Florida Panthers: Predicting the stats of the defensemen and goalies

Starting Goalie: Roberto Luongo

Roberto Luongo at best had a decent year last season. While he was troubled with an injury that forced him to miss games near the end of the year, Luongo simply was not great enough for the Panthers. He started 39 games, won 17, lost 21 (including OT losses), had a save percentage of .914 and had a goals against average of 2.68. While these stats are not awful, it seemed like when Florida needed a big save last year, Luongo wasn’t able to provide it.

If Roberto wants to keep his starting goalie job, he will need to be better this year. It starts with being 100% healthy throughout the entire season. Assuming Luongo can be healthy for this year, he should automatically experience better results. While Luo could be nearing the end of his career, and perhaps his last season with the Panthers, he can still contribute at least one more strong season. Having James Reimer as his backup will also relieve Luongo of having to start all the time. Luo will not be MVP caliber this year, but he should be better this season.

Prediction: 48 games started, save percentage of .918 and goals against average of 2.54