Florida Panthers: Analyzing Jason Demers For Jordan Eberle Trade Rumor
When the Florida Panthers signed defenseman Jason Demers to a five-year, $22.5 million contract, there were little doubts on what Demers was to bring.
A natural puck moving defenseman, Demers was viewed as the tying piece to a defensive core that lost both Brian Campbell and Erik Gudbranson to free agency and trade respectively.
However, after his first season for the Florida Panthers, Jason Demers’ impact left stuff to be desired. While he had a terrific offensive season, tallying 28 points (9 goals, 19 assists) in 81 games played, his defensive ability left stuff to be desired. Demers had a total +/- of -14, which is both a contribution of Jason and the revolving door of defensive lines the Panthers had. Demers also was responsible for 2.71 goals against in 60 minutes, which ranked highest among defense men who played more than 50 games for the Cats.
Equipped with lackluster defensive performances and a $4.5 million cap hit over the next 4 seasons, Jason Demers has been the brunt of many trade talk. Including one to the Edmonton Oilers in return for winger Jordan Eberle.
Eberle, who turned 27 earlier in May, has been pushed down Edmonton’s pecking order over the past season, eventually finding himself with 2nd line minutes in favor of Leon Draisaitl. Regardless, Eberle features a scoring ability that was not found on the Panthers’ team last season. Last year, Jordan scored 20 goals, which would have been the fourth highest last season for the Cats. As well, his CF60 (Corsi For Per 60 Minutes) of 60.34% would have been the highest for the Panthers.
Why The Trade Benefits The Panthers
If the rumors of trading Demers for Eberle in a straight up deal are true and the Cats end up pulling the trigger on the trade, the Panthers would end up getting a legitimate scorer for Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau on the first line.
As well, the acquisition of Eberle would fix the dreadful power play the Panthers held. Last season, the Cats held the 24th best power play, scoring on only 17% of their opportunities. On the other hand, Jordan scored 14 power play points. This is something the Florida Panthers would immediately welcome given how dreadful the power play was just a season ago.
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While losing Jason Demers may create a hole in defense, the Panthers would have ways to replace him within the system. At the end of last season, both MacKenzie Weegar and Ian McCoshen impressed in limited sample size. Should the new head coach, whoever that may be, like to give players like Weegar or McCoshen a whole season, Jason Demers would represent the most likely choice given the impact that Mark Pysyk (2.39 GA60) brought and the playing style of Alex Petrovic.
Why The Trade Hurts the Panthers
On the other hand, trading Demers could create an unwarranted hole in the defense. With the Cats likely to lose a defenseman to the expansion draft, trading Jason would create two holes in the defense. While it is possible that Weegar and McCoshen could replace both Demers and the other defensemen lost, neither of them have a large sample size in the NHL. MacKenzie and Ian both only have three games in the NHL, all of which came in “garbage time” at the end of last season.
Overall, trading Demers would immediately create a hole on offense for the defensemen. Last year, Jason had arguably the most impact on the offensive end of the puck. Demers’ ability to get the puck on net had a huge impact for the Panthers last season and led to at least 21 goals being created. This factored into the playing styles of Pysyk and Petrovic, neither of which are known for their ability to score and Demers’ impact on offense may be solely missed.