GDT: Free Agency 2020, Part III - Hockey is back! Regular season to begin January 13th 2021

[KW]

Time constraints might be a factor(Olympics start mid-July and nhl has to be done by then), plus travel, which they are trying to cut down on, if they include wildcards instead of keeping the playoffs intra-divisional for as long as possible. But there's still a lot we don't know. There's still talk of a flexible division alignment if Covid shutdowns are eased later in the season.

Ah, that’s a good point, I forgot all about the olympics. Maybe they could overlap the SC finals by a week... but that’s about it. Unless you now tell me that it’s the same company doing both.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Ah, that’s a good point, I forgot all about the olympics. Maybe they could overlap the SC finals by a week... but that’s about it. Unless you now tell me that it’s the same company doing both.

Haha, yeah nbc is the network for both so nhl has to be done before the Olympics.

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Columbus is no powerhouse though, I mean they're a good team but if we add another top 6 forward, so are we. The Pens are also in decline. Idk who we are going to beat out, but I think if we make that one last addition we get in. I think the subtraction of Matheson and the injection of toughness and work ethic into the lineup is going to propel the Panthers to 100 pts.

Toughness and work ethic is good, top6 still looks extremely weak though IMO.
Huby-Barkov is great
Hornqvist is hopefully still a top 6 guy?
...and from that point it's all maybes, no guys who are even close to a lock.
I like the solidified bottom 6, the changes on the D, and if Bob bounces back that would be huge... But even ignoring the glaring hole at 2C, we substracted over 50 goals and 100 points by losing Dads and Hoffman. Hornqvist and Tippett will replace some of that, but even with "better aggregate"and less porous D, I doubt it's enough.
2021-22 should be better with the infusion of Lundell and with Tippett, Deni both being a year older, but I'm not too optimistic about this year at this point.

 

[KW]

Toughness and work ethic is good, top6 still looks extremely weak though IMO.
Huby-Barkov is great
Hornqvist is hopefully still a top 6 guy?
...and from that point it's all maybes, no guys who are even close to a lock.
I like the solidified bottom 6, the changes on the D, and if Bob bounces back that would be huge... But even ignoring the glaring hole at 2C, we substracted over 50 goals and 100 points by losing Dads and Hoffman. Hornqvist and Tippett will replace some of that, but even with "better aggregate"and less porous D, I doubt it's enough.
2021-22 should be better with the infusion of Lundell and with Tippett, Deni both being a year older, but I'm not too optimistic about this year at this point.

Islanders didn’t do too badly with no-names.

Besides, it wasn’t happening with Dads and Hoff, so why belabor the point? I’d take Hoff back but oh well, move on. He’s not irreplaceable.

 

[pantherbot]

Islanders didn’t do too badly with no-names.

Besides, it wasn’t happening with Dads and Hoff, so why belabor the point? I’d take Hoff back but oh well, move on. He’s not irreplaceable.

Islanders didn't have no-names, not sure where this is coming from... they had some solid depth up front and their defense was pretty good.

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Islanders didn’t do too badly with no-names.

Besides, it wasn’t happening with Dads and Hoff, so why belabor the point? I’d take Hoff back but oh well, move on. He’s not irreplaceable.

The Islanders still had five forwards scoring 40+ points in the shortened season. We had four forwards like that last year, now we have maybe three if Hornqvist doesn't decline. Not to mention that that Islanders team also allowed the 5th least goals against. Ignoring the Bob issue, do you see the new Florida Panthers playing that level of quality defence? I'm not saying we won't improve defensively - we should - but improve that much?
And of course Hoffman isn't irreplaceable as such, but missing three top6 guys seems like a problem to me. Last year, Dadonov and Hoffman were our n.1 and n.2 goal scorers, Acciari was n. 5 - how likely is he to score 20 goals again?

 

[violaswallet]

Stop the dang pessimism: we changed at least 8 papers (Horny, Wenny, Tippett, Verh, Lmberg, Hinny, Gudas, Nuti): we have no idea what it is.

There is a good chance Wennberg provides more than Troch/Haula last season: we have better scoring depth and we are not even done.

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Stop the dang pessimism: we changed at least 8 papers (Horny, Wenny, Tippett, Verh, Lmberg, Hinny, Gudas, Nuti): we have no idea what it is.

There is a good chance Wennberg provides more than Troch/Haula last season: we have better scoring depth and we are not even done.

How many of these guys are top6 guys?
Look, I like the Wennberg signing in a vacuum. Former high pick, cheap reclamation one-year project, why not. But we're relying on the guy who just got bought out to be our 2C while we're also relying on Tippett? Saarela? Denisenko? to be top 6 forwards. Who will Wennberg be centering anyway?

 

[Pigge]

Stop the dang pessimism: we changed at least 8 papers (Horny, Wenny, Tippett, Verh, Lmberg, Hinny, Gudas, Nuti): we have no idea what it is.

There is a good chance Wennberg provides more than Troch/Haula last season: we have better scoring depth and we are not even done.

I'm all for optimism and am very excited to see this team play but regardless of the quality of players involved, it will take some time for everyone to find their place with this extreme turnover and potentially limited pre-season. So patience and tempered expectations is probably a good mindset for now.

