Hockeylicious! » Florida Panthers

The Blackhawks and Wild Swap Defenceman–Canadiens Pick Up Moore From Panthers.

David — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:11:23 +0000

The Chicago Blackhawks have dealt defenceman Cam Barker to the Minnesota Wild for defenceman Kim Johnsson and 2009 first round pick, defenceman Nick Leddy. The 23-year old Barker, who is the in the middle of the first year of his three-year, $9.25 million contract has recorded 4 goals and 10 assists in 51 games this season. Barker, was one of the five players in Chicago whose qualifying offers did not arrive on time last summer. That led to a grievance being filed by the NHL Player’s Association. The result was that the Hawks gave Barker a more significant raise then they had to, if the qualifying offers were handled properly. Since the Blackhawks already have Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Brian Campbell signed to big money, long-term deals, dealing away their commitment to Barker makes financial sense. Johnsson, who has six goals and eight assists in 52 games this season is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Leddy has played 19 games with the University of Minnesota, posting 1 goal with 4 assists and 4 penalty minutes.

The Florida Panthers have traded forward Dominic Moore to the Montreal Canadiens for a second-round pick in the 2011 draft. The trade represents the first for Montreal’s newly-installed general manager Pierre Gauthier, who took over earlier this week when Bob Gainey stepped down. Moore, 29, has eight goals and nine assists in 48 games for Florida. He is earning $1.1 million this season and becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

The NHL’s Rumor Mill Keeps Turning As the Pre-Season Nears!

David — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:02:04 +0000

Phil Kessel might be headed to Los Angeles. The Kings are interested in the 21-year-old and are reportedly willing to send Jack Johnson to Boston as part of a trade. Still, the Toronto Maple Leafs appear to be in the lead and have offered two first rounders and a second rounder for Kessel, however at the time of this posting there’s been no word on what the Bruins think of the offer. If a team signs Kessel to an offer sheet and the Bruins don’t match it, they would likely owe Boston a first, second and third round pick in compensation. But Boston has said it would match any offer sheet.

Mats Sundin is no longer on the Canucks radar. Vancouver has moved on and are now figuring out what to do with the forwards they have. This just adds more fuel to the fire that Sundin is ready to retire from the NHL. After recently getting married Sundin isn’t ready to make any final decisions on his career however we have all seen this ploy before from an aging NHL player. We know what comes next.

With Max Talbot hurt, the Pittsburgh Penguins have to figure out who will play alongside Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko. So Tyler Kennedy is getting the first shot. Kennedy was on the third line with Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke last season. If Kennedy fails, Pascal Dupuis will get the next shot to replace Talbot. Nick Johnson is in the driver’s seat to replace Kennedy on the third line.

The Florida Panthers have signed defenseman Dennis Seidenberg to a one-year deal. Seidenberg could have stayed in Carolina but Florida’s deal was to good to pass up. Rumor has it that it was a one year deal for just under 3 million.

Petr Sykora will come to training camp on a tryout basis with the Minnesota Wild and he’ll likely sign, but what does that mean for other Wild players? Well, for Coltan Gilles it means that he will probably be sent down to the AHL. If that happens the Wild will save around $1 million on his contract. It would also make Andy Hilbert and Craig Weller long shots to make the team. GM Chuck Fletcher expects teams with salary cap problems to try to get rid of players, either through the waiver wire or via trade, so this may be his way of getting Sykora in the fold without committing money that he might want to spend later.

The NHL’s Southeast Division’s Florida Panthers Offseason Review.

David — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 07:02:30 +0000

The Florida Panthers have been relatively quiet in the offseason because of their impending sale which is being finalized with a New York investment group. Oh-so-close to a playoff spot in 2008-2009, the Florida Panthers will have to be active this summer in order to avoid falling back, especially since they lost their workhorse defenceman Jay Bouwmeester to the Calgary Flames. He was traded for defenseman Jordan Leopold and a draft choice. This was GM Randy Sexton making the best of a bad situation salvaging something. While losing Bouwmeester is hardly the ideal situation, the Panthers have bolstered their defence corps to the point that they should be able to manage. A more glaring need at this point is to make moves for proven scoring talent. The Panthers roster is young enough that there is reason to expect further improvement and that would be enough to finally end their eight-year playoff drought.

