It always hurts when a favorite player on a team you’re emotionally invested in is traded away.

So it was a gut punch for Florida Panthers fans when news broke late Friday night that Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar had been traded to the Calgary Flames.

Especially Huberdeau, the franchise scoring leader and a complete class act since Florida drafted him with the third overall pick in 2011.
But the outrage evident in knee-jerk social media is misplaced in light of the return — a 24-year-old coming off a 42-goal season (104 points) and newly signed to a long-term deal.

And, who is built for playoff hockey, and has shown it.

If unfamiliar with Matthew Tkachuk’s work, check out any number of highlight videos on YouTube. He’s a dynamic forward who will energize FLA Live Arena playing alongside Aleksander Barkov and another skilled wing such as Carter Verhaeghe or Sam Reinhart.

He’ll do so for the next eight years after agreeing to a $76 million contract. Notably, Barkov is also embarking on an eight-year deal this season.

Blockbuster deal shakes up NHL

A trade involving two players coming off 100-point seasons is a stunner. All the experts and many fans are quick to call this a win for Calgary. Yes, Panthers GM Bill Zito gave up a hell of a lot: Huberdeau and Weegar and a prospect with some potential (Cole Schwindt) and a future first-round pick.

But Huberdeau and Weegar will be playing on expiring contracts and can walk away after the upcoming season.

Weegar was definitely hitting free agency and would've priced himself out with the Panthers. However, Tkachuk is an upgrade over Huberdeau and is younger. I think Calgary wins the trade for now, but will be better for Florida long-term pic.twitter.com/bZd2e5JjTc

— 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀¹⁷ (@KanerRocket17) July 23, 2022

What strikes me is this was a Pat Riley sort of trade. Zito has shown since he got to South Florida in 2020 that he is not at all hesitant to make a bold move. He didn’t let being tight against the salary cap prevent him from swinging one of the biggest NHL trades in years.

Zito stuck his neck out on this one and it will be fascinating to see how it plays out.

Peel away the emotion and local sentiment about star players who have meant a lot to Panthers fans and this deal makes sense.

Notably, Tkachuk is just entering his prime while Huberdeau is 29 and will be playing though his next contract well into his 30s.

Various factors involved in trade

Trying to work out a long-term deal for Huberdeau, who can be an unrestricted free agent next summer, was supposed to be priority one for this Panthers offseason. Safe to assume that finding out what that would take to accomplish factored into the decision to trade him.

Weegar, a talented two-way defenseman, can also be a UFA after the upcoming season. It would have been unlikely to keep both players long term.

Zito has made it clear he is chasing the Stanley Cup in the short term. Getting to the second round for the first time since 1996 wasn’t enough to justify the status quo.

Being swept in the second round by the Tampa Bay Lightning likely was a consideration in making this trade. The Panthers’ high-scoring offense managed only three goals in four games, and also sputtered in the series win against the Washington Capitals.

Coming off a 115-point regular season, Huberdeau was mostly ineffective throughout the playoffs, registering one goal and four assists in 10 games.

Weegar’s untimely giveaway cost the Panthers Game 2 against the Lightning, and he also had a game-changing turnover in the Game 1 loss in the series against the Capitals.

Tkachuk better suited for playoffs

Huberdeau is one of the top playmakers in the NHL, his anticipation uncanny, his passing often dazzling. He’s been a joy to watch for 10 seasons in Sunrise.

In Tkachuk, the Panthers gain a creative scorer whose more physical style is better suited to playoff hockey. In 12 playoff games with Calgary this past season he had 10 points (four goals).

Can’t wait to see how his offensive skills mesh with Barkov.

Also looking forward to what else Zito has up his sleeve this offseason. Now he has a big hole to fill on the blue line, which already needed improvement.

Zito spent a lot of draft capital on making a run in the recent playoffs and couldn’t prevent Claude Giroux, Mason Marchment and Ben Chiarot from departing in free agency.

Now he has made his riskiest gamble in dealing away one of the biggest stars in Panthers history. Emotionally it’s a blow to the fan base.

But when a franchise has been flailing in mediocrity for decades, it’s tough to make a case for staying the same course.

Ten years of hope under previous GM Dale Tallon didn’t produce a single playoff series win. They never advanced past the first round with Huberdeau in the lineup until this year.