 

[Pigge]

How many of these guys are top6 guys?
Look, I like the Wennberg signing in a vacuum. Former high pick, cheap reclamation one-year project, why not. But we're relying on the guy who just got bought out to be our 2C while we're also relying on Tippett? Saarela? Denisenko? to be top 6 forwards. Who will Wennberg be centering anyway?

Connolly/Vatrano and Horny?

 

[KW]

Islanders didn't have no-names, not sure where this is coming from... they had some solid depth up front and their defense was pretty good.

I didn’t mean ALL no-names obviously. But everyone is saying we’re 2 players short on offense, and almost nobody truly wants to believe Tippett could be one.

Isles had Pageau and Beauvillier that were essentially nobodies until this past season and playoffs. They had strong third and fourth lines though...sound familiar?

I think my analogy was actually pretty good.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

The Islanders still had five forwards scoring 40+ points in the shortened season. We had four forwards like that last year, now we have maybe three if Hornqvist doesn't decline. Not to mention that that Islanders team also allowed the 5th least goals against. Ignoring the Bob issue, do you see the new Florida Panthers playing that level of quality defence? I'm not saying we won't improve defensively - we should - but improve that much?
And of course Hoffman isn't irreplaceable as such, but missing three top6 guys seems like a problem to me. Last year, Dadonov and Hoffman were our n.1 and n.2 goal scorers, Acciari was n. 5 - how likely is he to score 20 goals again?

We nearly had six or seven 20 goal guys last year though?
Connolly had 19 in 69 games, on pace for 22.
Vatrano had 16 in 68 games, on pace for 19.
I agree it's unlikely Acciari hits 20 again, more because he probably sees way more bottom 6 time.

Hornqvist has averaged a 20 goal pace his whole 10-11 year carrer, dating back to NSH days.

What's the over/under on Tippett? I'd say 16-18 goals at least, maybe more with PP time.
If Vatrano and Connolly can get 20 in middle 6 duty, Tippett can too imo.

We will likely have 4-5 guys with 20 goals again, and two or three that sniff 25 goals:
Barkov, Huberdeau, Hornqvist and one or two of Tippett, Connolly and Vatrano could all see 20 goals.
The difference made up needs to be where we fell short last couple years, the bottom 6, which you agree is better.

We don't need top 5 defense (would love one though...) but mid pack is necessary, 13th to 17th.
The PP should still be at least average. 14th-15th
I'd say we're still at least average offense as well, maybe 13th to 16th.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

I didn’t mean ALL no-names obviously. But everyone is saying we’re 2 players short on offense, and almost nobody truly wants to believe Tippett could be one.

Isles had Pageau and Beauvillier that were essentially nobodies until this past season and playoffs. They had strong third and fourth lines though...sound familiar?

I think my analogy was actually pretty good.

I think the Islanders are a bad comparision because they have a top 3 defense in the league and Florida is probably what, 21 or 22? It's better than last year but still bad. Additionally while you may be right in saying Tippett may take strides, Wennberg is a disaster as 2C, I am not sure what Zito is thinking there.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

I think people are also not really addressing how far off Florida was last year. They had a 93 point pace and needed 100 to get in. I view them as an 85 point team this year and even if people think they're going to be similar to last season, I can't see anyone thinking this team is 7-8 points better than last year.

 

[violaswallet]

How many of these guys are top6 guys?
Look, I like the Wennberg signing in a vacuum. Former high pick, cheap reclamation one-year project, why not. But we're relying on the guy who just got bought out to be our 2C while we're also relying on Tippett? Saarela? Denisenko? to be top 6 forwards. Who will Wennberg be centering anyway?

4 are top 6 guys...which is the same as last year! We are romanticizing the team last season. We have the same two tweeners in Vat and Conn. We Are relying on players stepping up though

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

I think people are also not really addressing how far off Florida was last year. They had a 93 point pace and needed 100 to get in. I view them as an 85 point team this year and even if people think they're going to be similar to last season, I can't see anyone thinking this team is 7-8 points better than last year.

3-4 win/7-8 point difference though?
I don't know, seems within reach imo.
Think this team has better effort/bottom 6 and better defense to eek out another two wins in regulation and gut out 2-3 OT/SO games.
Q will roll 4 lines more evenly to keep everyone fresh and coming in waves imo.

Wennberg will need to bust his ass for a new deal, think we will see a way more motivated player who has a chip on his shoulder being bought out and the 1 year prove it deal.

Verhaeghe led the AHL in goals and points, hid behind a top tier offense in TB.
Vatrano led the AHL in goals in 2015-16, once he saw consistent minutes, he prodced.
Verhaeghe has been a pretty decent goal scorer throughout his development in other leagues.

9 goals in 9mins of TOI last year with TB, think he's gonna surprise some people if he gets 12-13 mins a game , same amount of minutes Connolly and Vatrano get.
4 extra minutes a night could add another 6-7 goals over 60 games.

