10 Burning Questions
1 – DO NHL ROOKIE TOURNAMENTS MATTER?: Rookie tourneys are like Puppy Love; nobody seems to take them seriously but the puppies. Having said that, the Panthers, Lightning, Hurricanes and Predators wrapped up the NHL Southeastern Rookie Showcase on Monday in Nashville. The NHL doesn’t post the scores, and scoresheets are hard to find, however as predicted in this space last week, Tampa Bay prospects Ethan Gauthier and Jaydon Dureau lit the lamp in rookie games while Panthers hopeful Gracyn Sawchyn scored a highlight-reel tally in Monday’s 5-2 loss to the Lightning. All three players have advanced to their teams’ main training camps which open on Thursday.
2 – DO EXHIBITION GAMES MATTER?: Absolutely they do! This is where players make the team and more veteran lineups are iced as the preseason schedule progresses, in order to get ready for the regular season openers in October. The Panthers open the exhibition season on Sunday with a doubleheader versus Nashville at Amerant Bank Arena (2:00 pm & 6:00 pm) while the Lightning host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
3 – WILL THE PANTHERS REACH A THIRD STRAIGHT STANLEY CUP FINAL?: It’s a tall order, but certainly not out-of-the-question. In fact the Tampa Bay Lightning accomplished the feat not that long ago (2020-2022). Florida is picked by many to clinch first-place in the Atlantic Division but as we’ve noted here in past weeks, the salary cap has forced Cats GM Bill Zito to have a very busy summer. By our count, nine members of last year’s Stanley Cup champion squad are gone (Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Ryan Lomberg, Nick Cousins, Kevin Stenlund, Steven Lorentz, Anthony Stolarz, Josh Mahura and Kyle Okposo). That’s almost half the team! However Zito’s been careful to lock up the core of the franchise and the usual suspects will be in training camp including Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Gustav Forsling, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Sergei Bobrovsky, et al.
4 – HOW WILL THE LIGHTNING DO THIS SEASON?: Fellow Tribune scribe George Eichorn called it a “bold prediction” when I proclaimed on our Fire Up Florida podcast (live Monday evenings at 7:30 pm ET) that Tampa Bay will miss the playoffs in 2025. Maybe it is bold, since the Bolts haven’t missed the playoffs since 2017, but I just have this nagging feeling that Tampa will regret saying good-bye to franchise icon Steven Stamkos much sooner than expected. This will be the first season since 2008 that Stamkos won’t be in Blue & White and I’m eager to see how they plan to fill the void. I’ll be happy to eat my words.
5 – WHAT ABOUT BOB?: The Lightning will be in good stead with Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes – that’s a great start – but the Russian target is no longer the best goalie in Florida. No, that honor now belongs to the Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky who outdueled “Vasy” in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, coming out on top in a five-game first round series. That included one of the best saves in NHL history; a sprawling, cartwheel stop on Tampa Bay’s Matt Dumba in Game 2 which propelled the Cats to victory.
6 – WHAT ABOUT BEHIND BOB?: With back-up goaltender Anthony Stolarz signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency, it created a void for the #2 job behind Bobrovsky. The Panthers have no less than six other goalies listed on their training camp roster, which was released on Tuesday. They are: Mack Guzda, Spencer Knight, Cooper Black, Evan Cormier, Ken Appleby and Chris Driedger. This will be an extremely tantalizing battle to watch, and is what the preseason is for.
7 – WHAT ELSE IS NEWS?: Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby stole the headlines across the NHL this week, agreeing to a two-year extension worth $8.7-million per season. Upon signing the deal, the 37-year old was asked why he didn’t seek more money elsewhere in free agency. “Winning is the most important thing to me,” Crosby shrugged. It’s a page from Tom Brady’s book, selflessly taking less money in order for the salary cap funds to be distributed more evenly throughout the roster. Time will tell if it works, as the Pens have missed the playoffs the past two seasons and will be in tough this year. However when Pittsburgh came through Sunrise last season, it was clear that Crosby is still by far the Penguins’ hardest-working, and best player.
8 – WHAT’S WITH #87?: Crosby’s $8.7-million per season salary is no coincidence. Crosby laughed that he’s somewhat fixated on that number. He was born on 08-07-1987, and has worn #87 throughout his illustrious NHL career. Hey, it’s working!
9 – WHAT ARE THE OTHER STORYLINES?: Optimism is high with training camps opening this week, and storylines are rife. Hockey fans are excited about the notion of the Utah Hockey Club icing its first-ever team next month, but don’t get too excited! This isn’t an expansion team. It’s still the hapless Arizona Coyotes – who relocated to Salt Lake City in the off-season – and haven’t made the playoffs since 2012. The Yotes finished seventh in the Central Division last season with a record of 36-41-5. Still that hasn’t stopped fans from dreaming about which geographical rivalries will be born, and what the team’s eventual name will be. (Our prediction is the Yetis).
10 – CENTRAL DIVISION: Speaking of predictions, each week we are making our prognostications for each of the NHL’s four divisions this upcoming season. We’ve already made our way through the Pacific and the Metropolitan loops. This week it’s the Central and are standings prediction is: Colorado – Dallas – Nashville – Winnipeg – Minnesota – St. Louis – Chicago – Utah.
See you at the rink!
(Veteran hockey writer and broadcaster Rod Pedersen covers the NHL for the South Florida Tribune. He also hosts the award-winning weekly Cats N Bolts Podcast and the daily Rod Pedersen Show on Game+TV, WQEE Radio & YouTube Live)