That is not to detract from Huberdeau’s contributions and accomplishments. I covered him for a number of years and always admired him as a player and a person. I recall how he and Barkov immediately thrived when Jaromir Jagr arrived and joined them on the top line, and how entertaining it was to watch the trio circulate the puck around the offensive zone — Huberdeau had 12 points in his first 13 games with Jagr.

Make no mistake, we’ll miss ya, Hubie.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Panthers,  for four decades. Follow him on Twitter @CraigDavisRuns

One year after losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs, the Florida Panthers are back, looking for revenge in the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

 

The Battle of Florida part 2 is here, can the Panthers come out on top?

Here are my five keys to the Panthers-Lightning series.

Florida needs to score on the power play 

I’m not sure what was a more impressive feat in the first round, the fact that the Panthers went 0/18 on the power play, or how they were able to win the series in six games without scoring a single power play goal.

 

Florida was the only team in the first round to not score a goal, with the other 15 teams scoring at least two goals on the man advantage. 

 

As the Panthers progress through the playoffs, if they continue to strike out on the man advantage, their opponents aren’t going to let them hang around in games like the Capitals did.

 

Tampa had the 11th ranked penalty kill in the regular season, finishing the year at 80.56%. This is just slightly better than Florida’s first round opponent, the Washington Capitals, who were 12th in the league with an  80.44% pk. 

 

This matchup against Tampa should be a tight one, so finishing your power play chances will be huge in a best-of-seven series. 

Don’t give the Lightning too many chances on the man advantage 

Looking back at the 2021 first round series between these two sides, it was a power play goal fest.

 

In Game 1, Tampa won a tight one 5-4. They went 3/4 on the power play in that game.

 

In the series, the Lightning went 8/20 on the power play, scoring two or more PP goals in fifty percent of the games. 

 

Between Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov, there are plenty of Lightning players who can put the puck in the net on the power play.

 

The Lightning know how to use the power play to their advantage. Florida needs to play clean hockey to try and limit the amount of times Tampa gets looks on the power play.  

Florida needs another huge series from Sergei Bobrovsky

The two standout Panthers from round 1 were Carter Verhaeghe and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. In six games against Washignton, Bobrovsky had a .906 save percentage with a 2.79 GAA. He held the net the entire series and kept Florida in games with his great play.

 

Looking at last year’s postseason matchup against the Lightning, Florida’s goalie situation was anything but sure. The Panthers started three different goalies in their six games against Tampa; Bobrovsky, Chris Dreidger and Spencer Knight. Bobrovsky had a rough go against the Lightning, finishing the series with a .841 save percentage and 5.33 GAA in three games.

 

So far in this playoff run, Bobrovsky has looked like his former two-time Vezina winner self, not the guy who lost his job multiple times in the playoffs.

 

It’s not going to be an easy time trying to shut the door on guys like Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Co. but if Bobrovsky can play like he did in round 1, he’s going to help his team a lot this series. 

Tampa is going to have to get by without Brayden Point

When I was watching Tampa take the ice last May, the one player who I thought looked the most lethal on the Lightning offense was Brayden Point. Between his quick skating, and elusive slot shot on the power play, Point is a player who demands respect every time he touches the ice.

 

As of now, Point is listed as “highly doubtful” for Game 1, according to Lightning coach Jon Cooper. Point has not been ruled out of the series, however he is supposed to be day-to-day following Game 1. 

 

Point was injured in Saturday night’s Game 7 against Toronto with an apparent right leg injury. 

 

With the uncertainty revolving around their superstar forward’s availability for the series, the Lightning forwards are going to have some big skates to fill as the 26-year-old Point is above a PPG in the playoffs, with 77 points in 74 games over his career.

 

The Lightning are not a single superstar team, if anything they have four to five superstars on their roster, but anytime without Brayden Point is a huge loss for Tampa. 

Aaron Ekblad finally gets a crack at Tampa, can he be the difference?

Looking at the 2021 edition of the Battle of Florida and comparing it to the 2022 edition is like night and day.

 

Florida is a lot stronger than their 2021 team, with guys like Sam Reinhart, Claude Giroux, Ben Chiarot and Anton Lundell all getting their first taste of Panthers-Lightning playoff hockey. 

 

One guy who was on the team last season but was unable to play in the postseason was Panthers star defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who was out with an injury. 

 

This time, Ekblad is ready to go, and he will be a much needed weapon on Florida’s blueline this series. 

