After a glorious run to the Stanley Cup Final, the Florida Panthers will be starting this season on a peg leg with injuries to two of their top defensemen, Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour. With these two out, it cripples the Panthers defense corps. Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk weigh in on what the start of the season could look like for Florida.
Tyler Yaremchuk: It’s going to be an interesting start to the season in Florida, with no Aaron Ekblad and no Brandon Montour. Now, last year, I was someone who made the mistake of writing off the Boston Bruins because of all the injuries and what did they do? Persevered through it and had an amazing season. Can Florida do the same?
Frank Seravalli: My answer is no. The reason for that is I’m just not a believer in Florida’s defense core as it currently constituted. I love the Oliver Ekman Larsson addition at a couple of million bucks. Can he play to that level? Of course, he can. You can answer that without blinking. I like Gustav Forsling, but let me read for you their top 7 or top 8 defensemen who are going to be in the lineup. Forsling, Niko Mikkola, Mike Reilly, Dmitry Kulikov, Josh Mahura, Lucas Carlsson and Matt Kiersted. Basically, you have three bonafide NHL defenders. Mike Reilly was a buyout in Boston, and then you’ve got a couple of guys, like Mahura, what he did last year, but I’m not a Kulikov believer, and you got Carlsson and Kiersted. You got four for seven on that d-core that are fringe NHL players, is a fair way to say it. That’s really going to be difficult. At the same time, everyone’s expecting and thinking, can Bobrovksy bounce back and be the guy he was at the playoffs? He played two months at .915 and the rest of the season at .901. So, can they keep enough pucks out of the net?
Frank Seravalli: I have no question about their ability to score. I love their offensive group, but it’s just until Ekblad and Montour are back that can they hang on. I know this came up last heist with the Bruins, but my answer is no. But with saying that, the Panthers on Christmas Day last year were like seven points out of a playoff spot and had a very marginal record, like on pace for 82 points. So, can they survive at .500 till then? I think they probably can, but my problem with the rest of the conference is I think those teams are so much better constituted that I just think the Panthers might be on the outside looking in on the playoffs.
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