2010-11 NHL Season Preview: Florida Panthers

It has now been a full decade since the Florida Panthers earned a playoff berth and it will be at least one before they do it again. The only saving grace for Florida Panthers fans is that they have a talented roster that could emerge at any moment, but lack to leadership and direction to make an impact.

Big Moves
To the credit of General Manager Dave Tallon, the Florida Panthers have been one of the busiest teams over the course of the 2010 NHL off-season. The first was a draft day move that saw defenseman Keith Ballard and Victor Oreskovich ship off to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Steve Bernier and Michael Grabner.

Grabner and Bernier have loads of potential, and they are a great return on what was essentially just Keith Ballard in return for the Canucks. Michael Grabner in particular has the speed to be an offensive superstar, but he needs to find a coach to rein him in.

The other big move was sending star winger Nathan Horton to the Boston Bruins for Dennis Wideman. This was a great move for the Panthers, as they needed a two pair defenseman and Nathan Horton, for all of his potential, is perennially injured.

Injuries
The best thing General Manager Dave Tallon did was stick with mostly the same team he had before. There is a ton of talent on the Florida Panthers roster, which has been wasted due to two back-to-back seasons with injury trouble.

Sending Nathan Horton out of town will help when it comes to worrying about injuries, and the return of David Booth full time will provide a boost as well. David Booth was famously hit by Philadelphia Flyers' captain Mike Richards early last year and was sidelined with a concussion for all but 28 games. David Booth is a 30-plus goal scorer, and that is valuable offense to have on a team that normally struggles to find the back of the net.

The Panthers will also get another year of maturity out of their plethora of young stars. It is difficult to say who will have a great season, but someone is bound to. Michael Frolik has been teasing for a few seasons now that he is capable of much more than the 21 goals he scored in both 2008-09 and 2009-10. Whether or not the 2010-11 NHL Season is where he shows it is still up for debate.

Steady Goaltending
For all of the problems surrounding the Florida Panthers, something they will never have to worry about is goaltending. Tomas Vokoun flies under the radar with the Panthers, but he is easily one of the best goalies in the NHL at the moment.

Scott Clemmensen is also a very capable backup, as well as a potential starter. When Martin Brodeur was injured a few seasons ago it was Clemmensen who filled in for him, and the New Jersey Devils still found their way to the playoffs. Circumstance has left Scott Clemmensen as a backup, but the Florida Panthers will most likely trade one of their two goaltenders depending on whether or not Tomas Vokoun re-ups on his contract.

Golfing In April
The Florida Panthers are headed in the right direction. They have so much young talent that within a year or two they should figure out what playing hockey in the Spring time is like. For now, though, the team is just too full of unproven prospects to make an impact.

Helping the Panthers is their goaltending situation, which should rank somewhere among the best in the NHL. The problem is the defensive holes on the team, which result in far too many shots being taken at Tomas Vokoun, and a lack of offense.

The Florida Panthers would be smart to look for a veteran in the vein of Bill Guerin, someone capable of leadership and 20-plus goals. They have the cap space, and Cory Stillman is not cutting it as the team veteran due to his injury troubles.

Predicted Standings:
Southeast Division: 3^rd
Eastern Conference: 10^th
NHL: 23^rd

Depth Chart

Forwards
David Booth - Stephen Weiss - Steve Bernier
Cory Stillman - Steve Reinprecht - Radek Dvorak
Rostislav Olesz - Marty Reasoner - Michael Grabner
Michael Frolik - Shawn Matthias - Byron Bitz
Chris Higgins - Kamil Kreps - Michal Repik

Defense
Bryan McCabe - Dennis Wideman
Bryan Allen - Dmitry Kulikov
Jason Garrison - Nathan Paetsch
Clay Wilson - Keaton Ellerby

Goaltenders
Tomas Vokoun
Scott Clemmensen
Alexander Salak

Sources

http://www.nhl.com
http://www.tsn.ca
http://www.espn.com
http://www.hockeydb.com
http://www.nhlnumbers.com