 

The Panthers missed Ekblad’s PK skill, his offensive abilities and his sound defensive play last year against Tampa. When Ekblad is on the backend he eats up most of the minutes and the rest of the defensive unit follows his lead. A healthy Ekblad may have helped Florida prolong last year’s series. Now, can he help them win it?

With the series tied at 2-2, Florida still has visible issues that could be the difference of winning or losing this series

 

Finishing the regular season atop the league standings had many onlookers heavily favoring the Florida Panthers in their first round matchup against the Washington Capitals. 

 

Washington, who came off of a Stanley Cup win in 2018, was not going to let the Panthers walk all over them in this series. 

 

From the moment the puck dropped in Game 1, the Capitals had their foot on the gas and competed with the Panthers, outclassing them in many aspects of the game, including goalscoring. 

 

After splitting the first two games in Sunrise, Washington returned home to the nation’s capital for Game 3. The Capitals put on a clinic, demolishing the Panthers 6-1 and taking a 2-1 series lead.

 

Heading into Monday night’s Game 4, the Panthers were on the brink of facing a 3-1 series deficit if they couldn’t steal a road game back from the Capitals,

 

On Monday, the game plan looked better than any other game in the series. Florida was getting pucks in deep, countering Washington’s tight gaps in the neutral zone and creating traffic around the Capital’s goal.

 

Despite dominating Washington in shots, faceoff percentage and scoring chances, the Panthers found themselves looking for a goal with under three minutes to play in the third. 

 

Interim head coach Andrew Brunette pulled goaltender Sergei Bobrvosky, and the Cats pushed for the tying goal. With 2:04 left in regulation, Sam Reinhart corralled a puck from mid air, put it in front of him and buried his first-career NHL playoff goal, sending the game to overtime.

In OT, the “Comeback Cats” prevailed when Carter Verhaeghe scored his second goal of the game, sending the series back to Sunrise tied at 2-2.

 

That’s how the Panthers found themselves in a tied series heading into Wednesday night’s Game 5 at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise.

 

It’s a best-of-three series now, but the Cats have not played the greatest team hockey to this point. There are major concerns that could have been the difference between this series being 2-2 and the Panthers having a lead going into Game 5.

 

If Florida fixes these problems, it’s their series to take.

0 power play goals cannot happen

When you look at the Panthers’ lineup on paper, the first thing you’ll think of is explosive offensive talent. They have seven players in the lineup with at least 20 goals from the regular season. The team scored a league high 4.11 goals a game and had more goals (337) than any other team in the league. 

 

You’d think the best scoring team in the league would take advantage of their opportunities on the powerplay, right? 

 

Through the first four games of the series, the Panthers are 0/13 on the powerplay, while the Capitals are 5/17, 29.4%. 

 

Every team in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs have scored at least 2 power play goals so far in the first round, except for Florida. 

 

When the games are close and you fail to capitalize on power play chances, your opponent gets all the momentum from the kill, while your power play unit can’t buy a goal.

 

Florida is lucky that they aren’t out of the series by now with a 0% power play. 

 

In Game 4, the adjustments seemed to have been made for the power play setup. The puck  was moving faster, guys were opening themselves up in shooting lanes, and the players were carrying the puck up and down the wall more rather than being stationary which is common for the Panthers power play.  

 

The best power play setup I saw in Game 4 was when they moved Aleksander Barkov away from the point and had him working alongside the right end board. With his size, passing ability and skill with the puck, he is way more efficient closer to goal than at the top of the point. Stick to that sort of setup and movement and the puck will find the back of the net. 

 

Aleksander Barkov has not shown his usual explosiveness with the puck

When he is on his game, there’s not many better players on the planet than Aleksander Barkov. In this series however, the captain has not looked like his usual self offensively. The stat sheet has him with 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists), which is the same as Jonathan Huberdeau. While the pair have the same points, Huberdeau has been more visible in this series.

 

No question both guys could be better considering how good they were in the regular season, but it’s the playoffs and Barkov hasn’t had the jump you’d expect of a guy who had 39 goals and 88 points in 67 games this season. With Huberdeau, I’ve seen him carry the puck in, hit open guys and push the Caps defense back pretty frequently this series. Barkov, not so much. 

 

Defensively, the back checking, corner battles and getting in lanes are all still there.  It’s the explosive punch that hasn’t been awakened yet in the series. Barkov is so good with the puck on his stick, it’s hard for the opponent to bounce him off it when he gets going.

