The Florida Panthers did make the Stanley Cup final, but their regular season was an inconsistent rollercoaster ride. How might they improve this off-season?
We’re at the NHL’s draft day, one of the few key pressure points in every hockey calendar year. As such, it’s as good a time as any to break down each team’s 2022-23 season and their outlook heading into next season. We’ve been analyzing things in alphabetical order, and today, we’re examining the Eastern Conference champions, the Florida Panthers.
2022-23 Grade: A -
Biggest Positive Heading Into the Off-Season
The Panthers’ grade would’ve been slightly higher, but for very long stretches this season, Florida had a malaise to its game, with no sense of urgency and only a few players showing up to play on any given night.
However, the Panthers caught lightning in a bottle later in the year and were playing must-win games two months prior to the end of the regular season.
This is why it was so important for them to have a deep Stanley Cup playoff run. Without it, there would’ve been major roster alterations this summer. But Florida’s run to the Cup final validated GM Bill Zito’s blueprint, and now there’s a sense the Panthers have all key positions addressed this summer and beyond.
At forward, Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov each play their own brand of hockey and keep an aggressive forecheck on opponents.
At defense, Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montour and Gustav Forsling all averaged at least 23 minutes of ice time in 2022-23. And at goal, Sergei Bobrovsky, Alex Lyon and Spencer Knight all give Panthers coach Paul Maurice plenty of options.
As per PuckPedia, Florida has $10.2 million in salary cap space to use this off-season, and they still need to sign seven players to fully fill a 23-man NHL roster. They’ll have to be careful how they dole out their remaining space, but after their sensational playoff run this past spring, the Panthers showed they have all the key ingredients teams seek out in their pursuit of a Cup.
Biggest Need Heading Into the Off-Season
With so many of their key positions already being filled, the Panthers can use the summer to address their fourth line of forwards and their third pairing on defense. There’s a lot of balance on this team, and Zito’s main job at this point is to solidify their depth at forward and on ‘D.’
The smarter move for Zito this off-season may well be to hold onto at least a smidgen of their cap space and use it to deal with any problems that arise during the year. But the Panthers are always going to be an attractive option to NHL free agents, and if Zito can augment his roster with some low-cost, high-value additions this summer, he’ll be in much better position in 2023-24 to be a player on the trade front.
Bottom Line for Florida This Off-Season
When you come within three victories of a Cup, the bottom line is you had almost as good a season as possible. But Florida’s wins felt like they should’ve come a little easier in the regular season. There were a few health issues that now have been dealt with, but the reality is that almost all the stars lined up just right to get the Panthers as close to a Cup as the franchise ever has been.
In some ways, there’s nowhere for Florida to go but down. That said, if they can be more productive in the regular season, the Panthers could head into the 2024 playoffs as a rested, healthier team than they were this past spring. That better balance between regular season and post-season may be the difference between another deep playoff run and actually winning it all.