2014-15 Florida Panthers Preview

Oct 1, 2014 - 7:57 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The perpetually rebuilding Florida Panthers have made the playoffs only once in the last 13 seasons, but there is a glimmer of hope for the upcoming season thanks to the return of a familiar face.

Panthers general manager Dale Tallon welcomed back prodigal son Roberto Luongo by acquiring the veteran goaltender in a trade at last season's deadline. Although the Panthers finished 29th in the NHL standings in 2013-14, Tallon hopes having a legitimate No. 1 option between the pipes will at least help his team stay in the race for a postseason spot next spring.

Luongo, who put up solid numbers in a 14-game run with Florida at the end of last season, returns to the fold after spending seven-plus seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. Prior to being shipped off to the Canucks in 2006, Luongo had spent the previous five seasons with the Panthers and none of those campaigns ended with a trip to the playoffs.

The current Panthers are blessed with a wealth of young talent, but that always seems to be the case in Florida due to the franchise's status as perennial basement-dwellers. However, through last season's trade for Luongo and a flurry of activity this offseason, Tallon has added several veterans with winning resumes to the mix as he tries to get Florida back to the playoffs for the second time since taking over the GM post following the 2009-10 campaign.

Tallon did have success with this formula in 2011-12 when he brought on a slew of veterans prior to the season and halted Florida's playoff drought at 10 seasons. By adding guys like Luongo, and fellow veterans Dave Bolland, Jussi Jokinen and Willie Mitchell to Florida's young core over the last several months, Tallon is obviously hoping the strategy could work again.

Gerard Gallant, taking on his first NHL head coaching job since being fired by Columbus following the 2006-07 season, has the unenviable task of turning Tallon's makeshift roster into a playoff team.

FORWARDS - Not only did Florida finish second-to-last in the NHL standings last season, the club also was ranked 29th in both offense (2.29 goals per game) and defense (3.20 gpg).

Nick Bjugstad led the anemic offense with just 38 points, as the Panthers set a dubious NHL record for the fewest points by a leading scorer in a full season. The previous mark of 39 points belonged to Scott Pellerin who led the Minnesota Wild in the club's expansion season of 2000-01.

Bjugstad, 22, is part of Florida's impressive young nucleus and one of several former Panthers first-round picks on the team's roster. The list also includes Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov, who expect to make up two-thirds of one of the club's top two lines.

Huberdeau, 21, was selected with the third overall pick of the 2011 draft and went on to win the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie for the lockout- shortened season of 2013. However, after posting 14 goals and 17 assists in a 48-game run as a rookie, the left winger failed to improve in 2013-14 when he registered only 28 points (9 goals, 19 assists) in 69 games.

Barkov, who turned 19 years old on Sept. 2, was the second overall selection at the 2013 draft and had 24 points (8G, 16A) in 54 games as a rookie last season. The Finnish centerman's season was cut short when he suffered an injury while representing his country at the 2014 Winter Olympics, but the 6- foot-3, 213-pound youngster could break out if he can stay healthy in 2014-15.

Veteran winger Scottie Upshall had 37 points on 15 goals and 22 assists to finish second to Bjugstad in team scoring and he will likely play to the right of Barkov.

Brad Boyes expects to man the right wing spot on Bjugstad's line after the 32- year-old led Florida with 21 goals last season. Jokinen, who Tallon signed to a four-year, $16 million deal in the offseason, could be part of the same line. Jokinen had 21 goals and 36 assists while playing on a stacked offense last year with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Bolland was another of Tallon's free agent acquisitions (5 yrs. $27.5 million) and he expects to play center on the third line. The 28-year-old was one of the heroes for Chicago during its 2013 Stanley Cup championship season before getting dealt to Toronto. He had eight goals and four assists while appearing in just 23 games during an injury-plagued season with the Maple Leafs in 2013-14.

Florida's bottom six forward group should have a decidedly veteran slant to it thanks to Bolland and his potential linemates Tomas Fleischmann and Tomas Kopecky. Offseason signees Derek MacKenzie and Shawn Thornton and holdover Sean Bergenheim are all 30 years or older and the trio could make up Florida's fourth line.

DEFENSE - Much like the offense, Florida's blue line is a mix of highly-touted prospects and steady, albeit unspectacular, veterans.

The defense will be extremely young if Aaron Ekblad -- the No. 1 overall pick at the most recent draft -- makes the team out of a training camp. The 18- year-old was billed as the most NHL-ready of this year's draft crop and there's an excellent chance he'll make the leap from juniors to the highest level of hockey. Of course, if Ekblad makes the club and struggles mightily the Panthers will have a chance to return him to juniors before he plays his 10th NHL game.

Although he'll only be 23 years old at the start of the season, Dmitry Kulikov is about to enter his sixth NHL campaign in 2014-15. The 14th overall pick of the 2009 draft, Kulikov played in 81 games for the Panthers last season and posted eight goals and 11 assists. The Russian blueliner also was near the bottom of the league standings with a minus-26 rating but that's not a major concern considering Kulikov logged big minutes for a bad team.

Veteran Brian Campbell was the ice-time leader (26 minutes, 57 seconds per game) for Florida last season and he wound up tying Upshall for second place on the team with 37 points (7G, 30A). Although Tallon was derided for acquiring Campbell and his annual salary cap hit of roughly $7.1 million in a 2011 trade, the move has created some stability at the top of Florida's defensive rotation. Campbell is hardly a bargain, but he is a veteran more capable of eating up big-time minutes than some of Florida's younger options.

The second pairing also could feature a bit of young and old, with Mitchell playing mentor to Erik Gudbranson, a 22-year-old entering his fourth NHL campaign. Mitchell was a member of both Los Angeles Kings Cup-winning teams before inking a two-year, $8.5 million contract following L.A.'s most recent championship season.

Gudbranson, meanwhile, still has to prove he was worth his high draft selection (3rd overall, 2010) after so far posting 21 points (5G, 16A) in career 169 games.

Another young rearguard to keep an eye on is Alex Petrovic, a 22-year-old Alberta native who had one assist in a seven-game run with the Panthers last season.

GOALTENDING - Florida began last season with Tim Thomas, Scott Clemmensen and Jacob Markstrom as the club's top-three goaltenders. None of them remain with the Panthers, telling you everything you need to know about how well the plan worked out for the team.

Veterans Clemmensen and Thomas didn't figure into the club's long-term plans anyway. The 24-year-old Markstrom, meanwhile, was part of the package sent to Vancouver to bring Luongo back to the Sunshine State.

Luongo was an instant upgrade over any of those netminders and went 6-7-1 with a 2.46 goals against average and .924 save percentage in a 14-game run with the Panthers in 2013-14. All told, the 35-year-old Montreal native was 25-23-7 with a 2.40 GAA in 56 games last season.

With veteran backups Al Montoya and Dan Ellis also in Florida, it seems Luongo likely will have a heavy workload for the Panthers this season. If he's able to play the way he did for the Cats last spring over an entire campaign, Florida could have a slim shot at making the playoffs. However, if Luongo stumbled, it could be another long season in Sunrise.

Montoya should have the inside track at the backup job with Ellis around to provide organization depth at goaltender.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE - Long stretches of playoff ineligibility has set the bar for success incredibly low in Florida, but it seems a safe bet the Panthers are about to fall short of that meager goal again. In order to make the playoffs, the Panthers would likely need Luongo to play at the top of his game while also hoping for breakout seasons from youngsters like Barkov, Huberdeau and Kulikov. Tallon is trying his best to turn the spare parts from successful teams into gold, but it's more likely the franchise will suffer the indignity of yet another spring without a postseason.