Florida Panthers: 3 storylines to watch this season
theScore's NHL editors take a look at three storylines to watch for each NHL team heading into the regular season.
It can be chalked up as just another year as outsiders, but the Florida Panthers combated their perennial drift to the Eastern Conference cellar with a little push back last season.
With a new coach, goaltender, and an influx of proven veterans, Dale Tallon's club no longer appears content with sitting on its hands.
Here are three things to watch for this season.
He's an Ekblad man
The Panthers weren't the worst team in the league last season, but they drafted like it in June. Florida leapfrogged the lowly Buffalo Sabres when the ping pong balls landed in their favor to draft Barrie Colts defenseman Aaron Ekblad first overall.
The 6-foot-3, 216-pound 18-year-old (going on 35) joins a budding group of elite prospects who should be on the verge of taking the next step. But the question remains, is Ekblad?
Seth Jones, the fourth-overall selection of the Nashville Predators last year, was the youngest 2013 blue line draftee to make the jump. Jones was effective, no question, but did take his lumps (and misfortune evidenced by a 0.953 PDO) when playing without a certain all-world partner.
The biggest difference between the pair, however, is two years - an eternity for a young defenseman. It's the position with the greatest learning curve, and Shea Weber won't be there to provide teachings along the way.
A Gallant hire?
Whirled for the fourth time in five seasons, the Panthers' coaching carousel required a few extra rotations before settling on Montreal Canadiens assistant coach Gerard Gallant.
Dale Tallon's exhaustive search of veteran bench bosses stretched deep into June before the GM landed on arguably his least-experienced candidate. What Gallant does provide, however, is familiarity, and maybe more importantly, a successful track record with Jonathan Huberdeau.
Now entering his third season, Huberdeau, widely considered the key to the team's turnaround, spent three seasons flourishing under Gallant at the Major Junior level. In two Memorial Cup campaigns with the Saint John Sea Dogs (that earned Gallant a ticket back to the NHL), Huberdeau scored 73 goals and 179 points.
Should Gallant succeed in galvanizing his former pupil (who failed to reach the double-digit mark in goals as a sophomore), his hire will earn an adjective greater than the english translation to his surname.
How sweet is Lou?
The mess left in the Vancouver Canucks' crease was finally scraped off the ice in March when the Florida Panthers staged Roberto Luongo's homecoming.
Although his presence didn't immediate equate to wins, Luongo did improve the Panthers' league-worst team save percentage and his 2.46 goals against average in 14 starts was nearly 0.75 goals less than Florida's average allowance last season.
Luongo is 35, and while his exile from Vancouver suggests regression, his numbers don't necessarily agree; his .919 save percentage last season matched his 15-year career average.
His dominant days are probably in the rear-view, but Luongo is unquestionably an upgrade in Sunrise. And with the flaming garbage that burned in Vancouver behind him, coming to the rink should be fun again.
And who knows what effect that'll have?