Look towards the Florida Panthers

NHL.com has been providing in-depth inventory, prospect and fantasy analysis to its 16 teams since November 16-December. 16. Today, the Florida Panthers.

The Florida Panthers are heading in a new direction this season after making changes on and off the ice.

Bill Zito, who was appointed Panthers general manager on Sept. 2 to replace Dale Talone, made changes at the forward and defenseman, saying he wanted to bring another vibe to coach Joel Quenneville’s dressing room.

“Bill came in and he changed staff,” Quenneville said. “He’s looking for ways to change, it’s culture, attitude, approach. He believes that there are different regions, different disciplines, that’s important in the future. He’s thorough, he’s doing his job and he has a good attitude. The process is fun.”

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Florida’s biggest changes on the ice have come to the fore. Patrick H nk‌ ist, Two-time Stanley Cup winner (2016, 2017), traded for the Defense Man with the Pittsburgh Penguins Mike Matheson And so on Colton Squire On September 24th. Arnequist scored 480 points (238 goals, 242 assists) in 770 regular-season games with the Penguins and Nashville Predators, and 46 points (25 goals, 21 assists) in 90 Stanley Cup playoff games. Carter Verheige, Who won the Tampa Bay Lightning Cup last season, agreed to a two-year deal on October 9, the same day the Panthers agreed to a one-year deal. Alexander Wenberg And Winnie Hinostroza.

Mike Hoffman, Who led the Panthers with 29 goals in 69 games last season, is an unrestricted free agent and has no qualms about signing back. Evgeny DadonovHe finished fourth in the Panthers with 47 points (25 goals, 22 assists) from 69 games and signed a three-year, $ 15 million (average annual value of $ 5 million) contract with the Ottawa Senators on October 15.

Hornquist needs to help fill the voids left by Hoffman and Dadonov, two of Florida’s biggest threats since coming forward last season. Jonathan Hubbardio (78 points) and Alexander Barkov (62).

“We want people who approach the game in a competitive and business-like, professional manner and want to come into the rink every day and like to win and lose,” Jito said. “… there are so many different adjectives that we can use to describe what it means to struggle against a tool. It’s more than size and strength; it’s more than a physical game. Hopefully we get a little bit of all of this.”

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Florida finished the regular season with 565 points (35-26-8) in their first season as Queenville as their coach and lost four games in the Best-of-5 Stanley Cup qualifiers to the New York Islanders. The Panthers have not won a postseason series since 1996, reaching the Stanley Cup Final.

Goalie Sergei Bobrowski After signing a seven-year deal on July 1, 2019, he struggled in his first season with the Pors, 23-19-6 with an average of 3.23 goals and 50 games (49 starts) .900 savings. To help him, Florida agreed to the terms with the defenseman Radco Gudas On a three-year deal, Oct. 9. Gudas scored 15 points (two goals, 13 assists) in 63 games with Washington Capitals last season and his 164 hits are 12th on the NHL defense.

“I think ours [defensemen] Years later he started getting a little edgy around the net, “Quenneville said.” Gudas has a lot of that presence. I think we understand that part of our needs better as the season grows. … I cleaner, neater, in front of our net, if it’s not so easy to play, it helps our marbles and it helps to keep the puck away from our net. “

Quenneville, who has won the cup three times as coach of the Chicago Black Hawks (2010, 2013, 2015), said he was confident Florida’s changes this off-season would help boost the Panthers’ standings and achieve post-season success.

“The type of players we bring in is the type of work, they are the type of competition,” Quenneville said. “We want to be more, and I want to bring that kind of mentality to every game. ‘Be ready to work for one another.’

“I think Bill came up with the attitude that he wants to change the culture. When we say that, I think we want to create a successful environment. I think we made some progress last year, [but] We need a competitive game, we need to shift. Increase expectations internally. “