Dan Spiegel: Panthers Reward Their Record-Setting Core

There's an excitement I feel for this team that's equivalent to how I feel about the Oilers. I'm excited to have found an Eastern team that I can wholeheartedly cheer for and follow!

All hail Trocheck!

I like the moves to a point. Shall I assess a "grade" to each position? Well, since you asked......

Center: We were A+ last season and we stayed the same this off season. When Barkov, Trocheck, Bjugstad, and MacKenzie are your four centers, you're gonna have a nice time.

Wing: I'm mixing up RW/LW here. We had some decent wing play last season. Huberdeau, Jagr, Smith, and Jussi Jokinen provided some solid top four winger numbers. The problem was the bottom six wingers, more specifically the third line wingers. We didn't address them via free agency. Now, my suspicion is guys like Marchessault, Crouse, Rau, MacCann, and Sceviour will be left to battle it out for the wing spots next to Bgusted, but nothing there is proven. Certainly Marchessault/Sceviour/Crouse are "built" for 4th line time as well, so we definitely will improve our 4th line winger rotation. However, 3rd line wing was our most glaring hole last season and we didn't really address it. So this gets a C-; partially because I really like Crouse and Marchessault and hope at least one of them get s a spot there (pretty sure McCann is locked in for 3rd line).

Defense: Welp, you can't NOT give the ACQUISITIONS an A+ here. You lose Gudbranson, Mitchell, Kulikov and Gudbranson only to replace them with Yandle, Demers, and Pysyk. We're gearing our selves up for the full-time play of Mike Matheson, Ian McCoshen, or perhaps someone else in the very near future. Now, while I gave the acquisitions an A+, I have to give "future planning" a big fat F. Why? Because as of right now either Aaron Ekblad or Jason Demers would HAVE TO be exposed in the expansion draft. Certainly, it's pretty easy to choose Demers here. However, we clearly want him to be a part of this team long-term. If we signed him only to expose him, why give him a five-year deal? Why not a two year deal or a three year deal? I suspect we extend Petrovic and expose him. We could also do this with Kampfer or Kindl as well. One of those three will be the leper. While there is plenty of time to figure that out, it seems like something that you want want dealt with now rather than later. I don't like loose ends so maybe I am being picky.

Goaltending: all hail our immediate future in net: James Reimer. I know I know, weird, right? I applaud the Panthers for addressing the AHL starting goaltender spot AND the #1B spot here. Luongo needs more rest and Reimer is a goalie who can play 30 plus games. He's also definitely someone who we plan on replacing Luongo for a couple years, and I suspect we protect him in expansion and expose Luongo. Does Vegas take a chance and swipe Lu? Maybe. He'll be another year older, pushing 40. I didn't mind trading Grimaldi for Bera; Grimaldi had no place here anymore. Now long term, we're looking at Sam Montembeault as the most likely goaltender in the system turning into a legit #1. Goalies are voodoo, and with guys like Cowley, Brittain, Flagerbom, and Stevens in the system, it's impossible to tell which of them will develop. That's why having Reimer here as a backstop is so key. A+.

Prospects: I love our prospect pool. I think we have such a solid crop of players coming up. It's why I believe this is the last season for Jagr and Thornton. I also believe Jussi Jokinen and Derek MacKenzie will be gone at the end of their deals. Just some names off the top of my head: Crouse, Hawrlyuk, Hunt, Lammikko, Malgin, Borgstrom, Mascherin at forward... McCoshen, Hulstrom, Weegar on D.... I already mentioned the goaltenders above. Certainly not all of these kids will play this season. With injuries however we may begin to see them being called up. A+ and if these guys are managed right A+++++++++++

Projected line up? SURE!

Huberdeau*-Barkov-Jagr
Jokinen-Trocheck-Smith
Crouse-Bjugstad-McCann
Sceviour-MacKenzie-Marchessault

*= needs extension

Ekblad-Matheson
Yandle-Demers
Pysyk-Petro
Kindl-Kampfer

Luongo
Reimer

Thoughts/comments? FYI my kids are napping which is why I have the time to write all this.

Naysayer here...

That assistant equipment manager they fired will come back to haunt them.
The Cats led the league in sharply pressed jerseys, with just the right amount of starch.

It's all down hill from here.

Panthers 88, I'm sure you've seen a good deal of TB. With that in mind don't you think Marchessault can play 3rd line? Really solid 2 way game and enough skill to chip in.

Same with Sceviour. I'm sure they want McCann to play 3rd line and should give him a long look there but IMO either Marchessault or Sceviour have 3rd line capabilities.

You're gonna like McCoshen. Watched him play USHL for a couple years and IMO he's a Jacob Slavin with more skill. Think he'll be a top 4 guy when the time comes.

