Florida's power play finished last season ranked as the tenth best in the NHL.
Florida's power play finished last season ranked as the tenth best in the NHL.
September is here, and that means training camp is officially starting this month!
We’re also just a couple weeks away from rookie camp at the Ice Den in Coral Springs, so it’s truly the home stretch until hockey season finally arrives.
With the fun getting closer by the day, we’re going to continue looking ahead to the Florida Panthers 2023-24 campaign with previews and questions and all that good stuff.
Today we’ll be asking three questions about a key element of the Panthers’ offense that will need to succeed if they’re going to maintain their spot atop the Eastern Conference.
Florida's power play became a solid source of scoring last season, though at times streaky and inconsistent.
If the Panthers can get a healthy stretch from its key contributing forwards, Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart, it will go a long way toward mitigating the potential loss of defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour.
Both are expected to miss time early next season following offseason shoulder surgery, but the extent of each's absence, or that they'll end up missing time at all, is all conjecture at this point.
Let’s jump into the three questions.
How many forwards will Florida use on PP1, and which ones?
Probably four, as it’s a system that has familiarity with running a one-defenseman power play, and because the Panthers are probably going to be short a couple of their best blueliners.
But which four get the first look on Florida's top power play?
It's probably safe to say Barkov, Tkachuk and Reinhart are all locks, and for now lets put them in the positions they thrived in last season (we'll touch on this more in Question 3). That means Tkachuk goes netfront, Barkov lines up on the flank and Reinhart plays bumper in the middle.
After them, there's 40-goal scorer Carter Verhaeghe and newly signed sniper Evan Rodrigues who come to mind off the bat.
Verhaeghe has proven to be an elite scorer who is quite proficient at getting pucks on net, particularly in ways that keep goaltenders off guard, whether it be with a quick release through a screen or changing the angle of the shot at the last moment.
With Rodrigues, you get a versatile veteran who has proven to be effective in several areas of the offensive zone.
The thing that is intriguing about Rodrigues is that his area of expertise, the thing he has tirelessly worked on and now thrives at, is his one-timer.
Rodrigues’ ability to get the puck off his tape and to the net could make him a key asset on Florida’s power play.
Which defensemen will get first cracks with Ekblad and Montour out?
This is interesting because there were times where both Montour and Ekblad were on the ice together on power play one, due to the versatility and offensive prowess each holds, as neither is a traditional, clapper-from-the-blueline power play d-man.
The only other Panthers defenseman who saw regular time on the man advantage last season was Gus Forsling, the single rearguard sent over the boards with Florida's second power play unit.
With the top guys out, Forsling will surely see some power play time, but how much will depend on whether veteran free agent signing Oliver Ekman-Larsson gets a look, and how much defensemen the Cats end up using on each unit (see Question 1).
Ekman-Larsson has plenty of experience running a power play, once considered among the top offensive-defensemen in the league.
The combination of Ekman-Larsson looking for a bounce-back season and the Panthers apparent need for help on the back line, it seems likely that the veteran will get an opportunity to show he’s still got something left in the tank.
Will power play continue to funnel toward the middle, where Tkachuk and Reinhart thrived?
Go through the stats, watch the footage…if we're talking about Florida's top power play, you're going to hear from Tkachuk and Reinhart.
Tkachuk did the majority of his damage within a few feet of the goal crease, both shooting and facilitating the puck, while Reinhart was lethal from between the circles.
As a team, the Panthers scored 63 times while on the power play last season. Tkachuk and Reinhart accounted for 30 of those goals.
It’s clear where Florida did most of their damage when up a man.
The question now will be whether the Panthers continue with its big, sniping forwards in their respective spots or if power play coach Jamie Kompon tries something different.
Considering the personnel options we’ve touched in the first two questions, it’s clear the Cats will have some options, even with Ekblad and Montour possibly missing time.