The Florida Panthers locked up one of their young cornerstones by signing forward David Booth to a six-year contract worth $25.5 million. Booth led the Panthers with a career-best 31 goals along with a personal-high of 60 points in 72 games. In three seasons, all with Florida, the 24-year-old has recorded 56 goals and 110 points in 193 games. The Panthers also have re-signed winger Radek Dvorak to a two-year deal averaging $1.7 million a season. Dvorak played 81 games with the Panthers last season, scoring 15 goals and 36 points. Stephen Weiss’s gradual development since he was drafted fourth overall in 2001 has led to his being underrated in recent seasons, but that shouldn’t be the case any longer after he put up a career-high 61 points and plus-19 rating last season. Weiss needs to keep improving offensively if he’s wants to become a true top NHL centerman.

Goaltending was an obvious strength for the Panthers last season, allowing the most shots in the league, yet tied for ninth in goals against. Tomas Vokoun was brilliant at times and finished with a career-best six shutouts and .926 save percentage. If he’s not an elite NHL goaltender, he’s not too far off that level.

With the 14th pick in the NHL draft the Panthers selected defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. He’s a great skater who can carry and shoot the puck well. He’s strong, he can take big hits and they don’t seem to bother him. He knows when to join the rush and recognizes the holes but he plays defense first. He shoots the puck well on the powerplay and I believe that he will have cracked the panther lineup early next year.

Florida’s really not that far off from challenging for a playoff spot but if they have any aspirations of really contending for the Stanley Cup trophy then all of their young core will have to rise to a level of play beyond anyone’s wild expectations. We’ll see if the Panther’s can pull it off. Stranger things have happened.

NHL’s Trades, Rumors,Fueds and Free Agents–KHL Makes Power-Play.

David — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:02:33 +0000

Here are some of the recent on goings of the NHL’s offseason. The Philadelphia Flyers signed defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen to a one-year contract on Thursday. Tollefsen appeared in only 19 games in 2008-09 with the Columbus Blue Jackets and recorded one assist and 37 penalty minutes.

Rumor has it that the top offer Alex Tanguay has received is $1.2 million. If it’s true, it’s a fraction of the $5.375 million he made last season with the Canadiens. The Florida Panthers were rumored to be the favorites to sign Tanguay after all the other teams reportedly dropped out. Then the New York Islanders jumped in on the fun, and now it seems that the Tampa Bay Lightning have as well. Maybe Tanquay can get a bidding war started. I’m sure that’s what he is hoping for!

The KHL appears ready to dig in their heels over Jiri Hudler. On Thursday, the Russian league officially registered Hudler’s contract with HC Dynamo Moscow. The 25-year-old Czech Republic native signed a two-year, $10 million offer to play in the Kontinental Hockey League on July 8 after reportedly rejecting a five-year deal worth $3 million to remain with the Detroit Red Wings. This comes after KHL president Alexander Medvedev said the Russian league wouldn’t register Hudler’s contract until his arbitration case with the Red Wings is over — and it’s not over. The KHL stated that they registered the contract due to the absence of a transfer agreement between the KHL and NHL, as well as the absence of a valid contract for Hudler with any NHL club. The Russian league also stated the move was necessary to confirm that they were ready to start negotiations with the NHL on the status of restricted free agents and on any other aspects of general agreement on transfers of players between the KHL and NHL.

Here we go again, the KHL Russia’s premier league is at it again. They’re stealing players form the NHL. After a 16-year NHL career, Sergei Zubov is heading home as the 39-year old blueliner has signed with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. Zubov, who has spent his last 12 seasons with the Stars, only played 10 games with Dallas in 2008-09 because of a hip injury that required surgery. In those 10 contests, he recorded four assists. Known as one of the better puck-moving defenceman and power play specialists of the last decade, Zubov has 152 goals and 619 assists in 1068 career games. He helped the New York Rangers capture the Stanley Cup in 1994 then helped lead the Dallas Stars to their first Cup in franchise history in 1999.

Kyle Wellwood will be returning to Vancouver for a second year after the Canucks announced the signing of the centerman following his arbitration hearing. It’s a one-year deal worth $1.2 million, a slight raise from the $1 million Wellwood earned with the Canucks last season.

