Florida Panthers Season Preview 2011-12
Few teams had quite the massive overhaul that Florida underwent during the offseason. GM Dave Tallon was determined to re-build this team from the ground up, and the result is a brand new looking roster. The Panthers had to over-pay a lot during the offseason, and still don’t appear to have top end talent at every position. New additions include: Brian Campbell, Ed Jovanovski and Nolan Yonkman on the blue-line; Sean Bergenheim, Matt Bradley, Tomas Fleischmann, Kris Versteeg, Marcel Goc, Scottie Upshal and Tomas Kopecky at forward; Jose Thedore also joins the team in net.
All of these additions have brought a lot of hope and expectation to the Panthers’ organisation with lots of talk surrounding the possibility of the team earning a playoff berth, but such talk seems just a little premature. Besides the fact that this roster will probably take two months to gel, this team also lost several useful players from its forward depth during the offseason including; Rostislav Olesz, Marty Reasoner and Sergei Samsonov (March deadline acquisition), and most crucially goaltender Tomas Vokoun. There seems little doubt that Tallon has this team moving in the right direction, but the process will be gradual, and a playoff place won’t be easy to earn in a much tougher Southeast division.
Forwards
The forward group will have a completely new-look on opening night. Jonathan Huberdeau looked set to earn a nine-game tryout, but was sent back to juniors this week leaving some question marks surrounding the make-up of the lines. Stephen Weiss and Kris Versteeg have formed a solid combination on the top line. Both are good two-way players and useful playmakers, it will be interesting to see who completes this line, it could potentially be a larger forward, perhaps David Booth or Jack Skille. Tomas Kopecky is another candidate for that line, though he could also find himself on the third line playing alongside Marcel Goc and Sean Bergenheim. Mike Santorelli starts the year injured, but will almost certainly be the team’s second or third line pivot depending on the success of Fleischmann at center. Fleischmann seems certain now to start the year as the second pivot. Wing options include Evgeni Dadonov, who has enjoyed a good camp, Booth, and Upshall.
The real conclusion that can be drawn from this is that new coach Kevin Dineen has a lot of options, and he will probably try them all out in October and November. The group will be rounded out by some combination of Shawn Matthias, Matt Bradley, Ryan Carter and whoever doesn’t make it into the top nine. Huberdeau’s training camp performance was still significant though, as the third overall pick cemented his reputation as the future face of this forward group. It will assure Tallon that if he can establish a solid supporting cast, the team has a genuine top prospect at the forward position.
Defense
The Panthers’ have a talented blue-line with some top end prospects starting to establish themselves. This group needs to improve its consistency if it is to cut down on a GAA made to look less bad by the outstanding work of Tomas Vokoun. Tallon will hope that new additions Jovanovski and Campbell provide depth and a veteran presence. Campbell will probably start on the top pair, though his partner is less certain at the moment. Talented 20-year old Dmitry Kulikov is a good candidate. Despite being just 20, Kulikov has two full seasons of NHL experience and could be primed to emerge as a premier defenseman on this deeper blue-line. He had 26 points last season, but his upside is higher still, and his combination of size and skating ability are to be envied.
Jovanovski is probably the most likely candidate to pair rookie standout Erik Gudbranson. Gudbranson made the team after a strong training camp and preseason; the third overall pick from 2010 has an exciting skill set and will get at least nine games, but is a good bet to stay the entirety of the season. Jay Garrison and Mike Weaver will probably round out the defense. The pair played well together on a weaker blue-line last season and should be an asset on a deeper unit. Keaton Ellerby is another exciting young talent to call-up in case of injuries, while Michael Kostka could earn the seventh spot on defense.
Goaltending
This is definitely an area of concern for the Panthers’, who could see a significant downgrade after receiving elite standard goaltending from Vokoun over the last few seasons. Theodore arrives as a free agent having played played 32 games for Minnesota last season; he posted a good .916 save percentage, but being the starter behind a completely new team playing for a new coach is a very different matter. Jacob Markstrom won the back-up goaltender position with Scott Clemmensen out. Markstrom is a top prospect for this organisation, and will hope that he has the opportunity in regular season games to earn a more permanent position on the roster. His performance will definitely be something to watch with interest in October and November.
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