 

Being more selfish, dropping the shoulder and driving the net, testing Washington’s goalie, that’s what Barkov needs to do because he’s a star player and star players dominating win you a series. 

 

Barkov needs to take over the game; when that happens, Washington will have a 6’3, 215 pound machine coming at them.

Anthony Duclair is losing ice time, fast

Duclair has been one of the best stories of this Panther team. After bouncing around the league, the 26-year-old’s sixth NHL team would be the one where he found a home, in Sunrise. 

 

Duclair had a career-high 31 goals this season, shattering his previous best of 23.

 

Unfortunately for him, his scoring touch has not carried over to the postseason. Duclair is goalless through four games and has seen his ice time rapidly drop. 

 

In Game 1, Duclair had 14:09 of total on ice time. Since then it has progressively decreased, with Duke only seeing the ice for 9:48. 

 

In six games last postseason against Tampa, Duclair went pointless, while seeing his ice time dwindle to around the 10 minute mark then too. 

 

I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing for Duke, but he’s such an offensively skilled player and him putting the puck in the net would be a huge help for the Panthers if they want to advance to the second round.

Can they fix it?

This isn’t the regular season, so you don’t have 82 games, hundreds of practices/skates to get everything in order. The Playoffs is where the champions are separated from the rest. If all three of these concerns can be fixed, great, but that’s wishful thinking as we are just hours away from a decisive Game 5. I think if at least one of these areas of concern can be addressed tonight, the Panthers will have a better chance of winning the series.

A historic season saw the Florida Panthers win their first President’s Trophy in franchise history, setting them up with home ice advantage for the entirety of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

 

The No. 1 seed Panthers (122 points) first round opponent will be the eighth seeded Washington Capitals (100 points), a team that is no stranger to the playoffs. 

 

Panthers: 58-18-6, 122 points

Capitals: 44-26-12, 100 points 

Regular Season Series: FLA 2-1-0; WSH 1-1-1

 

Washington won the Stanley Cup in 2018 and they haven’t missed the playoffs since 2014. However, the Caps haven’t been able to replicate their 2018 run, losing in the first round the last three seasons. The Panthers on the other hand haven’t won a playoff series since their run to the Finals in 1996.

 

This first-round matchup will see an explosive Panthers offense try to continue their regular season success against the Capitals.

 

Here is the series preview.

 

Offense

Looking at the offensive production of both teams, there is no question who is the better scoring team. 

 

The Panthers scored 337 goals this season, making them the highest scoring team of the 21st century. Florida averaged a league high 4.11 goals per game, with six of their forwards scoring at least 20 goals this season, (Claude Giroux not included, he had 21 goals this season, 3 of those with the Panthers).  

 

As a team, Washington ranked tenth in the league for goals scored with 270. Three of their players scored at least 20 goals, however only Alex Ovechkin surpassed the 25 goal mark, he had 50, marking the ninth time he’s hit that milestone in his career. 

 

The Panthers easily have the offensive weapons to out score the Capitals this series, but Washington still has the ageless goal scoring machine of Alex Ovechkin on their side.

 

Forwards to watch

Florida: Jonathan Huberdeau had the greatest offensive season for a Florida Panther in franchise history. The 28-year-old superstar had a career-high 115 points in 80 games, enough to finish tied for second in NHL scoring with Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames. His 85 assists was a league high and the most by a left-winger in NHL history. Huberdeau’s craftiness with the puck and his ability to find open teammates was the driving force behind Florida’s high-octane offense. In Florida’s 2021 first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Huberdeau led the team in scoring with 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in six games. 

 

Washington: Alex Ovechkin’s ninth 50-goal season tied an NHL record shared by Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky. The 36-year-old veteran is no stranger to the playoffs; in 141 postseason games, the Capitals captain has 71 goals, 135 points. In 1,274 career games, Ovechkin scored 780 goals, putting him third all-time behind Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. He will be the biggest offensive threat for the Capitals in this series. 

Forward Depth

Florida: The forward depth of this year’s Panthers squad is by far their deepest team in the franchise’s 28 seasons. Florida’s third highest scorer this season was Sam Reinhart; he put up 82 points (33 goals, 49 assists) in 78 games. Reinhart spent a large portion of the year playing on the third line with Mason Marchment (47 points, 54 games) and rookie center Anton Lundell (44 points, 65 games). While the Panthers’ third-line would have no problem outscoring many teams’ top line, Florida’s top-six is even scarier.

