The 2014-15 National Hockey League season finally gets underway this week, and there’s no shortage of storylines throughout the league. However, as is usually the case, very few throughout the nation are actually talking about the Florida Panthers. Just a couple of years removed from a surprise playoff run, the Panthers spent the summer drafting first overall and throwing too much money at marginal talent in order to get to the salary cap floor.
There are some intriguing players throughout this roster, in addition to the usual handful of players that we can’t believe are still actually being paid to play hockey. This is the typical makeup of the Panthers’ roster, and a large reason as to why they continually find themselves buried in the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference. But is there hope for this team? Is another improbable playoff run something that we might see out of the South Beach club?
“Hope” probably isn’t the right word to use for this team. Is there a chance they make a solid run and grab one of the lower seeds in the Eastern Conference? Sure, it is the East after all. However, given the actual makeup of this roster, anything beyond another first round exit seems extremely far-fetched. Nonetheless, even if they don’t actually progress too far up the standings, there are plenty of reasons to pay some attention to this team.
For one, the youth throughout the roster is extremely intriguing. Continuing to watch budding star Jonathan Huberdeau is reason enough to watch this team, as well as Nick Bjugstad and Aleksander Barkov. Of course, any legitimate excitement over this forward group is quickly halted when you realize a couple things:
- They’re paying Dave Bolland HOW much money?!
- Sean Thornton is still playing hockey, and a team is actually paying him to do that.
- Scottie Upshall is still a thing?
It’s fun to make jabs at the Cats, but in all seriousness, they did some work that should improve their forward group. The young talent is there, in addition to guys like Brandon Pirri and Jimmy Hayes, and Jussi Jokinen could be a solid addition to the vets they employ up front, like Tomas Fleischmann. Reason enough to watch, but maybe not enough to turn things around.
In back, it’s a similar situation. We have the stable of young talent to look forward to watching, particularly first overall pick Aaron Ekblad, and then a mixture of interesting veterans. Ekblad and Erik Gudbranson are exciting quantities on the blue line, and Brian Campbell is still a very capable defenseman back there, regardless of how much money he’s actually making. The laughable thing here is the fact that not only do the Panthers plan on handing Willie Mitchell meaningful minutes, they inexplicably gave him the C as well.
Then there’s the situation in goal. Roberto Luongo alone represents a primary reason that many will tune into the Cats. His lovable personality and Twitter account had many rooting for him, even late in his tenure with the Vancouver Canucks. There is still plenty of game left here for Lu, and his play could very well mean that the Panthers are in the mix for a playoff spot, mostly because they’re in the East.
Regardless of whether or not this team actually contends, there are plenty of reasons to watch them. Continuing to see Luongo do his thing in a no-pressure environment is only surpassed by the grip of young talent that we have an opportunity to watch and develop-just in time for them to jump ship when they’re due for a new contract. This small amount of intrigue is reason enough to watch the Panthers, but any expectation beyond individual achievement is probably unreasonable. It’s important to emphasize, though, the fact that they do play in the Eastern Conference, making a playoff appearance entirely possible, regardless of the team they ice on paper.
