Florida Panthers: Pursuing Dan Bylsma Could Be Risky

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Florida Panthers have a new coach available in the running to take the vacant head coaching spot for their team.

After being relieved of his head coaching duties with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Dan Bylsma has reportedly been contacted by the Panthers’ organization to gauge his interest in the coaching job.

As the coach of the Penguins, Bylsma won lead his team to the Stanley Cup after taking over for Michel Therrien midseason as well as became the quickest coach to reach 200-career victories and was named the head coach for Team-USA at the Olympics.

What was shaping up as a potential Hall-of-Fame career as a coach was derailed year after year during the playoffs, as despite having two of the best players in the world he could not get them back to the Final.

Call it what you will, a coach doing the best with what he had – which was a team that had no depth and constantly riddled with injuries to their big money players or a coach who just didn’t turn it up himself when it mattered most.

Either way, Blysma wasn’t able to make adjustments when the game was on the line and that is what led to his dismissal by Penguins new General Manager Jim Rutherford.

Bylsma would give Dale Tallon exactly what he wants in a coach, experience – elite experience – and his up-tempo offensive philosophy would help fill the BB&T Center.

What would make or break his tenure in Florida would be whether or not he is able to make the adjustments here that he wasn’t able to make in Pittsburgh. Despite not having a ‘Sidney Crosby’ or ‘Evgeni Malkin’ Tallon may be on his way to having something that Pittsburgh didn’t – depth. Depth in case of injuries to their top players, or depth to where you don’t have clear fourth liners playing on your top line because you have no other options.

How would you feel about having Blysma as the Panthers head coach? Does he fit the team’s layout? Could he help them reach the next level?