Florida entered the offseason looking at the possibility of a three-peat. The first strike, which was a major one, was the loss of Aleksander Barkov to injury. His absence coupled with that of Matthew Tkachuk, who was slated to miss the first half of the season, put the Panthers behind the eight-ball right off the bat.

Despite those injuries, Florida stayed on the fringes of playoff contention. The return of Tkachuk and potential of Barkov coming back late in the season made many of us believe that if they got in, a run was forthcoming. However, injuries continue to pile up, as now, Brad Marchand and Evan Rodrigues are gone for the season while Anton Lundell may not return as well. 

The Panthers could sit Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart, who are day-to-day, to try and improve their ping pong balls odds. Florida lost to the Rangers on Sunday, their third defeat in a row, and are tied for the fifth worst mark in the league. If more players are sat or don't return despite a day-to-day absence, the word tanking may be appropriate as the goal now is a higher draft pick.