New guys brought by Zito

[Chaos2k7]

I give my props to Horny, he came in at the start of the year on fire. Scoring goals, agitating, fighting, to me he really set the tone early and the mindset of being hard to play against has grown from there.

 

[Para]

Damn. Voted for Sam Ben, for me top man for this team.. But forgot that Forsling signing was the A+ deal.
Really happy with Zito. Hoped we come got out of the NHL Expansion.

 

[FrolikFan67]

So many incredible additions in so many ways, but Forsling is absolutely the best of the bunch. When you can add a bonafide 24yr old top-4 D who can handle top pairing duties and can skate like that wind? And we picked him up for free? That’s enormous for us and our d Corp. having ekblad, Weegar, and forsling making up 3 of our top-4, that sets us up really nicely moving forward!

 

[Chino Oscar]

What I do not understand is that Radko Gudas had this “uh oh” mentality about him for being a “dirty” player and yet the impression I’ve gotten from him all season is respectable hard hitting vet. I have taken exception to maybe 1-2 hits but I hardly thought they were intentional, just poor form. But in terms of character he seems far more honorable than he was made out to be.

I myself am guilty of this... I called him "criminal on skates" when we first got him. I have complete changed my opinion on him basically in line with what you stated. He is just the type of player we needed to add toughness to the team and he has been fairly "clean" this season, teammates seam to absolutely love him and I liked his personality / sense of humor displayed on the first episode of the Panther's videos and throughout the year. GREAT addition.

 

[Ghoste]

Not a surprise Forsling gets a lot of the love here. I mentioned a couple times that when we claimed him, I went and looked at his WJ highlights and fell in love. Everything he’s done in the vid below he’s done this season. What a pick up by Z and the gang. Remember he played with Q before so I’m sure he was like, “Z, grab him now!”



-ghoste

 

[16Skippy]

Hard to pick just one! I had to go with Horny. He was clutch as the start of the year, scoring every PP and setting the tone for the rest of the team. Honorable mention to Gudas who also set the tone early on, and is a breath of fresh air after years of watching COVI-19.

 

[Stanley Cup Boundd]

I vote Zito, without him we’d be in eternal f_ckin’ purgatory!!

 

[GrumpyKelly]

Yeah Honry it is.

 

[zeroG]

Off ice impact has to be Hornqvist, close second to Gudas. We don’t see what they do or hear what they say off ice and on the bench but I think they really set the tone from the start.

Purely performance based on the ice, probably Forsling. No one expected him to do what he’s done (or maybe they did and that’s why we claimed him), it’s been pretty incredible.

agree about hornqvist and gudas. in terms of physicality and paying the price, playing the right way. they've set the example from day one.

i picked hornqvist because, if you recall, he was torrid at the start of the season and really helped us get off to the good start.

i think you have to leave out the deadline acquisitions - they haven't been around long enough.

forsling has been great, no doubt. but he's really only stepped on since ek's injury; he really didn't turn the team around early on.

 

[Gentle Man]

agree about hornqvist and gudas. in terms of physicality and paying the price, playing the right way. they've set the example from day one.

i picked hornqvist because, if you recall, he was torrid at the start of the season and really helped us get off to the good start.

i think you have to leave out the deadline acquisitions - they haven't been around long enough.

forsling has been great, no doubt. but he's really only stepped on since ek's injury; he really didn't turn the team around early on.

He was injured. He played 4 games then was out till February 17.

You could see he was doing well even with Stralman/Gudas as his partner.

 

[FrolikFan67]

forsling has been great, no doubt. but he's really only stepped on since ek's injury; he really didn't turn the team around early on.

i thought he’s been sensational all season long, and when ek went down, he was the obvious choice to play with Weegar on the top line. I had higher hopes for nuti coming into the season but forsling ended up becoming a hit pretty much from the start of the season

 

[zeroG]

i thought he’s been sensational all season long, and when ek went down, he was the obvious choice to play with Weegar on the top line. I had higher hopes for nuti coming into the season but forsling ended up becoming a hit pretty much from the start of the season

He was injured. He played 4 games then was out till February 17.

You could see he was doing well even with Stralman/Gudas as his partner.

completely agree.

don't get me wrong. he's played well at each opportunity. and really came out of the gate with some confidence, playing *his* game.

looked at his game logs and his TOI jumped back and forth, even from the beginning, indicating to me at least, that he was playing well and the coaches were running with him. (looking at his logs also makes me think they've tried manage his minutes as the season goes on as TOI is never consistently high.)

anyway, all i was trying to say was that, however surprising, welcomed and, ultimately, necessary, his season performance has been, *i* don't feel like it was a difference-maker in terms of this team's trajectory early on. maybe you could make an argument for that case, though.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

You could copy this op and use it on main boards when opening a thread titled, “Why Bill Zito is hands down the GM of the year,”

It's remarkable, really. Contrast that with a post like this upon Zito's hiring:

If both Dadonov and Hoffman walks they should just tank the next season and gain assets if possible.

1st line winger missing
Entire 2nd line missing
LD needs to be rebuild

The ownership/management better be realistic about next season

But the great thing they have moving forward is 25y 1C and 19y Knight
It’s just going to take time, years

 

[BB88]

It's remarkable, really. Contrast that with a post like this upon Zito's hiring:

Zito should be hands down Gm of the year.

