3 Questions About The Florida Panthers Heading Into The Season

Florida’s preseason has been anything but quiet this year. Between injuries, complete chaos against the Lightning, and some solid performances from prospects, the Cats have a lot of questions surrounding them as the season gets underway next week. Thursday night’s game against the Lightning was the first look Panthers’ fans got at what would likely be the opening night lineup. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to glean from the match, as it was utter mayhem from start to finish, with fights breaking out nearly every other play at one point. After free agency, the three-peat looked to be highly attainable, but now injuries have made the road much harder. Florida’s still going to be a good or even great team this season, but will they be legendary? 

Can The Panthers Overcome The Injuries?

The Panthers have been hit by the injury bug early this season already, with Barkov, Tkachuk, and Nosek out long-term. Tkachuk’s injury to his adductor has been known since June, so his missing time isn’t unexpected. Finding out from Bill Zito that Nosek got hurt during media day was a surprise, and there’s no given timeline on when Tomas will be back. While Nosek is an important part of Florida’s success last year, his absence was much more manageable than the potential season-ending ACL & MCL tear that Barkov suffered on the first day of training camp for the vets. Now, Florida is uniquely positioned to be able to somewhat fill the gap of no Sasha Barkov with Anton Lundell. There’s no replacing Aleksander, but Lundell does a lot of the same things that he does. Anton can make the next jump in his game this season with a big opportunity to play consistent second-line minutes. Bringing in Brad Marchand has done wonders for both Lundell and Luostarinen, who both had career years in the playoffs. Marchand fills a similar role to Matthew Tkachuk, so while being without him isn’t ideal, there is someone around who can still be an emotional leader on the team. The bright side is that Florida should get Tkachuk and Nosek back at some point this season. While Barkov isn’t replaceable, having two of the three back makes it a lot more manageable. The Cats also have the option to look for a piece at the trade deadline as well, although the current cap situation makes that a bit tougher to navigate. Florida’s not going to care much about having a successful regular season on paper; they’re only going to care about winning enough games to get into the playoffs. I think there is enough depth on the roster to be able to hold things down until some of those players come back from the injuries. 

Who Will Emerge As A Leader? 

With the gap in leadership in the room currently, I think there are a few candidates who can step up and fill a bigger role. Last week, Paul Maurice spoke about how leadership duties are spread out in the room, so the leadership aspect of losing Barkov isn’t quite as bad. Maurice also highlighted that Sam Reinhart could be a captain on another team, and I’m inclined to agree. I think Reinhart has a lot of the same leadership qualities that Barkov has, and he can step up and be a bigger voice in the room. On the ice, he’s been a leader. Last season, he led the Cats in both points and goals (81pts, 39G) and was second only to Sasha in assists; Barkov had 51, Reinhart had 42. He also got his first Selke nomination and had a career year the season prior. Brad Marchand, now that he’s adjusted, will likely be another big voice in the room. He was the Captain for the Bruins before coming to Florida. Although his leadership style is a bit different than Barkov’s, it’s still a necessary style of leadership needed for the team’s success. Coming off a Conn Smythe postseason campaign and a career year, Sam Bennett will be filling a bigger role this season with more responsibility against other teams’ top players. Sergei Bobrovsky, I expect, will be a big leader on this team as well. Nearly every player has talked about Bob’s work ethic & preparation for games. He’s not a man of many words, but the quiet leadership of his actions has rubbed off on the room as a whole. As the season develops, we’ll see if any unexpected leaders step up and emerge.

Are There Prospects Who Could Make The Roster?

I think injury depending, there could be a couple of prospects who see ice time with the Panthers this season. Studnicka has been a bright spot this preseason. Wilmer Skoog and Nolan Foote also had good training camps before clearing waivers to go to the AHL this week. Hunter St. Martian had a strong showing both at the rookie camp and in the preseason games he played. Defensively, Michale Benning had a really strong preseason, so if Florida sees more injuries to their d-core, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a call-up. The Panthers recently claimed Cole Schwindt off waivers from the Golden Knights, bringing him back into the organization, and he’s joining his brother Kai. He’s expected to play in Florida’s final preseason game Saturday night. When he talked to the media about returning, he said, “It feels, in some ways, I kind of never left. Know a fair amount of guys in the locker room. Don’t know everybody, but it’s nice to come back to a couple of familiar faces.” He also said he’s excited to be in the same organization as his brother again and that Kai was the called him right away when the claim happened. Florida’s not afraid to be aggressive when it comes to roster moves or showing faith in their younger players. There could be some opportunities for these guys if injuries continue to hound the Panthers this season. 

Overall, I do still believe that a three-peat is possible this season, but the road just got a little longer and a little tougher. When additions are necessary, the Panthers have proven to be a very savvy organization that has been elite at identifying players who fit their systems and their locker room dynamic. Players returning from injury should help spread the load out more and ease the burden of responsibility. It’s not going to be an easy season for the Cats, but we’ll see what this team is really made of.