The Florida Panthers 2022-2023 season kicks off on Thursday in New
York vs. the Islanders and it will be a drastically different team from last
year’s team that had the best regular season record in the NHL. The
high-flying Panthers roster from last year that led the league in goals
scored has had a lot of turnover, primarily due to salary cap reasons.
The Panthers couldn’t resign several key players they would have loved
to retain such as forwards Claude Giroux & Mason Marchment as well
as defenseman Ben Chiarot.
But the biggest offseason changes involved bringing in a new head
coach in Paul Maurice and trading away their leading scorer, left wing
Jonathan Huberdeau, who went to Calgary along with defenseman
MacKenzie Weegar.
While the trading away of Huberdeau was certainly partially financial
related as he was going to be a free agent after this season (as was
Weegar), I think a lot of it had to do with making the team younger and
tougher. In exchange the Cats received one of the premier players in
the league in forward Matthew Tkuchuk.
Tkuchuk is 5 years younger than Huberdeau and plays a more physical
brand of hockey. And playing a more physical brand of hockey is
something that Maurice wants to instill in this year’s club.
After a banner regular season last year they were swept in the 2 nd round
of the playoffs by cross state rival the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the
playoffs the high scoring Panthers had difficulties in scoring, especially
on the power play. Maurice has already stated the Panthers need to be
tougher along the boards and in front of the net, attributes that
become more important come playoff time.
In order to replace the players they lost; Florida had to turn to lower
priced veterans. As a result, the team definitely won’t be as talented
offensively as last season, but they could be physically tougher and
better defensively.
Tkachuk, as previously mentioned, is one of the elite players in the NHL
and he scored 42 goals to go along with 62 assists last season, but that
won’t replace the lost firepower of Huberdeau, Giroux, Marchment and
Weegar. They will also be without winger Anthony Duclair, who scored
31 goals last season, as he will miss at least half the season after
injuring his Achilles tendon in the offseason.
In addition to Tkachuk the Panthers have added forwards Rudolf
Balcers, Nick Cousins, and Colin White. White is an interesting addition
as he is a former 1 st round pick who is still only 25 years old, so the Cats
are hoping he can turn his career around.
On defense they have added veterans Marc Staal and Josh Mahura.
Youngster Matt Kiersted could also see a lot of playing time, but he will
start the season on injured reserve.
While it is highly unlikely the Panthers will lead the league in points or
goals again, it’s possible they may be better built for the rigors of
playoff hockey with the additions of Tkachuk, Cousins and Staal.
Despite the loss of several talented players, the cupboard is hardly
bare. Florida should still have two of best lines in hockey with captain
Alexander Barkov likely centering Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart
while Sam Bennett will lineup between Tkachuk and Balcers.
The 3 rd line will also be solid with Anton Lundell, coming off a strong
rookie season, centering Eetu Luostarinen and White. The 4 th line will
consist of Cousins centering wingers Ryan Lomberg and Patric
Hornqvist.
Florida will also have one of the best NHL defense pairings with Aaron
Ekblad and Gustav Forsling. Radko Gudas and Brandon Montour are
also solid blueliners to go with Staal, Mahura and Kiersted.
Florida is set in net with the excellent duo of veteran goaltender Sergei
Bobrovsky and young talent Spencer Knight.
Are the Panthers a top Stanley Cup contender? Probably not, but don’t
be surprised if they make some noise come playoff time. Their top 2
lines, along with Ekblad and Forsling on defense and Bobrovsky and
Knight in goal can compete with anybody.
