The two new assistant coaches that the Florida Panthers hired can impact the team in many ways. Let’s take a look at what aspects (specifically) each Assistant Coach impacts this team on.
The first Assistant Coach that the Florida Panthers hired this offseason was once an enemy of all Cats fans. That person is former New York Islanders Head Coach Jack Capuano. Jack, a former defenseman in the NHL will primarily impact the defense and the penalty killing system. Knowing that the Cats penalty kill was among the top five in the NHL last year, Jack should not have to make many changes to it. He will likely add some of his personal background from when he played, which could only improve the Panthers already strong penalty kill.
Another aspect that Jack can take part in is the Panthers defensive play/system. Most Cats fans know that the Panthers defense did not play up to the elite level, management knows that it can play at. That is particularly the reason why they brought Jack on board. Some of the players on this team know first hand, based on the series they played against the Islanders (back in 2015-16), how Jack can impact the defense on a team. With the Panthers young and talented defensive core, there should be no trouble for Jack to step in and help improve this already talented defensive core.
The second Assistant Coach that the Florida Panthers hired is former OHL player and Head Coach, Paul McFarland. Even though Paul has no NHL coaching experience, he has had some great success in the OHL as a coach. During his time as coach in the OHL, his team never missed the playoffs once. This is something all Cats fans should love about Paul (or recognize), a coach with some playoff experience (even though it’s not in the NHL).
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The aspect that Paul will focus on with the Panthers will be the offensive side of play. We hope that McFarland can jump-start the Panthers offense, while maximizing production out of our younger guys. Over the last few seasons, the Panthers offense has not been among the top of the league and has struggled for years. Paul was certainly brought in to help restructure the Cats offense.
McFarland had some good offensive stats as a player (in the OHL) and the way he coached his teams’ offense was pretty spectacular as well. The Panthers have a young core of potential offensive superstars which include Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, who should improve with the help of McFarland on board. If McFarland can make adjustments to the Cats offense the way he coached his OHL teams offense, then the Panthers offensive numbers should start to improve gradually over time.
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Ultimately, management has hired two assistant coaches who complement head coach Bob Boughner. If both coaches can bring the style of play they have implemented throughout their entire coaching careers, then it should only help the Cats climb their way back to the playoffs.