In Dan Rosen’s NHL.com mailbag, the Florida Panthers were brought up a couple of times, asking if they could go deep in the playoffs despite seeing so much turnover in the front office.
The question, asked by Twitter user @themoose0221 asked “Are the Florida Panthers in over their heads with all the personnel changes, or do you see them going far in the playoffs?”
While Rosen was hesitant about saying how far he believed the Panthers were going to go in a playoffs that is almost a calendar year away from starting, he gave praise to their core up front and depth on the blue.
Florida have four forwards – Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Nick Bjugstad, and Reilly Smith – all signed for at least the next five seasons. Jonathan Huberdeau, another member of the team’s young core, is likely next in line as he is a restricted free agent after the upcoming season.
Rosen also believes that both teams in the state of Florida are currently the two best teams in their division. An interesting turn of things, seeing as four of the original six NHL teams also reside in the Atlantic. He was asked at the end of the Q & A who he thought was the three best teams in each division, and added the Montreal Canadiens to Florida and Tampa Bay.
While he wasn’t a big fan of the Dmitry Kulikov–Mark Pysyk swap, he was aware of the Panthers’ ability of freeing up cap space, still getting a defenseman back (Pysyk was a first round) and get a draft pick in the deal. With Yandle signed, Florida didn’t feel like Kulikov was a fit for their organization as a second pairing defender, and moved him on the second day of the draft.
Rosen believed on the surface that signing Reimer to a five year deal was a ‘stretch’, but with Roberto Luongo’s health in question – both this season and long-term, it actually fits.
“Signing James Reimer to a five-year contract looks like a stretch, but it suggest the Panthers are ready to reduce Roberto Luongo’s workload once he’s healthy.”
After enduring offseason hip surgery, it doesn’t appear Luongo will be ready to start the season, making Reimer the de facto number one heading into the season, with Reto Berra the backup.
“I’m not sure Reimer is definitely a number one goalie, but he can play in a platoon and be good for around 40 starts.”
Related Story: Florida Panthers Free Agent Recap: James Reimer
This isn’t anything new stated around the league about Reimer. Despite backstopping their only playoff appearance since the lockout, Reimer was never able to retake the net on a permanent basis from Jonathan Bernier. Throughout his career, the now 28 year old Reimer has never started more than 40 games, and has only appeared in that many games overall just once.
Lastly, Rosen brings up how he and others in the industry believe that Luongo will indeed retire in the coming years, certainly before the end of his contract. Signing a big, front loaded, deal before the latest collective bargaining agreement while with the Vancouver Canucks, Luongo isn’t due all that much money in the final few years of his contract.
Luongo will be due $3.618 million over the final three years of his contract, while getting paid $6.714 million each of the next two upcoming seasons.
*All quotes pulled from the same article linked above