The Florida Panthers were one of the busiest teams in the off season in terms of signings and trades. Acquiring guys like Kris Versteeg, Ed Jovanovski, and Scottie Upshall. This was mainly done to reach the NHL salary cap floor. But with all of these quality players are the Panthers actually a playoff team from it?
My initial reaction was along the lines of "ahahahaha F**K NO!" now its more like "ehhhh maybe?"
Lets see how the lines would look in my eyes:
Line 1:
David Booth - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg
Line 2:
Sean Bergenheim - Tomas Fleishmann - Jack Skille
Line 3:
Tim Kennedy - Marcel Goc - Scottie Upshall
Line 4:
Tomas Kopecky - Ryan Carter - Bill Thomas/Steve Bernier (if either gets re-signed)
Bubble forwards: Evgeny Dadonov, Scott Timmins, Michal Repik
I actually like this group of forwards. Its a good mix of speed, scoring and two-way ability. The top 3 RWs can all be interchangeable and Versteeg and Fleishmann can play any forward position. My favorite line would have to be the 2nd line of Bergenheim/Fleishmann/Skille. All are solid 2-way players with lots of speed and skill. The LW is very strong as well with Booth, Bergenheim, Kennedy and Kopecky. Kopecky would be 3rd line but I don't think Kennedy or Dadonov would be 4th liners. But, if Bergenheim struggles then he and Kopecky switch or Bergenheim and Kennedy switch. The center position kind of drops of after Weiss and Feishmann, with Goc and Carter but with the 3rd and 4th lines you don't need anything spectacular.
Now on to the defensive pairings:
Defensive Pairing 1:
Ed Jovanovski - Dmitry Kulikov
Defensive Pairing 2:
Brian Campbell - Keaton Ellerby
Defensive Pairing 3:
Nolan Yonkman - Mike Weaver
Bubble defensemen: Tyson Strachan, Jason Garrison
I also like this defense corps. Jovanovski is a great veteran leader to help develop budding star Dmitry Kulikov. Veteran Brian Campbell would help Kulikov as well as they would likely be together on the powerplay considering their natural offensive instincts. He will also be able to teach young defenseman Keaton Ellerby. Nolan Yonkman and Mike Weaver round out the group as solid but not spectacular defensemen. Now the goalies.
Starting Goalie:
Jose Theodore
Back-up:
Scott Clemmensen
Bubble goalie: Jacob Markstrom
This ones pretty simple. Let Theodore start the year if he struggles, let Clemmensen take over and if Markstrom dominates the AHL call him up and let him be the starter.
Now after looking at all that the big question is: Can all the new guys mesh together? There are a lot of new faces and it'll be interesting in Florida this year for once.
My prediction: Just miss the playoffs.
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