Your Florida Panthers look to continue their winning ways tonight against the
Vancouver Canucks. Despite being in 7th place of the Pacific Division and one
game over .500, the Canucks are a team who has benefited greatly from the hiring of
head coach Bruce Boudreau, who has them playing better hockey as of late.
The Panthers are back atop the Atlantic Division with a 23-7-5 record and will
have Sam Bennett back in the lineup after serving his three-game suspension
and are also expected to get Mason Marchment and Sam Reinhart back in time
for tonight's game after being released from the COVID list.
The story as of late has been the play of Florida's new Dynamic Duo: Anthony
Duclair and Jonathan Huberdeau. The pair has combined for 21 points (8G,
13A).
A great example of their chemistry was on display with the OT winner against Carolina where
Huby sauced a beautiful pass to the Duke, who made a great hand-eye
play to settle the puck, stay with it, and score. What a play!
When you add a third ingredient (Bennett) to this mix, you get the below stat
per
Jameson Olive stated as:
"
Over the 53:46 of ice time that Bennett, Huberdeau and Duclair have been
deployed together at 5-on-5 this season, the Panthers have led 37-29 in scoring
chances and 5-1 in goals, per Natura|StatTrick.com."
Once Horqvist can return from the COVID Protocol list, this team will be in full-
health and even scarier than they already are.
Brunette talkin’ about that depth:
"
I'm extremely fortunate to have the depth we have. We have five-plus [lines],
especially when you have Hepo [Aleksi Heponiemi] coming in and playing the
way he did. Marchy is out, Horny is out. We have a surplus of depth. We've
been really lucky this year to have this much depth."
Here's how things were looking this morning:
Verhaeghe - Barkov - Reinhart
Huberdeau - Bennett - Duclair
Vatrano - Lundell - Mamin
Lomberg - Luostarinen - Heponiemi
Marchment - Thornton - Tippett
Tippett Poll
Owen Tippett’s NHL journey has been less successful than Panthers’ fans (and the sizeable winger himself) would like.
Billed as the next big thing for Florida, Tippett’s play has been pretty average (if not below) for the past couple seasons. He has had his ups-and-downs, bouncing from the AHL to the NHL in previous years, occasionally left of out of the lineup and culminating in what feels like the organization quieting the charge of the Tippett train.
In 33 games this season, Tippett has 11 points (4G, 7A). During the 2020-21 campaign, he played 45 games and had 18 points (7G, 11A). Prior to that, he played in 2017-18 for seven games and had one goal.
This current Cats team has a lot of talent, so the fact that he’s not lighting the lamp consistently doesn’t really bother me all that much. With his frame, I had hoped he would be more of a power forward and bring that element to this lineup in terms of charging into the offensive zone, using his frame to be physical, go into the corners/front of the net, create space for the other guys on the ice, etc. But we really don’t see much of that - at least at a consistent pace. He’s often times “invisible” on the ice.
So what do the Panthers do?
At only 22 and still on his ELC with a $863.333 hit on the books (RFA at the end of 2022-23), the numbers are really nice. Do you keep him around and hope that he finds his game and becomes the guy you billed him as, or, a different type of weapon (which is OK, too)? Or do you package him in a deal this year that helps you get a piece you need for the playoffs?
I’m rooting for the guy to find his way, but I’m not sure it’s going to happen in a Panther sweater.
What do you guys think?
_____________
Go Panthers!
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