He accelerated the process by years in 1 season.
Starting by picking Lundell. Set the future for Barkov& Lundell C duo.

For this season Gudas& Hornqvist were motivated and changed the culture.
Duclair clicked, Verhaeghe was brilliant and the biggest was definitely by far adding Bennett. He made the top6 click in the end and put players in their righfull place.

Last year Tro was gone and Haula was a disaster, Barkov on his own can create a 1st line but without a good 2C they aren’t matching up against Carolina or Tampa.

Today Barkov/Bennett/Wennberg with Lundell developing is elite

Zito was a game changer and much needed.
They rebuild in fly and are here today and damm good that they are

I always try to build a contender not just a playoff team and set the standards by that.
Either you are a contender or try to build a contender, no middle.

 

[Ryuji Yamazaki]

Almost impossible to pick just one, but I went with Horny for a few reasons.

- I feel like he changed everyone’s work ethic and made all the forwards not so soft. Basically changed the culture of this team. The last couple of games against Tampa, the old Panthers would’ve folded up and just got rekt.

- He put up great numbers and was a constant threat in front of the net.

- Not only was he an excellent addition, we were able to dump arguably the worst player on the team in the process.

If Zito doesn’t win GM of the year, the league can go f*** itself.

 

[austropanther]

Perfectly put, clear cut number 2 for me behind Forsling. Bennett could have been similar, but does not count for me since he came to us at a later point

 

[JEFFREY87]

I voted, Verhaeghe simply because prior to his injury he by far was the biggest difference maker aside from Hornqvist (until he got injured as well).

it’s not just one player everyone stepped up, filled their role and didn’t play beyond their roles.

each addition we’ve made w Zito seems to work and the biggest subtractions brought us great additions (Matheson)

 

[drktmplr12]

went with forsling just based on that fact the he was picked up and waivers and how impactful he is been. #2 for me is gudas, #3 tie between horny and bennet.

 

[Clint]

Honestly kind of surprised to see Forsling the top vote-getter here. Perhaps I haven't been watching him as closely since I've generally been keeping my eye on Weegar's explosive all-around improvement on the back-end in the last year; especially since Ekblad went down. But hey, I'm not complaining. I'll watch him closer in the playoffs.

In any case I went with Bennett. A lot of great arguments to be made for the other guys and it's a good problem to have, deciding who's the best new guy for once instead of 'who's our most worthless new acquisition (cough cough Tallon cough). I like the argument that Hornqvist gave us initial grit up-front, along with a huge culture change off-ice to go along with the credibility of a guy who has won it all before.

Ultimate I went with Bennett. Not taking anything away from the other physical culture-change guys like Horny and Gudas, but Bennett's recent explosion seems different. Everyone already knew Gudas was an intimidating physical presence and Hornqvist was a grindy veteran with a nose for the net. But Bennett's M.O. was "well he's okay, but he's never developed that offensive touch. He'll never be anything more than a physical third line guy."

The fact that someone so well-known across the league as a 'useful underachiever' can come in and immediately live up to their draft potential speaks volumes to the fact that the culture has turned around here drastically and it's no longer a fluke. I love reading the tweets from a few short weeks ago saying the Panthers overpaid for Bennett. Turns out he's been the best trade-deadline steal of the league and further solidifies our credibility.

Edit: Forgot to mention the practical issue that he also rounds out second line at center, taking pressure off Barkov and his line. No disrespect to Wennberg but he's more suited to a 3rd line role. Much harder to win with only one nightly threat at center.

 

[panthersdu67]

Hard to pick just one guy but I went with Gudas, for all the above mentioned reasons. Plus he deserves a ton of credit for putting up with being paired with KY3 more often than not.

 

[Two4Fighting]

I found myself in the same situation as others here, hard to pick one, every single addition has provided large contributions in skills and grit.
I could have chosen Forsling, "I love his guy's game" or Carter V or Horny with confidence, it is an impossible task to choose one, what a dilemma.

I went with Bennett because immediately we went from one dangerous line to 3 overnight, that is quite a change in NHL years, it takes teams many years to create lines that are productive and cohesive, and many times those experiments do not work, we have gone through some of those ourselves.

I am not longer waiting for the next Barkov line to tie the game, we now have 3 that can do that at any point of the game.

We got here fast within a year, in a short season, while playing the game, no time to practice or time to adjust, "Q" has done a phenomenal job. much deserved credit goes to him.

Why is Marchment not included? he brings a lot of needed grit and while he does not show in the scoreboard his contribution it is also welcome.

 

[Two4Fighting]

Not a surprise Forsling gets a lot of the love here. I mentioned a couple times that when we claimed him, I went and looked at his WJ highlights and fell in love. Everything he’s done in the vid below he’s done this season. What a pick up by Z and the gang. Remember he played with Q before so I’m sure he was like, “Z, grab him now!”



-ghoste

Wow, you are right he is the same guy, doing the same things, how did we land this guy? it is obvious he is super talented.

 

[ScottyMascotty]

Wow, you are right he is the same guy, doing the same things, how did we land this guy? it is obvious he is super talented.

I wonder why he didn't break out before joining Florida.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

how did we land this guy?

Probably because of the stuff we don't see in that clip.

 

[Two4Fighting]

Does anyone know who was involved in the process of picking these guys up? we did the same in past years before Zitto, and had little to show for it.