Florida Panthers Offseason Analysis

Florida Panthers General Manager Jacque Martin was very busy this offseason.

Martin traded away the franchise's greatest scorer—Olli Jokinen—to Phoenix after Jokinen ended the year with a sad minus-19 and only 71 points, after putting up an average of 90 points the previous two seasons.

In return, Florida received Keith Ballard, Nick Boynton, and a second-round pick in 2008 (Colby Robak). Ballard is 5'11" and 208 lbs.—but plays like he's 6'3" and weighing 225. Ballard is one tough cookie, and is expected to pair up with Jay Bouwmeester on Florida's top pairing.

Boynton is a veteran who is an average top-four defenseman, and will likely play on the third pairing with Karlis Skrastins. Boynton is a very physical defensemen, and reliable in his own zone.

Martin wasn't done with picking up defensemen. Martin shipped away injury-prone Mike Van Ryn to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Bryan McCabe and a fourth-round pick in 2009. McCabe was hammered by the media for several "bloopers" committed this past year.

McCabe is without question a talented player, and may prosper with a change of scenery. Look for McCabe to bounce back a bit from a not so great 2007-08.

When it comes to forwards other than Jokinen, only Josef Stumpel is gone. Stumpel's final year under contract with the Panthers was bought out for a cap hit of $750,000 over the next two years.

The Panthers brought in veteran Cory Stillman, which will definitely close, but not heal the sting left from Jokinen's departure. Look for stud OHL centermen Shawn Matthias to crack the Panthers' lineup on opening night, centering Stillman and Olesz.

The increased ice time should allow the young guns on the Panthers to produce significantly more than last year. If no improvement occurs, you can expect the Panthers to lose a lot of low scoring games.

Martin was able to sign Rostislav Olesz and Keith Ballard to contract extensions, keeping the two in Panther uniforms until 2014 and 2015, respectively.

In general, the Panthers cleared up their defensive problems, and they will show off a very deep pool of  top-six defensemen who will give up less than 2.5 goals per game.

The big question will be the offense—can it put up more than 2.5 goals per game? If players such as Horton, Weiss, Olesz, Kreps, Booth improve, expect the Panthers to be playing some playoff games this year.

Last but not least, the bottom six forwards on the Panthers are Peltonen, Kreps, Dvorak, Belak, Campbell, and Zednik. In all likelihood, Michael Frolik and Shawn Matthias will see plenty of ice time this year, and one of bottom feeders will be sent packing.

Since Belak, Kreps, and Campbell were all signed to contract extensions, the only forwards who should be looking over their shoulders are Peltonen, Dvorak, and Zednik. In my book, Peltonen is gone and Dvorak may be used for trade bait—but his PK skills are very good.

Optimistic Prediction: 42-31-9, 93 points, seventh place in the East and/or division title.

Pessimistic Prediction: 35-35-12, 82 points, 13th place in the East.

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