Florida Panthers 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

Florida Panthers 2017 Season Preview

Aaron Ekblad was the #1 overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. The highly touted defenseman must take the next step and become the leader of the Florida Panthers in 2017.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 8/31/2017.

Florida Panthers Line 1 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Jonathan Huberdeau	Left Wing	31	6-foot-1-inches	188-pounds	10	16	26
Aleksander Barkov	Center	61	6-foot-3-inches	213-pounds	21	31	52
Evgeni Dadonov	Right Wing	53	5-foot-10-inches	185-pounds	30	36	66

Florida Panthers Line 2 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Henrik Haapala	Left Wing	51	5-foot-9-inches	185-pounds	15	45	60
Vincent Trocheck	Center	82	5-foot-10-inches	182-pounds	23	31	54
Radim Vrbata	Right Wing	81	6-foot-1-inches	194-pounds	20	35	55

Florida Panthers Line 3 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Denis Malgin	Left Wing	47	5-foot-9-inches	177-pounds	6	4	10
Nick Bjugstad	Center	54	6-foot-6-inches	218-pounds	7	7	14
Colton Sceviour	Right Wing	53	6-foot-0-inches	195-pounds	9	15	24

Florida Panthers Line 4 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Michael Haley	Left Wing	58	5-foot-11-inches	205-pounds	2	8	10
Derek MacKenzie	Center	82	5-foot-11-inches	181-pounds	6	10	16
Owen Tippett	Right Wing	60	6-foot-2-inches	203-pounds	44	31

Florida Panthers Forwards Review: Florida needs Jonathan Huberdeau to stay healthy. They also need the guys they signed from the KHL in Russia and the SM Liiga in Finland to translate. Owen Tippett is an x-factor as well. I think Tippett will get a 10 game tryout as a rookie, but if he struggles in those 10 games he gets sent back to Mississauga where he'd play for the Steelheads once again in 2018.

Jaromir Jagr is still a Free Agent. I'm amazed nobody signed him after Florida let him walk. Jagr still has a lot of value even though I can understand why Florida parted ways with him. If the wingers Florida added can perform, this team will have most of the components to contend this season.

Florida has two lines of forwards that could be great if Huberdeau stays healthy. Their back 6 will have no spark unless Tippett makes the final roster as a rookie and manages to stay on it. Last season the Panthers finished 23rd in goals scored and 24th on the power play.

Florida Panthers Defensive Lines

Player	Line	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Aaron Ekblad	Line 1	68	6-foot-4-inches	216-pounds	10	11	21
Michael Mattheson	Line 1	81	6-foot-2-inches	192-pounds	7	10	17
Jason Demers	Line 2	81	6-foot-1-inches	208-pounds	9	19	28
Keith Yandle	Line 2	82	6-foot-1-inches	196-pounds	5	36	41
Alex Petrovic	Line 3	49	6-foot-4-inches	206-pounds	1	13	14
Mark Pysyk	Line 3	82	6-foot-1-inches	200-pounds	2	2	4

Florida Panthers Defensemen Review Florida's defense has a lot of talent. They finished 19th in goals allowed and 2nd in penalty killing. This defense has top 10 potential. It all comes down to Aaron Ekblad. Ekblad has to stay healthy and show people he can be the leader of this defense. If he does that, other guys will rally around him and Florida will be a deadly defense. If he fails to do this, it will be a long season for the Florida Panthers.

Draft Utopia Between The Pipes Goalie Tracker

Starting Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Roberto Luongo	Florida Panthers	39	17-15-6	1 Shutout	.915	2.68 GAA

Backup Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
James Reimer	Florida Panthers	39	18-16-5	3 Shutouts	.920	2.53 GAA

Florida Panthers Goaltender Review Roberto Luongo began to decline. James Reimer on the other hand, showed he has the tools to be a starting goalie in the future. It will be interesting to see if Luongo loses his job to Reimer in the near future.

Florida Panthers Prospect Pool: Florida has a thinner prospect pool then they had in previous years. It will be interesting to see how the Panthers retool their pool of prospects with most of their young prospects now in the NHL.

Florida Panthers 2017-2018 Prediction

Florida has a lot more questions then usual. Are the forwards they brought in from Finland and Europe going to replace Jagr? Can Aaron Ekblad stay healthy? Will Luongo keep his job as the starting goalie? Will James Reimer play well enough to take Luongo's job? These questions make me question Florida's playoff odds. One thing I will add is that if Florida loses a lot of games, that about 2/3's of their losses should be one goal games since the strength of this team is the defense. It really comes down to how much discipline, the Panthers show in 2017-2018.