For Panther fans, the news out of Sunrise last week was nothing short of shocking. Despite the fact the Panthers are losing approximately $20 million per year, new owner Vinnie Viola told GM Dale Tallon he is free to spend to the salary cap limit this summer to bring in elite talent.
In South Florida, this is unfortunately the way it works. Fans won't show up unless the teams are winning. Between the Heat's championship in 2006 and Lebron's arrival, attendance was dismal at the AAA. Now it's the hottest ticket in South Florida, because naturally people are homers and will attach themselves to winners to feel better about themselves.
Looking at the teams currently in South Florida, there is a lot of pain down there.
But if there is one thing South Florida has shown, it absolutely will come out and support the Panthers if they are succeeding. For a southern hockey market, the fans are just as passionate and knowledgeable about the game as anywhere else. Their playoff run and first round matchup against the Devils two years ago showed as much.
When Pavel Bure came to town in the late 90s, people came out from all over to see him play. He was certainly worth the price of admission. Yes that was still on the heels of the magical '96 Cup run, but there are no shortage of Panther fans in the area.
The Panthers are about to lose just over $17 million off the books after this season and the cap will rise to over $70 million. That will leave Tallon with roughly $35-40 million to spend starting July 1st.
The last time Tallon had the type of freedom he overhauled a pathetic roster with 10 new players at the beginning of free agency in 2011. That new roster then won the first division title in franchise history and were within a goal in double overtime in Game 7 against the Devils from advancing to the 2nd round(damn you, Henrique!)
With Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, and Nick Bjugstad growing into future stars in this league, as well as Erik Gudbranson, Alex Petrovic, Dylan Olsen, and Mike Matheson being the blue line of the future, an infusion of top talent to this core could pay immediate dividends.
Interim head coach Peter Horachek has already done great work in turning this team's results and mindset around since arriving in early November. It is still unclear if he will be retained and Tallon is taking a wait-and-see approach. But even if he is let go the new coach will be thrilled to have the current young guns combined with bonafide acquired talent going into next year.
The days of penny pinching and wishing on a star, at least for now, are over. It would not be shocking to see Tallon pull some big deals at the trading deadline this season as well.
Dan Spiegel...
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