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Florida Panthers: Top Five Worst Moves Made by Dale Tallon

ByCal Friedman|
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 28: Dale Tallon, General Manager of the Florida Panthers, speaks on the phone on Day Two of the 2014 NHL Draft at the Wells Fargo Center on June 28, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 28: Dale Tallon, General Manager of the Florida Panthers, speaks on the phone on Day Two of the 2014 NHL Draft at the Wells Fargo Center on June 28, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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#2: Trading Shayne Gostisbehere’s Draft Pick

PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 23: Shayne Gostisbehere #53 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his third period goal with teammates on the bench against the New York Islanders on March 23, 2019 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 23: Shayne Gostisbehere #53 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his third period goal with teammates on the bench against the New York Islanders on March 23, 2019 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)

For a team that has struggled so much on the defensive end these past two seasons, a face like Shayne Gostisbehere on the blue line would’ve been immensely helpful. The Panthers had that option in their grasp and decided to throw it away.

If Gostisbehere’s pick had not been traded to Philadelphia, this would’ve easily cracked Dale Tallon’s top five best moves as GM.

Tallon traded out of the 47th pick in the 2011 Draft, giving the selection to San Jose in exchange for the Sharks’ second-round pick twelve selections later and their third-round pick in 2012.

This 2012 third rounder would wind up being the South Floridian defenseman, who would go on to make the all-rookie team in 2016 and lead the Flyers to the playoffs in two of his four NHL seasons. The 47th pick wound up being Matt Nieto, an average NHL player who the Sharks moved on from in 2016.

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This pick would’ve been so helpful for Florida, but alas, it was traded to Philadelphia. The Panthers’ return for Gostisbehere? Kris Versteeg.

In all fairness, Versteeg was a very good player in his debut season, scoring 23 goals and 31 assists as the Panthers returned to the playoffs in 2011-12.

After that, it was all downhill from there as Versteeg suffered a bad injury which limited him to ten games in 2012-13, and was traded the season after that to Chicago for Jimmy Hayes.

In total, after his solid debut season, Versteeg had just 11 points in 28 games for Florida. Gostisbehere, in his worst full NHL season thus far, had 36 points in 78 games. Those, as his worst numbers, are still relatively good for a defenseman.

Not to mention, Gostisbehere’s best season saw him put up 65 points (13G & 52A) in 78 games with a +10 rating at just 24 years of age.

While the Panthers may still be able to move for the defenseman this offseason with the rumor mill churning trade rumors surrounding Gostisbehere’s future as a Flyer, the cost is now much more than it was when the Cats initially had his draft rights.

Instead, the Panthers missed out on a promising young defenseman, who could’ve seriously helped the Cats in these last four seasons in exchange for Versteeg’s one good season. Not Tallon’s finest hour…

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