Florida Panthers: Are There More Answers to the Cats’ Bottom-Six Questions?

Earlier in the summer, we explored what the bottom-six for the Florida Panthers would look like considering the glut of capable forwards the team has.

Quite a bit has changed since then, including additions, injuries, and players stepping up in the first handful of preseason games. With this new information, are we any closer to determining what the Florida Panthers’ bottom-six will look like on October 6th in Tampa?

The first handful of preseason games should give us a hint as to how the bottom-six questions may answer themselves. Against Montreal, the third line was Malgin–McCann–Borgstrom, which looked promising on both ends of the ice.

In many ways, considering the right vs. left-handed shot balance, as well as the defensive acumen of McCann, that could be the ideal third line not just on opening night, but throughout the season, especially since Henrik Borgstrom’s future seems to be as a winger (unlike what some dope thought in the summer).

If that’s the third line, it leaves a number of bodies still looking for a home, including Frank Vatrano, Maxim Mamin, Colton Sceviour, the newly signed Troy Brouwer among others.

The team has hinted that they want more production out of their bottom-six compared to last year, which may mean players like Micheal Haley and now former captain Derek MacKenzie find themselves without any openings.

Jamie McGinn’s long-term injury seemingly answered a few questions, but with Brouwer’s signing, a few more opened up. As solid as Mark Letestu has looked on his PTO, he’s been officially released by the club.

If Brouwer and Sceviour are favorites for the fourth line winger spots – at least for time being – then who will center them?

MacKenzie seems to be the likely incumbent, but his play last year didn’t necessarily merit it, especially since other players could do the job that he’s done, but with a little more speed and offensive punch.

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Could it be Juho Lammikko? Against Montreal’s reserves last Wednesday, he was effective in that role. Lammikko is not naturally a center, but with three more preseason games to come, perhaps the experiment continues and bears fruit.

For the Panthers, having questions about the bottom-six and who will fill those roles is a good dilemma to have, especially if the questions answer themselves. With three more preseason games to play, it seems that there will be more than a few players left on the outside looking in as the competition for spots gets tougher and tougher.

Perhaps even a player like Dryden Hunt could impress to the point where he’d have to get an NHL look over more favored incumbents, or said player could be someone like him. Even with the performance of the Malgin-McCann-Borgstrom troika last Wednesday, it’s not set in stone what even the third line will be or what its role could be.

After the game against Dallas, perhaps the Panthers are a bit closer to figuring out the answers to their bottom-six questions. But with three more games left to play, and plenty of players to still sort through, could more questions emerge based on some great camp performances?

It always seems to happen in today’s NHL that a camp hero steals the show and muscles his way to an opening night spot, and the Cats have plenty of contenders for those spots even still.

So what’s next for the bottom-six battle? With a finite number of slots to fill and a finite number of preseason minutes left to earn, it’s possible this battle is closer to its end than its beginning.

But the competition has made this team better and should hopefully help heal what was one of the biggest ailments of the team last season in terms of bottom-six production.

If these camp battles help answer those questions and fix those problems, that could be the one point difference that keeps the Panthers playing in April as opposed to watching at home.