Panthers riding impressive offseason after front-office shake-up
The Florida Panthers are winning the summer after many wondered what they were doing in the spring.
Owner Vincent Viola raised eyebrows when he overhauled the front office after a historically successful campaign, but the restructured staff is putting its stamp on the offseason.
Florida made two significant moves Saturday, signing free-agent defenseman Jason Demers to a five-year contract and reportedly locking up promising 22-year-old forward Vincent Trocheck on a six-year extension.
On Friday, the Panthers put the finishing touches on an eight-year extension for 20-year-old franchise defenseman Aaron Ekblad. The club has now solidified most of its young core, which also includes forwards Aleksander Barkov and Nick Bjugstad.
Jonathan Hubderdeau is now the lone member of the core group without a long-term deal, but he has one year remaining before potentially entering restricted free agency.
After clinching the Atlantic Division title in April for the first time in franchise history, Florida was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the New York Islanders, and Viola didn't wait long to make changes.
The Panthers promoted general manager Dale Tallon to president of hockey operations, named Tom Rowe the new GM, and appointed analytically inclined executives Eric Joyce and Steve Werier assistant GMs. Two more analytics experts, Richard Pollock and Josh Weissbock, were brought on in June.
It wasn't all hiring and promoting, though. Hockey operations director Mike Dixon was fired in May along with assistant coach John Madden, and Rowe reportedly dismissed the team's equipment managers.
Amid all the upheaval and a clear shift in philosophy, the Panthers had a critical summer ahead, and given the circumstances, it's gone remarkably well for them so far. In addition to the Ekblad and Trocheck extensions, the Demers signing was the latest move designed to retool the blue line.
The Panthers traded defenseman Erik Gudbranson and a fifth-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks for forward Jared McCann, a second-rounder, and a fourth-round selection, then dealt Dmitry Kulikov and a second-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres for Mark Pysyk and two second-rounders.
Then came Keith Yandle, whose rights were acquired by the Panthers before they signed him to a seven-year deal reportedly worth about $44 million.
As if that wasn't enough, the new braintrust signed free-agent goaltender James Reimer to a five-year, $17-million contract Friday, providing a brilliant insurance policy for 37-year-old netminder Roberto Luongo, both now and in the future.
There are still question marks. The revamped defense will generate plenty of scoring chances, but can it hold up in its own end? How much does Jaromir Jagr have left? Who takes over the captaincy now that Willie Mitchell is likely retiring? Can they risk waiting until next season - or worse, next summer - to figure out a way to keep Huberdeau?
Despite these concerns, the Panthers' new-look management team has already checked off all the major items on its summer to-do list, and the club appears primed to contend for the Stanley Cup in the years to come.