vokoun this summer becuase of his contract and the fact Vokoun has a no-trade clause. Anderson at his best could be a solid #1 goalie and at worst would be a great part of a two goalie system. If I’m the LA Kings I’m offering a contract to Craig Anderson.
The team’s restricted free agents of note are:
David Booth – The Panthers have to keep David Booth. If he leaves because the Panthers do not match an offer sheet then the team should trade each and every one of their veterans and start from scratch. Booth scored 31 goals in 72 games this year which was 8 goals more than anyone else on the team. He will be back and will probably take up most of the cap room saved from Bouwmeester leaving.
Anthony Stewart – I loved Anthony Stewart’s work ethic this year. He will eventually be an effective third line winger. I am not sure if he will realize this future in Florida though. The Panthers will have Campbell, Tarnasky, Kreps, Matthias and maybe Dvorak and Peltonen to play on the third and fourth lines. Brett McLean may be back as well so it might be best for Anthony to get a shot with another organization.
Steve Eminger – Eminger scored his first goal as a Panther tonight. As long as his salary demands are not unreasonable I think he will be back as the Panthers sixth defenceman next year. Hopefully he will take a step forward like Campbell and Weiss who also played for DeBoer as a junior.
The only potential buy-out I could see is Brett McLean who did not have a strong season.
So if who I think is staying and leaving is right then the 2009-2010 Panthers lineup will look like:
Forwards:
Stillman – Weiss – Frolik
Booth – Horton – Olesz
Peltonen – Campbell – Dvorak
Repik/Matthias/McLean/Tarnasky/Kreps
Defence:
Ballard – McCabe
Allen – Skrastins
Eminger/Ellerby/Garrison
Goalies
Vokoun – ? (Shantz, Plante?)
Does this team make the playoffs next year? I don’t know. Frolik/Olesz and maybe one of the other young forwards will have to continue to develop. A real key to next year will be Nathan Horton. He has to produce more than 22 goals next year. The Panthers will have to find a backup goaltender and probably one more depth defenceman in case Ellerby or Garrison isn’t ready.
This is going to be an interesting offseason to say the least. The Panthers could either take a big step forward and make the playoffs next year and even cause some damage in the playoffs or they could take a step back and fall behind Buffalo, Toronto, Tampa and even Atlanta for playoff contention.
We will see. One more reason that sports suck is the fact that the Indians haven’t won yet this year. You can’t win a playoff spot in April but you can sure as heck lose one. Let’s hope that the Indians pitching staff steps it up so they don’t fall too far behind in the AL Central.
Thanks for reading.
