Florida Panthers: Predicting the stats of the defensemen and goalies

When the Florida Panthers begin their season in October, they will look for their defense to support their offense and for the goalies to hold down the fort. Will both of these groups be able to contribute at a level that brings this team to the playoffs?

Last offseason, the Panthers decided to move away from a defensive minded group of defensemen to an offensive minded group. They spent money on guys like Keith Yandle and Jason Demers in free agency, plus signed Aaron Ekblad to a mega-deal. While some were a little worried why the Panthers were re-shaping their defensive group, most put away their fears and put their trust in the front office.

The Panthers’ defense had a decent year. Even though they did not produce any top defensive stars, according to NHL.com, Keith Yandle finished #21 out of all defensemen in points. But, besides Yandle, the rest of the group played decent at best as their next top point producing d-man, Jason Demers, finished #57 out of all defensemen in points.

Unlike last year, the Panthers did not add or lose anyone on the defensive side. The Panthers seem committed to making this group of d-men the best that they can be.

Looking at the Panthers’ goalies, both Roberto Luongo and James Reimer struggled to defend the goal effectively. In fact, they both struggled so much that they finished outside the top 30 goalies in the NHL.

Because Luongo is getting older, Reimer will have to step up and be the backup who can win games. Look for Luongo and Reimer to be dual starters with both of them being very close to splitting the 82 games in half.

Let’s examine how the defensemen and goalies’ individual statistics could look like for this upcoming season.

Defensive Leading Scorer: Keith Yandle

While some may think that Aaron Ekblad will lead the Panthers in points this year, Keith Yandle should beat him out by just a small margin. Yandle finished with 5 goals and 36 assists equaling 41 points. He did play all 82 games, but for Yandle, this wasn’t a good year defensively.

If Yandle can continue his streak of playing every game this season, he should slightly improve his statistics. Do not expect Yandle to turn into Erik Karlsson this year, but because Keith is more comfortable with the team, we do expect to see him up his game. Even though he will lead the defense in scoring, Yandle’s performance will not result in him being Florida’s most consistent defensemen (in other areas) throughout the entire year.

Prediction: 8 goals,39 assists and 47 points.

2nd Defensive Leading Scorer: Aaron Ekblad

Aaron Ekblad is the Panthers’ highest paid player on the team. Last year due to some injury issues, Ekblad only played in 68 games where he finished with a total of only 21 points. This low number was the lowest in the three years of Ekblad’s career.

In a recent interview, Ekblad stated that he is ready to really take his game to a higher level. It seems like Ekblad’s expectations for himself are extremely high for this year. While Aaron may finish a little bit under Yandle’s scoring for this year, expect Ekblad to return to his normal playing ability and hopefully lead the Panthers back to the playoffs. If Ekblad can stay healthy, he should have a great season.

Prediction: 15 goals, 27 assists and 42 points.

3rd Defensive Leading Scorer: Jason Demers

Jason Demers had a great first half of season with the Panthers last year before sliding off the score sheet for most of the second half of the season. Demers played all but one of all the 82 games and finished with 9 goals and 19 assists totaling 28 points.

While it appeared that the Panthers were shopping Demers around this offseason, it seems as if he will once again suit up for the Panthers this season. If Demers wants the trade rumors to stop, he will need to once again have a great season, and prove that he deserves his big salary. Demers should have a similar season to last year if he gets top 4 minutes.

Prediction: 7 goals,17 assists and 24 points.

4th Defensive Leading Scorer: Michael Matheson

Matheson had a solid season with the Panthers last year. He showed multiple offensive bursts throughout the season. Like Demers, Matheson played all but one game the entire season and finished with 17 points. It may not seem like a lot of points, but Matheson was constantly in the offensive zone and getting good scoring opportunities.

As the season moved along, Matheson continued to get more and more ice time as the coaching staff noticed that he generated scoring opportunities all the time. By combining Matheson and Demers as the 2nd defensive unit, the Panthers will have a solid pairing. The Panthers should also consider placing Matheson on the power-play with Ekblad or Yandle. The more ice time Matheson gets, the more he will contribute to the team.

Prediction: 10 goals,13 assists and 23 points.

5th Defensive Leading Scorer: Alex Petrovic

Alex Petrovic had a really good season with the Panthers last year. In only 49 games, Petrovic had 14 points which is a lot considering the role that he has on the team. Although Petrovic’s role is to be the tough and physical defenseman, he proved that he can contribute in both areas.

Perhaps the 2nd most reliable defenseman besides his defensive partner Mark Pysyk, Alex can be relied on in basically every situation. He does not earn his points by scoring the winning goal or assist. Instead, Petrovic earns his points by keeping the puck in the offensive zone rather than constantly in the defensive zone. He should have another solid season with the Panthers.

Prediction: 3 goals, 14 assists and 17 points.

6th Defensive Leading Scorer: Mark Pysyk

Mark Pysyk had a really solid season last year. Not only did Mark help offensively at times, but he also earned this quote from GM Dale Tallon:

“game in and game out our most consistent defenseman.’’

Offensively, Pysyk put up career highs in goals, assists and points. He earned a total of 17 points over the course of 82 games.

Pysyk’s role is not to score goals and put up points, but his job is to hold down the fort in any situation. Expect for Pysyk to once again be the best defensive defenseman this year.

Prediction: 2 goals,12 assists and 14 points.

Backup Goalie: James Reimer

Like Luongo, Reimer had at best a decent year last season. Reimer started out as the official backup goalie, but then turned into the starter when Luongo went down with an injury. He finished with 39 games started,18 wins, 21 losses (including OT losses), had a save percentage of .920 and had a goals against average of 2.53.

Although Reimer’s statistical numbers are not bad, James failed to show the fans and the organization that he could become the true starter of this hockey club. When Luongo got injured, Reimer had a chance to steal the job right out of Luongo’s hands. Had he led the Panthers to the playoffs, he might have been the starter this year rather than be the backup again. Unfortunately, Reimer was not able to accomplish that and now sits again as the backup. Fortunately for James, and because Luongo isn’t getting any younger, Reimer will again get a chance to showcase his abilities to be a true starter. If he fails once again to prove himself to the organization, he could easily be in another city next offseason. Expect Reimer to have a similar season to last year.

Prediction: 34 games started, save percentage of .919 and goals against average of 2.61

Next: Florida Panthers: Thoughts about the upcoming season