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Does Scott Gomez Make The Panthers Better? (ripple effect)

August 3, 2013, 9:17 AM ET [66 Comments]
Dan Spiegel
Florida Panthers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
There was a reason Scott Gomez was available for $900,000. Just six seasons ago he was making $10 million per year, and it's been a rapid decline since. Last season he had 2 goals and 13 assists in 39 games for the Sharks.

So what does Gomez arriving in South Florida mean outside of the fact his last name makes him a perfect fit for this part of the country? The chain reaction could be interesting.

Assuming that the active American-born leader in assists(530) and points(701) makes the team, and plays center as he has done most of his career, some of the youngsters have to be wondering if there is a spot for them this season.

For all intents and purposes, Peter Mueller returning to the Panthers is not happening. Signing Gomez was definitely the cheaper option, as Mueller was probably looking for a $2-2.5 million salary. The suddenly super frugal Panthers could not meet those demands.

What happens to Drew Shore and Nick Bjugstad? The proper assumption would be that Barkov, Matthias, and Goc(probably in that order) are the top 3 centers. Does that make Gomez the 4th line center by default? He may not get a lot of press, but Goc does a lot of things right, and deserves at least 3rd line minutes.

Obviously it is much easier for a player to move from center to wing than vice versa, so maybe the plan is to move Shore to 3rd or 4th line wing and let Bjugstad season in San Antonio to start the year and be the first injury call up. Even though the hulking Bjugstad scored the first goal of his career in the season finale at Tampa, his youth showed in his 11-game stint with the Cats. More experience is needed to be a consistent contributor at the NHL level.

Perhaps Gomez's arrival creates a numbers game where Tallon would be more comfortable with trying to deal away one of the bad contracts on the squad(Upshall).

With players like Vincent Trocheck and Quinton Howden pushing for playing time as well, this might be one of the more competitive Panther camps in early September, but it's not as if 8 guys are competing for one or two spots.

Is Gomez coming to South Florida a good thing for the organization? If he can come through with 30-40 points at that salary it's a heck of a deal. Tallon is never soft spoken about keeping a nice balance of veteran leadership and youth in the locker room, and this signing falls in line with that. Gomez can find his name twice on the Stanley Cup, and at 33 years old there is certainly still some life in him.

Do you think Gomez can contribute in South Florida? Thanks for reading.

Dan Spiegel...
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