The Ottawa Senators rejected a deal that could’ve rid them of disgruntled forward Dany Heatley. The San Jose Sharks offered Jonathan Cheechoo and Christian Erhoff as part of a trade, but Sens GM Bryan Murraywas not interested. The Edmonton Oiler’s are the only other team that really wanted Heatley. Heatley is still holding out at his home in Kewlona, BC hoping Ottawa can accomidate his wish by trading him. I think that Heatley is a baby, you sign a contract, you honor that contract. It sets a terrible example of being a teammate and will create problems with future teammates who may question his commitment. Either way Heatley has not painted a pretty picture for himself.

NHL’s Signings and Rumors: What’s Next For Martin Biron?

David — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:02:32 +0000

The Tampa Bay Lightning signed defenceman and second overall pick Victor Hedman to a standard three-year rookie contract on Thursday. The 6′6, 220-pound Swede was rated as the top European player available in the NHL Entry Draft. Hedman will fit in well down in Tampa and along with Vincent Lecavalier the lightning have two players who they can build their team around.

The New York Rangers signed forward Ales Kotalik to a three-year, $9 million contract on Thursday. The 30-year old split last season between the Buffalo Sabres and the Edmonton Oilers, putting up 20 goals and 23 assists. During the 2005-06 season with the Sabres, Kotalik had his highest scoring output in the NHL, netting 25 goals while adding 37 assists. The 6′1, 227-pound native of the Czech Republic was selected 164th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the sixth round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.

The Dallas Stars have filled their big need for a backup goalie, getting Alex Auld from the Ottawa Senators. The Senators had a logjam at the position, so they were willing to give up Auld for merely a sixth-round pick in 2010. The six-foot-four, 223-pounder will help ease the load for the Stars starting goalie Marty Turco, who played 74 games last year, including a franchise-record 32 straight. The Stars are hoping that using Turco less will help keep him fresh. The 28-year-old Auld also has played for the Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes and Boston Bruins. He has a career record of 74-75-25, with six shutouts, a .905 save percentage and a 2.76 goals-against-average. All in all the Stars got themselves an above average backup who has the capability of making Turco a dominant goaltender.

With Auld signing in Dallas life for Martin Biron just got a lot tougher. It seems like goalie vacancies around the NHL are drying up faster than you can blink an eye. With Jonas Gustavsson signing with the Maple Leafs and the Auld signing in the last two days Biron’s options have gone from plenty of NHL opportunities to possibly playing in a European league next year. What makes his continued unemployment a little bit baffling to me. In a league where the likes of Jose Theodore continually gets chance after chance to accomplish little of consequence, how is it Martin Biron is still looking for a job a week into the free agency signing period? There are still a few options and one of them that I think would really work is if he signed in Los Angeles with the Kings. He would be a great fit for a team that historically has never had outstanding goaltending. Outside of some excellent spells by Rogie Vachon and Kelly Hrudey, goaltending has always been an issue for Los Angeles. Currently, Jonathan Quick and Erik Ersberg are manning the net while prospect Jonathan Bernier is still developing. The Kings have $8.4 million in salary cap space. They could easily afford Biron who could make them a playoff team.

Rangers Trade Gomez–Boumeester Signs Long Term Deal.

David — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:02:36 +0000

The NHL’s Eastern Conferences’ Montreal Canadiens are getting off to a fast start by addressing some of the teams weakness’. They acquired Scott Gomez from the New York Rangers in exchange for Chris Higgins, defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko. Montreal also got forward Tom Pyatt and defenseman Mike Busto to complete the deal. The Rangers have been trying to deal Gomez since their season ended. The 29-year-old Alaskan, whose career-high point total was 84 in 2005-06 with the New Jersey Devils, dipped to 58 points last season (16 goals, 42 assists) in 77 games while earning $8 million. It was his lowest offensive output since 2002-03. Gomez is an elite player who will certainly contribute to the success of the team for years to come. The Habs are hoping that Gomez will be a good fit on a line with Alexei Kovalev and Alex Tanquay and regain his scoring form.

