Assuming the defense-needing Avs take phenom Seth Jones with the #1 pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, it is likely Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon will take future #1 center Nathan MacKinnon at #2.
The ripple effect throughout the Panthers roster will be interesting to watch, as suddenly a team that was very weak up the middle for many years is now boasting quality talent.
A few more assumptions to be made is that Stephen Weiss will be moving on to another team as a UFA, and Shawn Matthias and Marcel Goc will be on the Panthers roster when training camp comes calling. While Marcel Goc is still on the books for another year at a very reasonable $1.7 million, Matthias is a RFA and earned a much needed raise from his $851,625 salary. An offer from the Panthers will be forthcoming in the coming weeks.
MacKinnon will likely be the most talented center on the team upon arrival, which would leave Matthias, Goc, Drew Shore, and Nick Bjugstad as the remaining players to man the middle over lines 2-4. Who is the odd man out?
Shore was supposed to be a fill in at the beginning of the season while other players rehabbed injuries, but he played well enough to earn a full time spot. His 3 goals and 10 assists in 43 games doesn't tell the tale to how well he played most of the year. He was snakebit quite a bit throughout the season, and could have easily had closer to 10 goals. As with any young player, his -10 rating shows he has more learning to do, but he definitely earned his spot on the team for next year.
Nick Bjugstad turned pro after his hockey year ended at Minnesota. The hulking, 6'6", 220 lb. rookie was able to get 11 games in as a Panther, and finally scored his first NHL goal in the last game of the season at Tampa. That was his only point in mostly limited and 4th line minutes.
He showed he might need some time to season a bit in the AHL, and in this numbers game it appears he may be destined for a year in San Antonio while the Panthers continue to turn over their roster with talented youth. He would likely be the first call up in an injury situation.
Of course they could move him to wing to take some pressure off of him, but I'm not sure head coach Kevin Dineen would be comfortable moving most of the wingers on this team to center in that scenario.
What do you think? Is Bjugstad the odd man out? Should Tallon not re-sign or trade Matthias to make room for Bjugstad? Trade Goc? These are definitely some interesting questions, and since Tallon has been very quiet on the personnel front for a few years he may be itching to shake things up a bit.
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