Florida Panthers Midseason Review

So far, it’s been a roller coaster type of season for the Florida Panthers but fortunately, they had more ups than downs.

They are currently sitting at the 8th seed of the RHL standings but also 4th in the Atlantic division with 51 points, only 1 point behind the 2nd (Toronto). And most importantly, they currently are in a playoffs spot which wasn’t the case for the whole season.

Samuel Montembeault entered the season as the #1 Goalie for the Panthers but it is not so clear now. Alex Lyon actually started the last 9 games for the Cats and registered a 7-0-2 record which is extremely impressive. He’s 10-3-3 in the season and and has a 1.67 GAA and 93,8% save percentage which are incredible numbers. For comparison, Montembeault has a 11-9-6 record, a 2.73 GAA and 90,5% save percentage. Which aren’t bad numbers. Just not Lyon’s numbers.

So I asked GM PKayne how the team would handle this situation going forward and here’s what he had to say: “We’re just going with the hot goalie. And right now, it’s Lyon. Plain and simple. Sam (Montembeault) gave us some good hockey, he wasn’t bad at all but Lyon came with some better performances and we’re not salary-watching, we’re performance-watching. So as long as Lyon will be playing as he is right now, he’ll start games.”

But Lyon is not the only player giving the Panthers a chance to win every game. Nathan MacKinnon and Artemi Panarin are generating a lot of offense and they are currently 2nd and 3rd in the whole league for points. “Nate Dogg” has 20 goals and 32 assists for 52 points and the “Breadman” has 23 goals and 27 assists for 50 points in 42 games. These are impressive numbers and probably the main reason why the Panthers are in the top tier of the league right now.

Some other players have been notables for positive reasons this season, such as Tim Stützle and Cale Makar.

Stützle has the best goal differential in the league with his +25 and he’s also on pace for more than 60 points this season.

Makar is doing great and he’s on pace for more than 50 points which is really good for a D in the RHL.

So, the team is performing well. But what’s next for them this season? I asked PKayne.

“Of course we hope we’ll be able to continue on our push and win some more hockey games. The trade deadline is in 2 months and we’re already having some discussions internally on what could be our needs going forward. We’re already working the phones, seeing what’s out there on the market and if the prices tags are affordable for us. History showed that we’ve been pretty active in these kinds of moments and I don’t think it’s gonna be different this season. We’re going for it, we’re all-in, we have a great team but also some great young prospects as well as 2 1st round picks. Everything’s on the table for the right offer. Of course, it has to make sense. We won’t give one of our top prospect for a rental. But we’ll see how everything goes.”

So it’s pretty clear the Panthers are not yet satisfied of their season even if it’s going well. It’s also pretty clear they are looking to add to push them a step further.

Some action coming soon, stay tuned!

Mark Kandy
Miami Herald