Jay Bouwmeester agreed to terms on a five-year deal with the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night, forgoing unrestricted free agency. His deal is worth an average of $6.6 million per season which is an increase from the $4.875 he made this past season. Bouwmeester is one of the most complete defenseman in all of the NHL. Bouwmeester who is a native of Edmonton just completed his sixth season with the Florida Panthers in 2008-09, he recorded 42 points with 15 goals and 27 assists. The six-foot-four, 213-pounder has 203 points in 471 career NHL games. He was picked with the third overall draft pick by the Panthers in 2002.

When the day started at 12:01 a.m a lot of players became free agents. By the end of the week we will have a pretty good idea of who will be signing where and for how much. One thing I’m looking forward to is the flurry of activity. It’s always fun to speculate the possibility of your team getting all the best players, in reality that doesn’t usually happen but that’s why they call it dreaming.

Day Before NHL Draft Teams Rumor Mill Heats Up Even More!

David — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:02:54 +0000

It seems with the draft looming this weekend teams are making all kinds of moves in order to better their teams. The hot rumors of the day are as follows; Boston Bruins forward and main playmaker Marc Savard is being shopped around by the Bruins. He has one year left on his contract for $5 million. He has a no trade clause in his contract, but he will likely waive it if he can be closer to his kids in Ontario.

The Philadelphia Flyers have made it no secret that they covet Florida Panther defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, this years top free agent. The Flyers want to trade for his rights and sign him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1. If this deal goes down then it will probably be prior to or during the NHL Draft on Friday.

Marian Gaborik is sending subtle hints that he wants to play for the Vancouver Canucks. the Minnesota Wild forward bought a house in Vancouver, as he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. If the Canucks lose out on re-signing the Sedin twins then Gaborik makes perfect sense. Plus with Wild GM focusing on Ottawa Senators Dany Heatley it seems like Gaborik’s days in Minnesota are numbered.

Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey isn’t talking with any free agents yet because he said there could be a blockbuster trade over the weekend. The potential deal to get Vincent LeCavalier from the Tampa Bay Lightning is still very much in play. We’ll see if Gainey can acquire the right players to put the Habs back on top.

Lightning owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie have been drifting apart for months now (according to whispers within the organization), and finally, it blew up — so NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is being called in to mediate. According to anonymous sources, the owners can’t agree on anything. So it’s possible that Bettman could go in there and decide which owner will have control of the franchise. In short, this could turn out to be a custody battle, and one owner may lose out.

Rumors Persist: NHL Seems To Be Losing Players To The KHL.

David — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:02:06 +0000

Everyday I read about another solid NHL player not happy with their financial situation and making the jump to the KHL ( Russia’s premier new league ). The teams in that league are willing to pay bigger contracts to entice these high quality players to play in their league. Victor Kozlov has reportedly signed to play for the KHL’s HC Kalavat, but apparently he has not told the Washington Capitals about it. Kozlov has 13 years of NHL experience.

Another rumbling is that Omsk region governor’s hockey advisor Anatoli Bardin would like to see the Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Frantisek Kaberle and the Washington Capitals forward Michael Nylander in Avangard Omsk. Both Nylander and Kaberle are players that their respective GMs want to unload through trades this offseason. Nylander will cost the Caps $4.875 million and Kaberle has been dangled as trade bait — to no avail — for the entire season.

Jani Hurme, the former NHL goalie, may sign with one of two KHL clubs interested in him. Hurme hasn’t played in a NHL game since 2003 with the Florida Panthers. Hurme had shown some promise when with the Ottawa Senators 2 years earlier but things never panned out for him.

Rumor has it that Sergei Fedorov arrived in Pskov, Russia, last week to begin negotiation with KHL club Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Although Fedorov has said he wants to remain with the Washington Capitals, if the money is right.

Penguins winger Miroslav Satan has been offered a contract by the KHL’s Barys Astana in Kazakhstan. We’ll have to see if he makes the jump. I know one thing, if he’s offered enough then Satan will leave the Pittsburgh Penguins to attain some financial security.

The one undisputed fact is that if NHL teams don’t open the vault for a couple of these guys then slowly but surely the upper echelon of talent will slowly leave the NHL for a better payday elsewhere. Let’s all remember, this is all just a business and the players are the ones with more leverage because their are many opportunities around the globe to make money playing pro hockey.

