After coming off their first Stanley Cup win in franchise history, Bill Zito and his staff had a tough challenge just six days after their cup win. With stars like Brandon Montour, Sam Reinhart, and others hitting free agency, Zito needed to act fast if he wanted a chance to keep these key contributors for a chance to defend their title.
Just four days after their cup win, Zito and his management team flew out to Las Vegas for the NHL Draft. The Panthers did not have a pick in the first round, so Zito had to wait until pick 58, in which they selected Linus Eriksson, a center from HockeyAllsvenskan in Sweden. In 29 games in Sweden, Eriksson put up three goals and eight assists. Scouts expect Eriksson to be a middle six center with exceptional puck handling skills, a strong skater, and most importantly a good leader.
At pick 97, their next pick, Florida drafted Matvei Shuravin. Shuravin, a defenseman from the KHL junior league in Russia, projects to be a top six defenseman, is mobile with the puck, and brings a physical edge to the game.
At pick 129, the Panthers took Simon Zether, a forward from the J20 Nationell in Sweden. In 18 games, Zether put up 11 goals along with 16 assists.
In the sixth round (pick 169), the Panthers took Stepan Gorbunov, a 6-foot-5 forward from Russia’s KHL Junior league. In 40 games, he put up 10 goals to go with 12 assists. Along with his fellow drafty Simon Zether, Gorbunov is a tall center who’s ceiling projects to be a bottom six power forward and whose floor projects to be an NHL extra.
At pick 193, the Panthers took winger Hunter St. Martin from Medicine Hat of the WHL. In 68 games, he scored 24 goals and had 28 assists.
At 201st overall, Florida’s last pick, the Panthers drafted Denis Gabdrakhmanov, a goalie from the KHL Junior League in Russia. In 40 games, Gabdrakhmanov had a 2.55 goals against average and .924 save percentage. Overall, Zito and the rest of managemen, strengthened the prospect pool and added some potential steals like Denis Gabdrakhmanov.
On June 30th, the Panthers had their championship parade which was a stressful yet joyous day for Mr. Zito and his management staff. Zito’s parade was cut short due to negotiations with Reinhart’s agent. Zito wanted to secure an important piece to the Cats’ before it was too late. All of that hard work paid off as Zito and Reinhart’s agent were able to come to an agreement minutes before the 12 am deadline. Zito successfully secured Reinhart’s future with the Panthers, signing him to an eight-year contract with an average annual value of $8.63 million.
Once free agency opened at noon on July 1st, the Panthers faced a major setback by losing their power play quarterback and their most promising offensive defenseman, Brandon Montour, to the Seattle Kraken.
Continuing with their losses, they lost a key contributor in Oliver Ekman-Larson and Anthony Stolarz to the rival Toronto Maple Leafs.
However, the most demoralizing loss so far, in terms of energy both off and on the ice, would have to be fan-favorite Ryan Lomberg, who chose to sign with the Calgary Flames. The Panthers also lost key contributor Vladimir Tarasenko to the in-division Detroit Red Wings, as well as defensive forward Kevin Stendlund to the newly formed Utah Hockey Club.
Because of the losses, Zito needed to put in work to replace the key departures from his Stanley Cup winning team. Although he lost two key defenseman from the Cup winning team, he was able to keep Dmitry Kulikov, a shutdown defenseman during the playoffs, by signing him to a four year deal at 1.15 million AAV.
Zito’s next move involved bringing in veteran center Thomas Nosek on a one year deal at 775k AAV to fill the fourth line center void that was left by Kevin Stenlund.
To fill the void left by Ryan Lomberg, Zito also brought in a solid checking forward in A.J. Greer on a two year deal at 850k AAV. He also brought in a familiar face in Chris Driedger on a one year deal to compete with Spencer Knight for the backup goalie role behind Sergei Bobrovsky.
Arguably Zito’s two biggest free agency signings of the summer were bringing in defenseman Nate Schmidt on a one year deal and defenseman Adam Boqvist on a one year deal. Both players have high offensive upside as defenseman and are trying to rebound their careers, and could potentially have the opportunity to quarterback the first power play unit.
Zito was also able to sign RFA and rising star Anton Lundell to a six year deal at 5 million AAV. The 22-year-old was crucial to the Panthers success during the playoffs and especially during the cup final, having the ability to chip in offensively and shut down the Oilers’ top forwards.
Although Florida lost a lot of key players from their cup winning team, Zito and his management staff took a lot of chances on players with high upside and reward while offering little financial value. It’s possible all their bets work out and they are able to repeat Stanley Cup Champions, but it’s also possible that all the moves don’t pan out. Nonetheless, the Panthers were able to make some good bets that can pay off and strengthen the depth of this team and prospect pool.
In summation, I would overall give the Florida Panthers offseason a B+.