Record - 58-18-6 (122 points), 1st in the Atlantic Division
Goals For: 340 (1stin the NHL), Goals Against: 246 (13th in the NHL)
Leading Goal Scorer - Aleksander Barkov (39)
Leading Point Scorer - Jonathan Huberdeau (115)
If you had told me a year ago that the Florida Panthers would win 58 games and take home the President's Trophy I would have told you were crazy. I knew they had a great team, but I didn't think they'd be the best team in the regular season. It's been struggle for the most part for the organization, and this Panthers team was on a mission to flip the script. After going all in last year as well as some questionable moves this offseason, I'm not sure how likely they will be able to replicate their record breaking season from a year ago.
The team started out on a hot streak winning their first seven games. Then their future Hall of Fame head coach Joel Quenneville resigned in the wake of the scandal with the Chicago Blackhawks. Quenneville's assistant coach Andrew Brunette took over and picked up right where Q left off. He would lead the team to win 51 games over the rest of the season with an unmatched arsenal of scoring. They led the league in goals by a ton (25 to be exact). They had the most come from behind victories in the NHL with 29. In five of those comeback wins the Panthers found themselves down by at least three goals. They scored three or more goals in a game more than they were shutout. They were exceptional on the road and even better at home winning 34 of the 41 games played in BB&T Center. It seemed like every player had the best season of their career. Thirteen guys scored at least 10 goals with four breaking 30. When they scored, they scored in bunches completely eliminating any hope their opponents had on winning the game. They had a big obstacle in front of them, though. Something that's been looming over them for years.
We always talk about the Maple Leafs losing every playoff series they've played in since 2004, but the Florida Panthers winless drought dates back even further. Before this most recent postseason, the Florida Panthers' last playoff series win came in the 1996 Conference Finals where they upset the powerhouse Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. Because of this as well as having the best team in hockey there was more pressure on the team than ever. GM Bill Zito made several moves at the deadline to go all in on this hand. The trades proved to be successful at least in the short run as the Panthers finished the season with a 16-4 record after the deadline and a first round matchup against the Capitals awaiting them.
The Panthers were far from their best selves in the series against Washington. They were able to come back and win in six games after being down 2-1, but they didn't play the high flying brand of hockey we were used to seeing from them. Their powerplay was an utter mess and their penalty kill wasn't much better. Many of their top scorers were silent with the exception of a couple. What ended up saving them was their defense. After a brutal 6-1 loss in the Game 3 the Panthers locked it in. They gave up just 16 shots in the Game 4 overtime win and kept the puck out of the high danger areas the rest of the way. The Capitals came close a few times in the overtime period in Game 6, but Carter Verhaeghe wound up being the hero they needed to seal the deal. Verhaeghe was everywhere in this series putting up 12 points, so it was only fitting that he was the one to finish the job. The Cats finally got the monkey off their backs and advanced to the second round for the first time in 26 years.
Next up, the back to back defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts were coming off of an epic seven game showdown against the Maple Leafs. They were fresh and had momentum having come back in the series after facing elimination. This matchup against their in-state rivals ended up being a cakewalk for them. The Panthers' sloppiness from the Washington series carried over in the worst way possible. After having to most potent offense in all of hockey, the Cats scored just 3 goals in the four game sweep against the Lightning. Sergei Bobrovsky did all he could to keep his team afloat, but the team gave him no scoring support whatsoever. On the other end, Tampa's Andrei Vasilevskiy was unbeatable, stopping 98% of the shots that Florida put on him. Florida was finally able to score on the powerplay, but it ended up being their lone goal on the man advantage all postseason. The moment was just too big for them, and a historic season that may not ever be repeated went spiraling down the drain.
I didn't know what to expect out of the Panthers this offseason, but I certainly didn't foresee them bringing in a new head coach. Andrew Brunette was fantastic for them when he took over for Quenneville. I mean, he won 50 games and was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award for crying out loud. Did Bill Zito think the team would win that much regardless of who was coaching? Did he think that if it were someone else behind the bench his team takes down the defending champs? That had to be part of the reasoning because I can't come up with any logical reason to not bring Brunette back for another go at it. Not long after announcing Brunette was not coming back, Zito hired Paul Maurice to take the helm. Maurice is a legend of the game. He's seventh on the all time wins list, and is one of three coaches to win at least 300 games with multiple franchises. It's a tremendous coach, and I'm looking forward to see what he has in store for his new team.
Something else I wasn't expecting out of Zito was trading for Matthew Tkachuk. After breaking the franchise record for points in a single season, the Panthers traded Jonathan Huberdeau along with MacKenzie Weegar to the Calgary Flames for the 24 year old all star. Tkachuk immediately signed an eight-year $76 million contract to keep him in the Sunshine State through 2030. I love the Tkachuk. He's a guy you hate to play against but would do anything to bring on your team. The Rat King is coming off of his best season where he became the first in his family to record a 100 point season. He'll more than likely be in that range for years to come playing on a line with Aleksander Barkov.
While I love the player, I hate the trade. It became known around the league that Tkachuk wasn't going to resign with the Flames when his contract expired. Normally when a team is put in that kind of predicament they settle for less just so they can get something of value in return and move on. Bill Zito sent the house. To send not only the highest point scorer in your franchise's history, but your second best defenseman and a conditional first round pick as well is absurd. Huberdeau and a first round pick for Tkachuk is more than a fair trade in my eyes. There's no reason to send Weegar unless he was letting Zito know behind the scenes that he was not going to resign next summer. When you look at this trade along with the moves at the trade deadline, the Panthers gave away Huberdeau, Weegar, Owen Tippett and three consecutive years of first round picks to get Tkachuk and two rentals in Ben Chiarot and Claude Giroux in return. Not great.
The Panthers still have a lot of firepower up front and they have a star studded tandem in goal, but their defense really concerns me. If Ekblad goes down, which has unfortunately been the case the past two seasons, who will step up and be the guy? It was Weegar, but now he's in Calgary. Right now the Cats' left side on defense consists of Gustav Forsling, Marc Staal, and Lucas Carlsson. I'm honestly have no clue how that's going to hold up over 82 games. On top of that, how will Paul Maurice split the workload in net? Spencer Knight is the future, but Sergei Bobrovsky is their $10 million man. That isn't a bad problem to have in my opinion, but it still bodes a question. This group doesn't scare me the way they did last year. I still believe they're playoff bound, but they aren't a team I think can make any noise once they get there. With some up and coming teams in the East this year, it wouldn't shock me that by the end of it these Cats lose one of their nine lives.
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