 

Down the middle, Panthers’ captain Aleksander Barkov is one of the best two-way forwards in the league. The 2021 Selke winner had another impressive season, scoring a career high 39 goals while tallying 88 points in 67 games. Trying to play matchups against Barkov isn’t easy. The 6’3, 215 pound center dominates at both ends of the ice, is tough to get off the puck and had a faceoff win percentage of 56.9 in 2021-2022. 

 

Sam Bennett (49 points, 71 games) has solidified the second-line center position since he arrived in South Florida at the trade deadline last season, while 20-year-old Lundell has been a great addition to the team’s center unit. The Panthers also have a secret weapon they can use in the faceoff circle. The trade deadline acquisition of Claude Giroux gave Florida a guy that had a 60.3 faceoff win percentage. While he plays wing for the Panthers, expect to see him taking a lot of draws with whatever line he is skating with in the series. 

 

Washington: The Capitals have a playoff experienced forward group, with many of them having been around from their cup run in 2018. Evgeny Kuznetsov had his best season since the 2018, nearly putting up a point per game (78 points, 79 games). The 29-year-old Russian plays the No. 1 center role on the Caps and is paired alongside his fellow countryman, Alex Ovechkin (90 points, 77 games).

A healthy second-line for the Capitals has Nicklas Backstrom (31 points, 47 games) down the middle. While the 34-year-old Swede isn’t the same player he was in his prime, but he is the second most experienced player on the Caps and has amassed over 1,000 points in his NHL career. 

 

In the faceoff circle Washington may struggle against Florida. Kuznetsov finished the year with a 43.8 faceoff win percentage while Backstrom wasn’t much better with a 46.4. Florida has two players (Barkov, Giroux) with a faceoff win percentage above 55. 

 

Defense

Both teams have a back end that boasts top defenseman in the league. Washington’s John Carlson finished fifth in defenseman scoring with 71 points in 78 games. He will be the driving force of the Washington blueline. Washington’s backend also features Dmitry Orlov and Nick Jensen. 

 

Florida has the likes of MacKenzie Weegar, Gustav Forsling and newly acquired Ben Chiarot holding down the fort as they wait for the return of Aaron Ekblad. The Panthers’ star defenseman was having a Norris Trophy caliber season until he was injured on March 18 against the Anaheim Ducks. Ekblad has been skating with the team but has not played since March 18 because of a lower-body injury.  Panthers head coach Andrew Brunette said on Monday that Ekblad still hasn’t been cleared to return. Colby Guy of Florida Hockey Now, said that the Panthers “are hopeful he will be ready for Game 1, if not the end of the week.” 

 

Florida’s defense loves to jump up in the rush and help create offensive chances . Washington’s defenseman will have the task of trying to hold back the Panthers lethal transition offense.

Defenseman to Watch

Florida: Gustav Forsling was one of the many great acquisitions made by Panthers general manager Bill Zito. Ever since he was picked up on waivers by Florida at the beginning of the 2020-2021 NHL season, Forsling has been a huge force on Florida’s blueline. When Aaron Ekblad went down with injury, Forsling and MacKenzie Weegar had to step up. Forsling’s speed allows him to often lead the Panthers transition offense off the rush. The Panthers were the best team in scoring off the rush this season and a lot of it came from their breakouts led by defenseman head manning the puck up the ice. With or without Ekblad this series, Forsling will eat up a lot of minutes for the Panthers. 

 

Washington: Martin Fehervary isn’t the first name that stands out when you look at the Capitals roster, but his physical play is going to be a major key in counteracting Florida’s high-powered offense. Fehervary finished the season seventh in the league and first on Washington for hits with 251. Florida has their own hitting juggernaut in Radko Gudas, who led the league with 355 hits. Fehervary is projected to be paired alongside Carlson on Washington’s top line. While Carlson will be looking to provide offense for the Caps blueline, Fehervary is going to make his physical presence known to the Panthers’ forwards.

 

Goaltending  

The biggest question mark for both team’s this series is their goaltending. For the Panthers, Sergei Bobrovsky is the Game 1 starter, with Spencer Knight backing him up. While the Capitals Game 1 starter is still unknown. 

