The Tampa Bay Lightning are now members of the Atlantic Division, with new rivals and of course some old ones. Today we preview the Florida Panthers with the help of Puck Daddy.
2013: 15-27-6. 15th in East.
CURRENT SALARIES: $56,240,375 (see full breakdown at capgeek.com)
DEPARTURES: Stephen Weiss, Jack Skille, George Parros, Tyson Strachan.
ARRIVALS: Aleksander Barkov, Bobby Butler, Joey Crabb, Mike Mottau, Matt Gilroy
FORWARDS: Tied with Nashville for the league’s worst offense (2.27 goals per game), the Panthers are hoping the injury bug doesn’t strike again and that their kids take next steps. Calder Trophy winner Jonathan Huberdeau (14 goals, 31 points) added some muscle in the summer while recovering from off-season hip surgery. No. 2 overall pick Aleksander Barkov is expected to be in the lineup on opening night and contribute to a limp offense. Florida surprised many by passing over Seth Jones and Jonathan Drouin and drafting Barkov. Will we see what Tallon and his staff saw? (Puck Daddy)
DEFENSEMEN: Injuries forced head coach Kevin Dineen to play 13 different defensemen last season. That, in effect, helped the Panthers finished 30th in goals allowed (3.54 per game). Brian Campbell was third in team scoring with 27 points and will again be looked at to carry a heavy load. He’s played the most minutes of his career in his two seasons with the Panthers.
Aside from Campbell, a healthy Erik Gudbranson and Dmitry Kulikov (10 points, 20:58 TOI) give the Panthers something for the future (both are RFAs after this season). (Puck Daddy)
GOALIES: Is Jacob Markstrom the guy or not? That appeared to be the case once the Roberto Luongo talk died down, but now comes news that the Panthers have sent out camp invites to both Tim Thomas and Ilya Bryzgalov after backup Scott Clemmensen went down with an injury. It remains to be seen if either will accept, but the 23-year old Markstrom has been waiting his turn and given the outlook for the current season, what’s the harm in letting him grab the reigns full-time now? (Puck Daddy) Note: Tim Thomas has accepted the invite.
SCHEDULE VERSUS LIGHTNING: @Tampa Bay October 10, @Florida October 27, @Florida November 23, @Tampa Bay March 13.
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