Florida Panthers: A Look Into the 2018-19 Season

After an offseason that seemed like an eternity, the 2018-19 Florida Panthers are ready for faceoff.

The Florida Panthers are playing with a lot of eyes on them this year following their unbelievable second half of last season, missing the playoffs by one point to the New Jersey Devils.

The Panthers became the best team in the modern era to not make the playoffs, as no lottery team had ever finished with 95 points. Unlike last season, the Panthers aren’t playing with a lot of new players, and head coach Bob Boughner is ready to hold onto last year’s second-half winning fever.

The Panthers don’t have a lot of new faces this season, but there are some new Cats to keep an eye on.

Starting small, Russian defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich was brought over from the KHL. Unfortunately, the 28-year-old suffered a broken jaw in the final preseason match against the Tampa Bay Lightning and should miss the opening two months of the season.

With one door closing, another door opens, as 25-year-old Jacob MacDonald will play his first set of NHL minutes this October with a point to prove.

The Oregon native finished with 55 points in 75 games for the Binghamton Devils of the AHL and recorded 2 goals in 5 games. He should be settling in the depth chart as a rotational player, as there’s no guarantee he gets game time ahead of Alexander Petrovic or MacKenzie Weegar, but he certainly impressed the coaching staff in his short stint.

The forward core will have two changes from last season. While he wasn’t acquired this past offseason, this will be the first full season for Frank Vatrano as a Panther.

After his Panthers debut was delayed due to a nagging injury, Vatrano immensely improved from his time with the Boston Bruins. He finished the season with 8 points in 16 games for Florida, far superior to his 2 points in 25 games in Boston that same year.

Vatrano has the third line left-wing slot locked down with the injury to Jamie McGinn, so the ball is in his court to impress the Panthers into possibly becoming more than a bottom-six scorer.

The Panthers also brought in veteran winger Troy Brouwer following his buyout from the Calgary Flames. While it appeared to be another training camp trial – like Mark Letestu – Brouwer proved himself to the organization as a permanent option.

The 33-year old mustered just 22 points in 76 games for the Flames last season, but in a much more reduced role, Troy could be a good veteran influence to the team.

The most important offseason addition was free-scoring winger Mike Hoffman. After a complicated series of trades, Dale Tallon acquired a proven scorer for the top-six.

The former Ottawa Senator has had 20+ goals in the last four seasons, as well as 30 or more assists in the past three.

Hoffman is also a killer on the man advantage, with 32 power play goals to his name, including 13 power play tallies in 2016-17.

To see a visual layout, here is the full Panthers roster to open the season:

This roster will change a lot this year, as the Panthers AHL affiliate (Springfield) have some solid performers from preseason.

Ian McCoshen, Henrik Borgstrom, Jonathan Ang, Anthony Greco, and Samuel Montembeault all could join the Panthers this season.

This kind of competition will be healthy for both the Springfield Thunderbirds and the Florida Panthers, as players like Brouwer, Mamin, and Weegar don’t have guaranteed spots this season, so playing well on a nightly basis is everything for Bob Boughner this year.

The Panthers biggest change is easily the change of captaincy from Derek MacKenzie to Aleksander Barkov.

The move shows the direction that the Panthers want to move towards: forward. Alongside Barkov, Keith Yandle, Aaron Ekblad, Vincent Trocheck, and Jonathan Huberdeau will become alternate captains, giving the Panthers four A’s this season.

The Cats want 2018-19 to be a very successful year, and their offseason moves have helped paint the identity of the club as a playoff contender.

With a goal set in stone, there are going to be roadblocks in the way this season as the Atlantic Division looks to be a very top-heavy division this season.

The Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, and Ottawa Senators are looking set for a year in the basement. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins all have the Stanley Cup within their reach, as all are ranked inside the top 10 of the initial NHL power rankings.

The Buffalo Sabres appear to be the joker card of the Atlantic – they’re projected to finish low – but anything could happen with their roster.

The Sabres have high-end talent led by Jack Eichel, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Rasmus Dahlin complemented by a host of offseason editions including Conor Sheary and about half of last year’s St. Louis Blues team, including Carter Hutton, Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, and Tage Thompson.

While the Panthers may look better on paper, the Sabres could surprise a lot of people with the right coaching.

If the Panthers fail to beat out any of the three cup contenders in the Atlantic for a divisional playoff spot, there’s a lot of teams in the Metropolitan that can contend for a wild-card spot.

The Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New Jersey Devils all aren’t safe with the Panthers and Sabres on the rise. Even the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders have made improvements this summer, with the Hurricanes bringing in Dougie Hamilton and the Islanders hiring former Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz.

While other teams may appear intimidating, this shouldn’t faze the Panthers this season. Playoffs are the primary objective, and that objective is well within reason. Whether it’s a wild card or a divisional spot, seeing the Cats return to the playoffs after a two-year absence is the expectation.