Florida Panthers: Glace Bay’s Logan Shaw Ready For The Big Leagues

After 53 games this season, Logan Shaw is ready to become a full time Panther

I have to be honest, I always had a soft spot in my heart for Brandon Pirri. The guy always struck me as a decent player that really just needed more time to naturally develop. When Florida traded him off to Anaheim in exchange for a draft pick, I felt that the Panthers were making a bad decision. When the off season came and Pirri went unsigned by Anaheim, a huge part of me hoped that my twitter would tell me he was coming back to Florida.

That still hasn’t been the case, and what I saw instead was Quinton Howden leaving to Winnipeg, Al Montoya leave to Montreal, Brian Campbell to Chicago, Teddy Purcell head to Los Angeles, and Jiri Hudler face the same fate as Pirri. When it came to re-signings, I knew the obvious suspects were going to be Aaron Ekblad, Reilly Smith and Vincent Trocheck. Everything else was up in the air. When Logan Shaw popped up as one of the players Florida decided to throw another year at, I was surprised, mostly because he was picked over quite a few other guys that I though would get signed instead.

Shaw, despite being a minor league guy, managed to find himself playing 53 games last season on the Florida Panthers roster, and 19 back in Portland for the AHL affiliate team. Shaw racked up 7 points on the Panthers team with a minus -7 on his plus/minus score. Shaw had a much better sounding season in Portland where he played 19 games and picked up 14 points, 11 goals and 3 assists and a 0 for his plus/minus. What I couldn’t put together was why Howden, who took $10,000 less than Shaw to go to Winnipeg and had put 11 points up in his 58 games in Florida and scored better in the plus/minus with only a -1, was gone and Shaw had stayed.

Florida Panthers

Shaw was in a place where he was too good to be in the minor league, but wasn’t quite ready to hit the main roster as a full time guy. This certainly doesn’t mean he wasn’t getting chances left, right and center to jump on the main roster, as he seemed to be there as much as several of the main roster guys. He was first  called up on October 29th and sent back less than 7 days later. He would get his big chance November 25th and didn’t get the call to go back down until April 1st, and would end up back on the Florida roster just 15 days later.

As I did more research, I began to piece together fragments of stories from all over the internet and old DVR recordings that weaved a very telling story about Logan, and particularly what the Panthers see in him. Logan had put years of hard work and dedication into becoming a Florida Panther, and when his teammates and hometown got behind him, you could see the difference it made.

Shaw grew up in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. At four years old, his parents got him a Panthers jersey with no idea he would one day be employed by the franchise. Logan, like most east coast kids that played hockey had dreams of playing in the NHL.

“I don’t know why. I grew up an East Coaster, and it was all about Toronto, Montreal and Boston. I just loved the jersey.” Logan told the Sun-Sentinel when he was first called up back in October 30th

As Logan’s hockey career progressed he would play in the QMJHL for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, as well as the Quebec Remparts. The QMJHL was where Logan shined, and in 2012-2013 he would put up 68 points in 67 games. Logan would find his way to San Antonio the next season where he would seem to struggle putting up 8 points in 46 games. He would then be demoted to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL where his point production seemed to return when he put 18 points up in 20 games. Logan came back to San Antonio the next year and managed to get himself 25 points in 69 games.

When called up to the Panthers, it was a bittersweet moment for him, and for his community. The former number 68 traded in his number for number 48 and had his NHL debut against the Boston Bruins. The true number 68, Jaromir Jagr, whose injury was the reason for Logan’s call up, would return days later which resulted in Logan Shaw getting called back to Portland. From the articles I read you could already tell that his coach knew he was most likely going to be back.

“The kid worked hard,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. “It’s deserving. You talk to the coaches down there and they said he’s been the best player. He had a great camp. He put himself in the [running] with those other guys .”

For Shaw, he knew once he hit the NHL ice that he didn’t want to be back in Maine.

“It was an awesome experience. My goal now is to get back up there and stay up there. I wanna get in as many games as I can, obviously, and in order to do that is to keep working down here. Next time I’m up there I’ll make sure I make a difference in the game.”

Logan’s second call up is the one most Florida Panthers fans will likely remember as Logan began to get out there and make himself noticed. Logan scored his first goal against Ottawa on December 7th, and nine days later would have his first multi point game with a goal and an assist against the New Jersey Devils.

A couple of days ago, I treated myself to watching the Vancouver Canucks vs Florida Panthers game from December 20th, 2015. After watching and paying particular attention to Logan, you could see other things that really stood out about him. He wasn’t afraid to take shots and near the end of the third period, it was him that put Ryan Miller to the test with a shot towards his glove side that had goal written all over it. The other thing I noticed was how often he was in the thick of the plays, and there would be times he would be leading the charge to the offensive zone. One particular spot i noticed was how he managed to be exactly in the right spot to pick up a clearing attempt by Pirri and took off with the puck. Logan made the fourth line where he worked well with Connor Brickley, his roommate back in Portland. During the broadcast of the game, Steve Goldstein had pointed out the two and mentioned how the team had been dealing with injuries and called up the two aforementioned players. When he brought it up both he and Denis Potvin agreed that you could hardly tell the Panthers had injured talent. What they didn’t know at the time was that with these two on the fourth line they were already 3 games into their 12 game win streak. If you are a fan of back and forth hockey games I highly recommend going on Youtube and watching this game as its a great one.

Shaw also showed that he wasn’t going to be a push over, when he was the one that chased down and fought Matt Hendricks the night Hendricks put Aaron Ekblad into the boards, giving Ekblad a concussion. I give lots of credit to the Florida Panthers for this game as you got to see how they had all rallied together and it didn’t matter if you had been there for a day or a year, you were a member of the team and you looked out for each other. Part of me believes that this mindset is a huge factor in what gave the Panthers the success they had in 2015-16.

Next: By The Numbers: Vincent Trocheck's Breakout Season

For now, Shaw will have to earn that spot again if he plans on returning to the Florida Panthers roster next season. Logan wants to bring the work ethic to the club that the team needs and with his first NHL season over, the Glace Bay native will have taken the experience and learned where he can develop his game further. His current deal is a two way deal for one year, which means he could very well be on the Panthers roster for a long stretch like he was last year, however with the depth the Panthers have in the offensive zone, he is going to have to work much harder than he has already to get a spot on the roster.