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Will Scottie Upshall Rebound From Disaster? |
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During last summer's massive roster overhaul by GM Dale Tallon, Scottie Upshall was added to the Florida Panthers with a hefty $14 million contract over four years. Eyebrows were raised across the NHL as that seemed like a humungous salary for a player who never had more than 34 points in a season, and was deemed injury prone.
Since his first full season with Philadelphia in 2007, he has never played more than 61 games until two years ago where he played all 82 games between Phoenix and Columbus. That was the Upshall Tallon hoped he'd be getting when he added him to the rest of the new additions. Unfortunately that was not the case.
Upshall, 29, missed 56 games last season due to sports hernia related issues and surgery. His 2 goals and 3 assists in 26 regular season games were hardly what Tallon and the Panthers were hoping for, and next season is huge for proving his worth to an organization that to this point grossly overpaid for his services.
To his credit, he returned toward the end of the season on March 21st, took several games to get into shape, and then became a solid contributor in the playoffs. His goal and 2 assists in seven games against the Devils were welcomed contributions and such a tight series. His gritty play and great chemistry in the locker room are exactly what Tallon wanted to bring to this club in bunches.
Is he worth $3.5 million a year? Probably not. Is that salary in large part due to Tallon having to hit the cap floor last summer? Absolutely. But there is potential for him to shine next year on the projected second line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Peter Mueller. The could be quite the intriguing combination if everyone gets over their health issues and plays a minimum of 70 games.
With an entire summer to heal and the hernia issue now fully behind him, will Upshall rebound in a big way or be known as one of the few busts in Tallon's historic spending spree?
Twitter @DanSpiegel
Florida Panthers Blogger • 
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