Projected line up? SURE!

Huberdeau*-Barkov-Jagr
Jokinen-Trocheck-Smith
Crouse-Bjugstad-McCann
Sceviour-MacKenzie-Marchessault

*= needs extension

Ekblad-Matheson
Yandle-Demers
Pysyk-Petro
Kindl-Kampfer

Luongo
Reimer


- Panthers88

I plugged that lineup into NHL07 on my PS2.
My TV melted and my gaming system is stuck in a fatal loop.

Maybe your team is pretty good, or maybe I need to update my gaming hardware... time will tell my friend, time will tell.

blame it on the officiating!

I like the moves to a point. Shall I assess a "grade" to each position? Well, since you asked......

Center: We were A+ last season and we stayed the same this off season. When Barkov, Trocheck, Bjugstad, and MacKenzie are your four centers, you're gonna have a nice time.

Wing: I'm mixing up RW/LW here. We had some decent wing play last season. Huberdeau, Jagr, Smith, and Jussi Jokinen provided some solid top four winger numbers. The problem was the bottom six wingers, more specifically the third line wingers. We didn't address them via free agency. Now, my suspicion is guys like Marchessault, Crouse, Rau, MacCann, and Sceviour will be left to battle it out for the wing spots next to Bgusted, but nothing there is proven. Certainly Marchessault/Sceviour/Crouse are "built" for 4th line time as well, so we definitely will improve our 4th line winger rotation. However, 3rd line wing was our most glaring hole last season and we didn't really address it. So this gets a C-; partially because I really like Crouse and Marchessault and hope at least one of them get s a spot there (pretty sure McCann is locked in for 3rd line).

Defense: Welp, you can't NOT give the ACQUISITIONS an A+ here. You lose Gudbranson, Mitchell, Kulikov and Gudbranson only to replace them with Yandle, Demers, and Pysyk. We're gearing our selves up for the full-time play of Mike Matheson, Ian McCoshen, or perhaps someone else in the very near future. Now, while I gave the acquisitions an A+, I have to give "future planning" a big fat F. Why? Because as of right now either Aaron Ekblad or Jason Demers would HAVE TO be exposed in the expansion draft. Certainly, it's pretty easy to choose Demers here. However, we clearly want him to be a part of this team long-term. If we signed him only to expose him, why give him a five-year deal? Why not a two year deal or a three year deal? I suspect we extend Petrovic and expose him. We could also do this with Kampfer or Kindl as well. One of those three will be the leper. While there is plenty of time to figure that out, it seems like something that you want want dealt with now rather than later. I don't like loose ends so maybe I am being picky.

Goaltending: all hail our immediate future in net: James Reimer. I know I know, weird, right? I applaud the Panthers for addressing the AHL starting goaltender spot AND the #1B spot here. Luongo needs more rest and Reimer is a goalie who can play 30 plus games. He's also definitely someone who we plan on replacing Luongo for a couple years, and I suspect we protect him in expansion and expose Luongo. Does Vegas take a chance and swipe Lu? Maybe. He'll be another year older, pushing 40. I didn't mind trading Grimaldi for Bera; Grimaldi had no place here anymore. Now long term, we're looking at Sam Montembeault as the most likely goaltender in the system turning into a legit #1. Goalies are voodoo, and with guys like Cowley, Brittain, Flagerbom, and Stevens in the system, it's impossible to tell which of them will develop. That's why having Reimer here as a backstop is so key. A+.

Prospects: I love our prospect pool. I think we have such a solid crop of players coming up. It's why I believe this is the last season for Jagr and Thornton. I also believe Jussi Jokinen and Derek MacKenzie will be gone at the end of their deals. Just some names off the top of my head: Crouse, Hawrlyuk, Hunt, Lammikko, Malgin, Borgstrom, Mascherin at forward... McCoshen, Hulstrom, Weegar on D.... I already mentioned the goaltenders above. Certainly not all of these kids will play this season. With injuries however we may begin to see them being called up. A+ and if these guys are managed right A+++++++++++

Projected line up? SURE!

Huberdeau*-Barkov-Jagr
Jokinen-Trocheck-Smith
Crouse-Bjugstad-McCann
Sceviour-MacKenzie-Marchessault

*= needs extension

Ekblad-Matheson
Yandle-Demers
Pysyk-Petro
Kindl-Kampfer

Luongo
Reimer

Thoughts/comments? FYI my kids are napping which is why I have the time to write all this.
- Panthers88

When is mom expected back?

Panthers 88, I'm sure you've seen a good deal of TB. With that in mind don't you think Marchessault can play 3rd line? Really solid 2 way game and enough skill to chip in.

