It’s simpler to be the hunters than the Hunted. The Florida Panthers’ motto this season continues to be #timetohunt, nonetheless, different groups will attempt to get their spots because the defending Stanley Cup Champions attempt to go back-to-back.
Are the Florida Panthers the Group to Beat This Season?
It’s not going to be simple for the Florida Panthers, both. Florida misplaced a number of key gamers on its backend this season, together with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Montour. On offense, they misplaced Steven Lorentz, Kevin Stenlund, Ryan Lomberg, and Anthony Stolarz between the pipes.
Common Supervisor Invoice Zito saved Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell on extensions to stay with the Panthers core of Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, and Sergei Bobrovsky. On evening one of many common season, Carter Verhaeghe bought his new extension.
Even with this summer season’s additions and the season’s expectations, head coach Paul Maurice is aware of different groups will convey their greatest each evening, particularly given the Panthers’ onerous type.
So we’ve bought, I’d say, 5 groups in our division that we confronted within the playoffs during the last two years, and it’s on when the Florida Panthers and the Boston Bruins get collectively, Maurice stated. Prefer it’s as onerous a recreation as I’ve ever been behind the bench for. So now we’ve bought 5 – 6 of these groups, however that additionally leaves three or 4 groups in our division that groups will get wired up virtually final 12 months for our type of recreation. It’s going to be bodily, it’s going to be quick, after which now, I don’t assume anyone ever took us flippantly, not that we’re that good, however we do play fairly onerous.
We already noticed via groups that the Bruins and Panthers had been in a bodily recreation. However as Maurice explains, there’s a historical past there, particularly the final two years within the playoffs. Then, in Ottawa, the Senators had been amped up of their house opener to play the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
Will the Florida Panthers Stay Aggressive Sufficient to Repeat?
That’s going to be each evening, too, and the Florida Panthers must be up for the problem. This season, this membership has a unique mindset, being the defending Stanley Cup Champions as a substitute of making an attempt to win the last word prize.
We’ve got seen totally different coaches strive totally different methods. Most famously, Invoice Belichick took down the previous glory from the hallways after the New England Patriots received the Tremendous Bowl. Nevertheless, Paul Maurice took a unique method with the Florida Panthers.
We speak about it, we speak about it via day one, and we speak loads in regards to the adversity that we’ll face that’s needed. And I believe that that’s poignant to our gamers during the last two years, Maurice stated. Any time, we had been in bother, we had been eight or 9 factors out in January, and we had a extremely robust schedule in January wasn’t trying good, however the classes of adversity and the acceptance of adversity, that it’s so onerous to win a Cup, to make the playoffs on this league, it’s a problem, so that you simply sort of settle for it earlier than it occurs, settle for how onerous it’s going to be earlier than it occurs. So once you get on the market and it’s onerous. It doesn’t shock you.
Nicely, the Panthers will probably be coping with some adversity early on within the season, with Aleksander Barkov out of the lineup after struggling an harm in Florida’s second recreation late within the third interval. Barkov suffered a lower-body harm and couldn’t get off the ice alone. Fortunately, he’ll solely be out for 2 to a few weeks..
Who’s the Largest Risk to Florida Panthers within the East?
The Panthers will lean on the adversity and classes realized from coping with essential gamers’ accidents. Keep in mind final 12 months, Brandon Montour (now in Seattle), Aaron Ekblad, and Mathew Tkachuk all handled accidents coming into the season. They lastly bought wholesome and located their recreation.
However Maurice is aware of that he has to maintain his group on stage floor and never let their egos get too large, particularly after successful the Stanley Cup.
The problem is to not really feel particular due to what you probably did, that one way or the other it will get barely simpler, as a result of it received’t, not even the littlest quantity, Maurice stated. So so long as you settle for that when it will get onerous on the market, and we’re down to 1 in the midst of the sport, it’s not the tip of the world. That’s precisely the place we in all probability had been final 12 months presently, we figured a option to grind one out.
Don’t count on the Florida Panthers to take an evening off; in the event that they do, count on their coach to offer it to them. Nevertheless, as NHLRumors.com has documented, the Panthers are nonetheless the category of the Atlantic Division.