 

Florida: Two-time Vezina winner (2013,2017) Sergei Bobrovsky will be the man between the pipes for the Panthers in Game 1. Bobrovsky, 33, had a good season (39-7-3, 2.67 /.913) as the Panthers’ starter and looks to backstop the Panthers on what they’d hope to be a long playoff run. 

 

The Russian netminder struggled to keep his job in last year’s first-round series against Tampa, starting only two of the six games, getting yanked in Game 4 and being a healthy scratch at the end of the series.  He would hope to not have a repeat of last season and keep the net for the entire playoff run. 

 

Spencer Knight, 21, had to jump into the starter’s crease last postseason, becoming one of three goalies Florida would use in the six games against Tampa. Knight had a solid first full season this year (19-9-3, 2.79/.908), and he turned his game up after spending a month in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers back in February. If Florida needs Knight to come in, he will be ready. 

 

Washington: Florida fans have debated all season whether it should be Bobrovsky or Knight’s net for the playoffs. In Washington, their goalie situation is even more up in the air. 

 

The Capitals had two goalies start 39 games each this season, Vitek Vanecek (20-12-6, 2.67/.908) and Ilya Samsonov (23-12-5, 3.02/.896). The third goalie who made the trip to Sunrise is Zach Fucale, who played in 4 games this season with the Capitals (1-1-1, 1.75/.924). Fucale, 26, spent most of the season with the Hershey Bears in the AHL. In 31 games, he had a 11-5-5 record with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage. Fucale was recalled from Hershey yesterday.

 

We are just a day away from Game 1 and the Capitals haven’t announced their starter yet. The team had three goalies skating at Monday practice according to Samantha Pell of the Washington Post. 

 

No matter who gets the go on Tuesday, expect the Capitals to have their netminders on a short leash. 

Game On

Florida are the clear favorites heading into this series as the President’s Trophy winners. That doesn’t mean it will be smooth sailing for the Cats. Washington played Florida tough all year, with all three games being decided by one goal. 

 

Game 1 will be Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Sunrise.

When the 2014 NHL Draft came around, top ranked prospect Sam Reinhart had a chance to become a Florida Panther. Despite not being drafted by Florida in 2014, he would eventually see himself wearing the Panther on his chest seven years later. 

June 27, 2014. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The day had come where the next generation of hockey stars would hear their names called at the 2014 NHL Draft.

The Wells Fargo Center, home of the Philadelphia Flyers, played host to what would eventually become one of the most important drafts in Florida Panthers history. Florida’s current active roster has six players that were chosen in the 2014 draft, yet only one of those players were selected by the Panthers. 

The Panthers held the first overall selection in 2014 after selecting third-overall in 2011 and second-overall in 2013. Those two picks were Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov, who are now one and two on the Panthers all-time scoring list respectively. 

Entering the draft, Barrie Colts defensemen Aaron Ekblad was ranked as the NO.2 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting. Kootenay Ice captain Sam Reinhart was ranked NO.3. Sam Bennett of the Kingston Frontenacs was ranked NO.1 (NHL Central Scouting final ranking).

After selecting two forwards in the top-three over the span of three drafts and not having the greatest defensive prospect pool, a defenseman seemed like the right choice for the Panthers in 2014. 

Florida ended up taking Ekblad with the first pick while Sam Reinhart went second overall to the Buffalo Sabres. Like Florida, Buffalo was a team who seemed to be in the midst of a rebuild.

While Reinhart didn’t end up getting drafted by Florida, he would end up finding himself in Sunrise seven years later when he was traded to the Panthers at 25-years-old. 

But before we get into Reinhart’s time as a Panther, we need to look at his career up to that point and why his arrival in Sunrise was well worth the wait.

Before the show

Sam Reinhart was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia. As a U18, he tore up the BCEHL AAA league with the Vancouver NW Giants. In his last season before major junior hockey, Reinhart had 78 points in 34 games.  Kootenay took the BC native 15th overall in the 2010 WHL Bantam draft and he immediately made an impact in his rookie season, putting up 62 points in 67 games. The following season, Reinhart had 85 points in 72 games and represented Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament as their captain. 

Two impressive seasons in Kootenay set up for the biggest season of Reinhart’s junior hockey career. In his NHL draft year, Reinhart scored 105 points in 60 regular season games and 23 points in 13 playoff games. He also made the Canadian World Junior team as an 18-year-old.

