Wounded Cats

[yave1964]

My take on he 2013-14 Florida Panthers

It seems it doesn't matter who runs this organization, who they bring in, no matter how large the overhaul or how small the tweaking this team seems hopeless and obscure. Don't look for much to change any time soon.

The second pick in the draft fell in to their lap with playmaking Center Jonathan Drouin or studly defenseman Seth Jones laying there they drafted European Aleksander Barkov who is already trying to recover from a shoulder problem. Nobody doubts Barkov's ability, they doubt his selection where he went.

The club won the weak division two years ago but that was mostly smoke and mirrors. A good job of signing band aid players by their GM to make a semblance of a team that lost in the first round had at least a pulse in the market going in to last year before the wheels fell off and Cinderella turned back into a plain ugly servant. You get the meaning. The top line of four or five years ago which showed so much promise for the future, Booth, Weiss and Horton are all long gone, veteran carryovers like Versteeg, Bergeneim Fleishman and Kopecky lead the forwards and thirtysomethings Jovanoski and Brian Campbell lead the rear guard. Goalie is undermanned by the incapable Scott Clemmenson and the boring Jacob Markstrom.

Young help is on the way. Jonathan Huberdeau is looking studly at moments at center, giant Scott Bjugstad should stick in the top six or at the least top nine, the aforementioned Barkov swears he is coming to stay in North America, and OK prospects like Drew Shore and Quinton Howden at least give hope to the forwards. Defensively Gudbranson and Kulikov aren't embarrassing themselves cutting their teeth against NHL competition but that is about it.

So. Goalie- downright bad. Defense- a couple of vets who nobody wanted at the deadline and a few good kids. Forwards- good vets but nothing approaching top line talent, and a few top shelf kids mixed with a bunch of future Thomas Fleishmans. Overall, a boring bad club not worth watching unless you are out of no doze and cannot sleep.

[jammer2]

@yave1964 I see a lot of skill from Markstrom, I believe in the kid. They are bringing him along slowly, but this will be his first full year as a starter. He now has the freedom to have bad games and rebound without losing his job, in the past Theodore or some other oldtimer was waiting to gobble up the minutes. I like the idea of the team moving on from Weiss, he was the face of the franchise for a while and it was time for him to go, get some fresh blood in there. Weiss will be much better as a secondary support player on the Wings, the Panthers due to lack of talent were playing Weiss out of position, he's not a top line center.

At least Huberdeau and Barkov will give them the potential for 2 scoring lines. Huberdeau seemed to fade under the pressure late last year, but he's as talented as they come, although I believe Barkov will be the top line center there eventually. Now, filling in the wings on top six is the next job for Tallon, the guys there now will do, but they will have to build through the draft on the wings. I love Kulikov's game, he's a keeper, Gudbranson is coming around a bit slower, but that means nothing, he will be a stud eventually, but not much offensive flair. I can't believe Jovo is still in the league, wow, it's been a while, Campbell is still solid on the pt on the pp, so that's a plus. I think Campbell is better with the Panthers than he was with the Hawks for some reason.

[yave1964]

@jammer2

That giant kid named Bjugstad looked pretty bad last year in his first stop out of college at Minnesota, but i saw him play a few times against the Buckeyes and he was the best player on the ice as often as not. He is raw and needs some time to develop but he is a mountain.

[jammer2]

@yave1964 Yeah, anytime a kid 6'6 has back to back 25 goal NCAA years, people should start to notice, he's one to keep an eye on, no doubt.

He was also Dale Tallon's first Panther draft pick, going 19th overall in the 2010 draft. Should be real interesting to chart his success, or lackthereof.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=127782

[Podein25]

Full disclosure: I own both Barkov and Bjugstad in my keeper league, so am biased. But I traded/drafted them for a reason. Size and upside.

Bjugstad will be a fantastic top-6 goal scorer. He has a great shot. Huge, so he'll take some time, but I wouldn't necessarily call him raw.

Barkov has already played two years vs men in the Finish Elite League. I watched a bunch of his games. He is smarter than many 35 year old vets and his only weakness is skating, which he's working on. His vision is also off the charts. Probably as good as Drouin's. And the person that Barkov's hands remind me of is Lindros. For a big guy he makes very deft little plays, especially in traffic, where he is very good because he buys time with the best of them

Finally, Barkov is way more NHL ready than Drouin, Jones, and even MacKinnon. I can see why FLA took him.

[jammer2]

@Podein25 I thought Tallon made a great decison, grabbing Barkov where he did. It showed a lot of foresight. They are not gonna regret that, he was just to good to pass up. Kinda funny when a guy who was not even ranked in the top 5, (or right at #5 depending on the mock you read) like Lindholm was compared to Forsberg. Just shows the ungodly depth the past draft had. A lot will depend on the health of his shoulder, but I expect 100% he makes the Panthers out of camp and has a real legit shot at rookie of the year.

[Podein25]

I thought Tallon made a great decison, grabbing Barkov where he did. It showed a lot of foresight. They are not gonna regret that, he was just to good to pass up. A lot will depend on the health of his shoulder, but I expect 100% he makes the Panthers out of camp and has a real legit shot at rookie of the year.

Totally agree.

[hf101]

@yave1964

 

 

Wounded it is.  Add Clemmenson to the list as he will miss at least 3 weeks with Knee Surgery.  Depth in the net is a concern.  Apparently Theodore will not return as a tryout as he wants a contract first.

 

An opportunity for Bryz?

[yave1964]

@yave1964

 

 

Wounded it is.  Add Clemmenson to the list as he will miss at least 3 weeks with Knee Surgery.  Depth in the net is a concern.  Apparently Theodore will not return as a tryout as he wants a contract first.

 

An opportunity for Bryz?

All joking aside about how bad Briz has been, and believe me you Flyer fans have my deepest sympathy, I feel he is a system goalie who Tippett took advantage of his strengths in Arizona, (look at career journeyman Mike Smith since he arrived there) but I do believe he could get his stuff together in the right situation, working as a part time starter who has to earn his playing time in either a smaller market or for a team without high expectations. I really believe he is an NHL goalie, a team like the Panthers, maybe fighting for time with the Oilers or backing up Bobby Lu in Vancouver (Good lord I would not want to be the psychiatrist for those two, lol)or even in Columbus backing up Bob. Really close to the start of the year, only a few positions left he better swallow his pride and take one if he is going to play in the NHL this year...

[TretiakCCCP20]

I agree 100%, this franchise is like the butt of every joke around the league and a complete embarassment. No matter how many times they try to fix the problems they still persist. It'll be a while before anything useful happens with this club.