Indeed, The Florida Panthers Are Stanley Cup Contenders
It seems odd to say this, however the Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup favorites. This is the same team that can’t draw more than 3,000 fans at home games. Yes, it would appear that the 2019-2020 season will be the year for the diehard and the casual Panthers fans.
The season will live and die on the back of goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky. The former Columbus Blue Jacket is a Vezna winner, and is widely considered one of the leagues top-three goalies. He’s going to be the straw that stirs the drink for this Panthers team. Bob has proven he can carry a team before, although, with the roster on the ice, things might be a bit easier for him in the Sunshine State.
While the Panthers share the Florida spotlight with the regular season powerhouse, Tampa Bay Lightning, they have the skaters on the roster to rival them. With Bob in goal, the Panthere have one of the NHL’s best point producers in Aleksander Barkov. The 24-year-old produced 96 points for the 2018-19 season.
Barkov proved last season that he can make anyone around him better. He’s expected to play on the top line with Johnathan Huburdeau (92 points in 2018-19) and Evgenii Dadonov (70 points in 2018-19) , making up one of the best trio’s in all of hockey. The three accounted for 28 goals late season while on the ice together, a number that will only go up this upcoming campaign.
This just the Panthers top line. They are one of the deepest teams in all of the NHL. Playing just behind Barkov as the teams second line center is Vincent Trochek. In 2017-18, the center put up 75 points. While he only played in 55 games due to injury in 2018-19, Trochek still amassed 34 points. He’s centering a line with Mike Hoffman (70 points in 2018-19), and newcomer, Aleski Heponiemi.
It’s Heponiemi that has the Florida coaching staff elated. He was the teams second round pick in 2017. All Heponiemi has done is finish first in rookie scoring for the Finnish league, Liiga. This is a big time prospect for the Panthers. He’s expected to make a big impact this season.
The defenseman of Florida also won’t go unnoticed. Keith Yandle, was one of the league scoring leaders at the position with 62 points. There’s also former top overall pick, Aaron Ekblad, who at 23, is ready to take the next step as an NHL defenseman. He’ll look to improve upon his 37 point campaign from last year. Also, Mike Matheson, and Anton Stralman, make up one of the deepest defensive cores in the NHL.
You can’t go without mentioning the Panthers head coach, Joel Quenneville. The former Chicago Blackhawks coach has had his fair share of success in the NHL, winning multiple Stanley Cups. He’ll look to bring that winning culture to a team which desperately needs it.
The Florida Panthers are one of the NHL’s whipping boys when it comes to fan support. It’s hard for the team to draw a crowd. The thinking is that with a talented and championship caliber roster the support will be greater. That remains to be seen, as South Florida doesn’t seem to care about hockey. Perhaps they will, though.
Considering the amount of talent on this roster, the Florida Panthers should be a favorite to win the Stanley Cup. Maybe that’s enough to get the fans out to the games. And the team will need the fan support, because, make no mistake about it, this is a title contender.
Image Source: Joel Auerbach/Getty Images
Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288