His extremely dominant season was enough for the Buffalo Sabres to use the second-overall pick in the 2014 Draft on him. Reinhart played nine games with Buffalo in 2014 before returning to Kootenay for his final WHL season. In 47 games he tallied 65 points as well as getting another call up to the Canadian World Junior team, where he would lead the tournament in scoring and win gold alongside his future Panthers teammate, Anthony Duclair. 

Off to the NHL 

The following season, Reinhart made the jump to the National Hockey League. He joined a Buffalo Sabres team that finished dead last in the NHL standings for two straight years.  Reinhart found himself playing alongside another highly touted North American Rookie, the second overall pick in the 2015 draft, Jack Eichel. 

Buffalo now had two elite level prospects jumping into their lineup that boasted the likes of Ryan O’Reilly, Evander Kane and Rasmus Ristolainen. The 2015 season saw Eichel and Reinhart finish the season two and three respectively in Sabres scoring. They didn’t make the postseason, but the future of the team seemed bright, at least that’s what it looked like.

In Reinhart’s seven years in Buffalo, he put up 295 points in 454 games and scored at least 20 goals in five of his six full seasons. His teammate Jack Eichel had 355 points in 375 games. Even with these impressive numbers, the star studded duo never made the playoffs in their six seasons with the Sabres. 

Despite all the high drafts picks, Buffalo couldn’t find a way out of their rebuild. After drafting second in 2014 and 2015, they drafted first in 2018 and 2021. Within eight years, Buffalo selected in the top-two four times and held a draft pick within the top eight every year since 2013. The Sabres haven’t made the playoffs since the 2010-2011 season; the longest active NHL playoff drought.

The End in Buffalo

It was clear that if the team Buffalo had on the ice couldn’t win now they wouldn’t win in the future. Following the 2020-2021 season, the Sabres blew it up. They shipped off their 2013 first round defenseman, Rasmus Ristolainen, to the Philadelphia Flyers, Sam Reinhart was traded to the Florida Panthers and their captain, Jack Eichel, was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights during the 2021-2022 season. 

From Buffalo to Sunrise

Bill Zito has made a lot of big moves during his two season tenure as the GM of the Florida Panthers. He traded for Sam Bennett, drafted Anton Lundell, signed the likes of Anthony Duclair and Carter Verhaeghe. He completely retooled the depth of the Panthers’ roster. Yet the move that made the biggest splash around the league happened on July 24, 2021 when he moved a first-round pick and goaltending prospect Devon Levi to the Buffalo Sabres for Sam Reinhart. 

Zito now assembled three of the top four picks from the 2014 NHL draft on the same roster; Ekblad (first-overall), Reinhart (second-overall) and Bennett (fourth-overall). 

Reinhart went from never playing in an NHL playoff game in his career to joining a team that just came off of an extremely exciting first-round matchup against the eventual Stanley Cup Champions in the previous season. During his first press conference as Panther, Reinhart showed his excitement about joining this Florida team. 

“I love the way this group has progressed in the last couple years, and especially this year,” said Reinhart. “[I’m] really looking forward to adding to the group, and doing everything we can to make it to the next level.”

A perfect fit

Coming into the season, Florida had one of the most deadly looking offenses on paper. The acquisition of Reinhart was adding fuel to the fire for this high scoring forward unit. The previous season Florida finished fourth in goals for, and now they added a consistent 20 plus goal scorer to the lineup.

The Panthers have already played over 50 games in the 2021-2022 NHL season. Florida leads the league in goals for and goals per game. Reinhart currently sits tied for second in team scoring with Aleksander Barkov. 

In 52 games, the 26-year-old Reinhart is at a point-per-game in his first season with the Panthers. He has spent the majority of the season playing on the third-line with rookie center Anton Lundell down the middle. Reinhart plays a big role for the Panthers’ special teams as well, as he’s second on the team in power play goals with six. 

With 27 games remaining in the regular season, Florida sits atop the Atlantic Division and is well on their way to make back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since 1997. After seven years in the league, Reinhart seems to finally be on his way to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

When he was traded to Florida, Reinhart signed for three-years in Sunrise and after being with the organization for seven months, he seems to be loving his time as a Panther. 

“It was a great opportunity to come in here,” Reinhart stated in a post-game press conference when asked about the reasons he was happy to join the team over the summer. “It’s a fun team to be a part of.” 

Even though Sam Reinhart wasn’t drafted as a Florida Panther, everything would eventually fall in place for him to become a part of what the Panthers are building today and for the future.