Same with Sceviour. I'm sure they want McCann to play 3rd line and should give him a long look there but IMO either Marchessault or Sceviour have 3rd line capabilities.

You're gonna like McCoshen. Watched him play USHL for a couple years and IMO he's a Jacob Slavin with more skill. Think he'll be a top 4 guy when the time comes.
- Mr Ricochet

Well, Marchessault was on record saying he was told he would get ice time and was brought here to help the scoring. I only put Crouse ahead of him because I know what Crouse can bring. He was our best player LAST off season and just had another amazing development camp. McCann cost us Gudbranson, I can't imagine he doesn't play. But if the bottom two lines were Marchessault-Bjugstad-McCann, Crouse-MacKenzie-Sceviour, I wouldn't mind. We roll four lines on a nightly basis.

blame it on the officiating!
- LItransplant44

Your mom dropped you on your head.

Very nice roster. Think the third line will be fine as well. It will depend a bit on how Jagr will perform the coming season, he's still good but you may miss some speed on that first line.

Record setting core that lost in 6 in the first round. This guy just gets worse and worse with the fluff garbage. We know. It was the officials fault

Record setting core that lost in 6 in the first round. This guy just gets worse and worse with the fluff garbage. We know. It was the officials fault
- BringNYIhome

You live and learn in this world. We know now that we need to rest Luongo and Jagr a bit more as they were both tired. We didn't have Trocheck for the first 3 or 4 games (I can't remember how many exactly) , and when he finally did come back we lost Bjugstad. Your personal vendetta against Dan is really sad.

Record setting core that lost in 6 in the first round. This guy just gets worse and worse with the fluff garbage. We know. It was the officials fault
- BringNYIhome

There's enough reason to think it only gets better from here. Play offs are something different than the regular season and next year they will have more experience. They surely will have a better shot than the Islanders upcoming season

There's enough reason to think it only gets better from here. Play offs are something different than the regular season and next year they will have more experience. They surely will have a better shot than the Islanders upcoming season
- DutchSenators

You live and learn in this world. We know now that we need to rest Luongo and Jagr a bit more as they were both tired. We didn't have Trocheck for the first 3 or 4 games (I can't remember how many exactly) , and when he finally did come back we lost Bjugstad. Your personal vendetta against Dan is really sad.
- Panthers88

Luongo was cooked two weeks before the season ended. Reimer might prove to be this seasons smartest acquisition.

There's enough reason to think it only gets better from here. Play offs are something different than the regular season and next year they will have more experience. They surely will have a better shot than the Islanders upcoming season
- DutchSenators

Both teams will certainly have a better shot than the Senators

You live and learn in this world. We know now that we need to rest Luongo and Jagr a bit more as they were both tired. We didn't have Trocheck for the first 3 or 4 games (I can't remember how many exactly) , and when he finally did come back we lost Bjugstad. Your personal vendetta against Dan is really sad.
- Panthers88

No it isn't. His blogs are stupid and childish. He shouldn't be permitted to write publicly. We won't rest until he quits

No it isn't. His blogs are stupid and childish. He shouldn't be permitted to write publicly. We won't rest until he quits
- BringNYIhome

If "stupid and childish" were indeed criteria from publicly banning opinion, you wouldn't be here.

No it isn't. His blogs are stupid and childish. He shouldn't be permitted to write publicly. We won't rest until he quits
- BringNYIhome

Jesus Christ.

No it isn't. His blogs are stupid and childish. He shouldn't be permitted to write publicly. We won't rest until he quits
- BringNYIhome

Good Grief. Will this troll just relax. Doesn't he have anything better to do with his life than just bash Dan.

No it isn't. His blogs are stupid and childish. He shouldn't be permitted to write publicly. We won't rest until he quits
- BringNYIhome

This is quite possibly the most pathetic comment I've ever read on this site... and that's REALLY saying something.

This may be the best team the Florida Panthers have ever put on the ice. I'm extremely excited for this season. And it's crazy to think how we basically traded smith for Hayes straight up given we dumped the savard contract after a year. Now if we can just dump the Bolland contract were gonna be looking really good.

This may be the best team the Florida Panthers have ever put on the ice. I'm extremely excited for this season. And it's crazy to think how we basically traded smith for Hayes straight up given we dumped the savard contract after a year. Now if we can just dump the Bolland contract were gonna be looking really good.
- Panthers4life

That will never happen lol. Only hope for his money is if we LTIR his contract.

For what it's worth, NHL.com predicts our opening night line up to be:

Huberdeau-Barkov-Jagr
Jokinen-Trocheck-Smith
Marchesault-Bjugstad-McCann
Crouse-MacKenzie-Sceviour

Ekblad-Yandle
Demers-Matheson
Pysyk-Petrovic

Luongo
Reimer