NHL’s Eastern Conference Playoff Set–The Western Conference Still Unsettled

David — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:08:13 +0000

We saw some awesome hockey last night, teams fighting for playoff spots seems to bring out the best hockey. The eastern conference saw its playoff brackets sealed after the New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens earned a point for its overtime loss to the Boston Bruins. Now all that’s left is to determine the order of position for each team. Even though the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres won their games last night they were still both eliminated from playoff contention.

The New Jersey Devils collected their 50th win of the season becoming the 5th team in the NHL to reach that plateau. The Devils beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in a shootout securing the Atlantic division. Martin Brodeur turned aside 28 shots to get the win adding to his NHL career leading win totals.

In the western conference the Nashville Predators beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in a shootout to remain alive in the hunt for that ever elusive last playoff spot. The Predators were led by Jason Arnott who scored a third period goal, his 31st of the season, also added the game winner in the shootout. Chris Osgood played a decent game but if Detroit wants to go far in the playoffs their goaltending will have to be much sharper.

Tonight will settle the playoff race when all three who are vying for the last 2 spots play. All three teams have 88 points however Anaheim and St.Louis both have a game in hand over the Predators. Easy way to look at it Nashville needs a miracle to make it, we’ll see tonight if they get their miracle.

NHL Playoff Positions Still a Mystery For Western Conference Teams: Eastern As Well!!

David — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:08:57 +0000

New York got a huge win last night over the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers scored two 2nd period goals to pace them to a 3-1 win. Chris Drury netted his 21st and 22nd goal for New York to lead all scorers. More importantly the Rangers got the critical 2 points to move out of a tie with the Florida Panthers and creep to within a point of Montreal for 7th place in the Eastern conference.

The Panthers lost their game to the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 2-1. The Panthers desperately needed this win, their playoff hopes are in some serious trouble. Judging by who their last 2 games are against ( Washington and Atlanta ), I don’t see how they can make it in. I don’t see them winning both games and that’s what they need just to have a shot. Like I said a couple of days ago the Panthers have circled the drain. Jeff Carter scored his 45th goal for the Flyers in the win.

The Pittsburgh Penguins who were led by Sidney Crosby’s 2 goals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-4. With the win the Penguins clinched a spot in the upcoming playoff race for the Stanley Cup. Evegni Malkin added two assists in the victory. The Carolina Hurricanes Continued their hot play by exploding for 9 goals over the lowly New York Islanders. The Islanders, who by the way are the worst team in the NHL played their worst hockey of a terrible season. They got flattened by a surging Hurricanes team. Eric Staal had a hat trick and an assist to lead the canes.

Over in the western conference things at the top of the standings stayed the same while at the bottom of the standings there are still 4 teams battling for the last two playoff spots. The Minnesota Wild got a big win to stay mathematically alive in the playoff race. The Nashville Predators lost to the Chicago Black Hawks 4-2 in yesterdays match up. Nashville has lost 3 of their last 4 games, this is not the time to be playing like a team who’s already been eliminated. The St.Louis Blues are in sole possession of 8th place after a 5-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. The Blues are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. My money is on St.Louis to get in.

With a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings the Edmonton Oilers were officially eliminated from the playoff race.

The Vancouver Canucks behind Roberto Luongo’s 46 saves beat the Calgary Flames 4-1 in front of a sold out crowd at the General Motors Place. The win pulled the Canucks into a tie with the Flames for the lead in the Northwest division. With only two games to go its a question of who wants it more. Here’s a fast fact for you, Calgary is 0-31 on the power play in their last 8 games. These numbers will not get it done, if the power play drought persists Calgary will make a quick exit from the playoff race once it starts.

Lastly, the San Jose Sharks, what can you say they just keep winning. They shutout the Colorado Avalanche but it took overtime and a shootout to do it. Evegni Nabokov recorded his 7th shutout of the season for the Sharks turning aside all 20 shots he faced. This is a team clicking on all cylinders right now. They will be extremely difficult to beat for any team that is matched up against them. This would include the Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings who are the number 2 & 3 teams respectfully in the NHL standings, both with over 110 points.