Panther’s Roster: Shawn Matthias

The Trade Deadline is February 28th at 3PM EST. What we’re going everyday until then is do an honest roster break down of the current roster for the month of February. Today, we look at Shawn Matthias

Matthias was originally drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft (47th overall). He came to the Florida Panthers in the trade that sent Todd Bertuzzi to the Wings in February 2007. He made his NHL debut 1/18/2008 and scored his first two goals the following night. Last season, the Mississauga native began to make strides to being an everyday NHLer, playing 55 games while recording 16 pts (7 goals).

This season, Matthias made the Panthers out of training camp and has bounced between the 2nd and 4th lines. On January 26, 2011, he broke his ankle after sliding into the boards feet first in Boston, and will miss 6-8 weeks. The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for him as he had really begun to pick up the physical aspect of his game, something that GM Dale Tallon is looking for. Through 47 games, he compiled 6 goals and 10 assists with a +1 rating.

According to CapGeek, Matthias is in the last year of his entry level contract, making $795,000. He’s due to be a restricted free agent come July 1. His injury all but assures he won’t go anywhere come deadline day but what is his future with the club. I hope he’s in Tallon’s vision for the future of this club. He’s big, he’s phyiscal, he’s a worker, he’s young and he has some offensive upside that will hopefully develop as he gets more talented offensive players around him. He’s physical enough that he can be used on special teams as well, especially the penalty kill.

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