3 of those 9 goals came in one game as a hatter, the lone PP goal he had, refs didn't even realize he scored the first of 3.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

If they play 48 games, 8th place NYI finished with 55 pts (24-17-7) in 2012-2013

If they play 60 games, you'll likely need to get around ~70pts, with 120pts possible.
That's .583 points %

Last year's Eastern conference wildcard points %
1. Carolina (0.596)
2. NY Islanders (0.588)

30-20-10, the Panthers special

 

[KW]

I think the Islanders are a bad comparision because they have a top 3 defense in the league and Florida is probably what, 21 or 22? It's better than last year but still bad. Additionally while you may be right in saying Tippett may take strides, Wennberg is a disaster as 2C, I am not sure what Zito is thinking there.

I feel a goalpost moving here - I was specifically talking about offense. The place where our main gaps supposedly are, assuming we’re not talking about the goalie position.

 

[KW]

I think people are also not really addressing how far off Florida was last year. They had a 93 point pace and needed 100 to get in. I view them as an 85 point team this year and even if people think they're going to be similar to last season, I can't see anyone thinking this team is 7-8 points better than last year.

The whole point is WHY the team underachieved. If the current team can overachieve even slightly, they have a chance. That’s what I think will happen (and nobody will remember my prediction and I’ll get zero credit LOL).

 

[Ratsreign]

I think the Islanders are a bad comparision because they have a top 3 defense in the league and Florida is probably what, 21 or 22? It's better than last year but still bad. Additionally while you may be right in saying Tippett may take strides, Wennberg is a disaster as 2C, I am not sure what Zito is thinking there.

Well, we’ll have to hope that Zito’s opinion after being around Wennberg for the last few years is more accurate than us watching him in a few games and going off of stats.

 

[RogerRoger]

I'll try to be optimistic for once. Let's remember what was our opening roster and what it might be this season.
Huby-Barkov-Dadonov
Hoffman-Tro-Connolly
Malgin-Borg-Vatrano
Hunt-Acciari-Sceviour
Matheson-Ekblad
Weegar-Stralman
Yandle-Brown

Huby-Barkov-Tippett (Worse)
Horn-Wenn-Connolly (About even at 5v5)
Saarela-Verh-Vatrano (Much better)
Xxxxx-Acciari-Hino (Better)

Weegar-Ekblad (Much better)
Nuti-Gudas (Better)
Yandle-Stralman (almost 12M)

PP is worse and no idea about the PK.
Look at last year's lineup, there are 5 guys that won't make an NHL opening roster because they are not good enough.
Overall, if the players are as healthy as they were last season, we might actually be better off. That being said. being optimistic about a Panthers' season seems unwise after all these years.

 

[austropanther]

I'll try to be optimistic for once. Let's remember what was our opening roster and what it might be this season.
Huby-Barkov-Dadonov
Hoffman-Tro-Connolly
Malgin-Borg-Vatrano
Hunt-Acciari-Sceviour
Matheson-Ekblad
Weegar-Stralman
Yandle-Brown

Huby-Barkov-Tippett (Worse)
Horn-Wenn-Connolly (About even at 5v5)
Saarela-Verh-Vatrano (Much better)
Xxxxx-Acciari-Hino (Better)

Weegar-Ekblad (Much better)
Nuti-Gudas (Better)
Yandle-Stralman (almost 12M)

PP is worse and no idea about the PK.
Look at last year's lineup, there are 5 guys that won't make an NHL opening roster because they are not good enough.
Overall, if the players are as healthy as they were last season, we might actually be better off. That being said. being optimistic about a Panthers' season seems unwise after all these years.

Denisenko on your open spot on the wing of the 4th could work out great. IMO he is our biggest darkhorse. Ease him in.

Tippett is only missing experience at the NHL level. He has the tools that you can't teach. And as we saw in PIT, a great center gets the best out of mediocre wings. Tippett is not mediocre.

I also see Stillman steal Strals' spot - Yands has a secured spot unfortunately.

Too many ifs though for this season to be a sure thing. Bob the biggest, but also has the highest risk/reward ratio

 

[letsgrowcactus]

4 are top 6 guys...which is the same as last year! We are romanticizing the team last season. We have the same two tweeners in Vat and Conn. We Are relying on players stepping up though

Not romanticizing at all - last year's team wasn't a playoff team. Which is why weakening what was a position of relative strength (think our top6 was somewhat overrated but still very solid) doesn't seem like a great idea.
I like the offseason, more or less - no awful signings, D should be better, plus this team finally looks like it has some sort of blueprint. But a playoff team? Not saying it's impossible, but more likely we're on a 80-90 point pace. This looks like a transition year to me. Which would be completely fine, if not for team history and Barkov and Huberdeau's sweet contracts getting closer to expiring.

 

[Para]

I like that are some people are still in hope for that next season only can be better. For myself i am more pessimistic. And i hope we add another two player next to Saarela or others player who plays elsewhere in Europa.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Don't know how reputable this is:

English translation:

Aleksi Saarela's situation is interesting. So far, the man has not signed an NHL contract and P. Sihvonen also concluded that the man will play in the Lock all season. In a week or two, will this matter be resolved? Quite a terrible confirmation would be for spring.