Panthers Pre-Season Report

 As the days begin to count down to the start of the MRFHL season, new and familiar faces have begun to show up at the Panthers training facility as training camp opens up later this week. The Panthers will hit the ice as a team a week from today against the Flyers, and they will field quite a different group of players than the ones who were upset in the 1^st round of the playoffs last spring, to the eventual cup winners.

 Even with the disappointing end both GM Dylan Wilson and coach Marc Crawford were retained, but both could definitely be on the hot seat this year if the season ends early again. “We really had to evaluate what we needed to improve and how to do it with limited cap room. We saw an opportunity to get younger and to really give this team a shot in the arm, without messing too much with the core that won us a Cup and Presidents trophy,” said Dylan.

“I know people probably still question our move to trade mister intangible himself, Jonathan Toews, but we feel like we got probably one of the best players in the game when he is on. No one, not even Crosby can match what Malkin can do when he is on his game, and we can’t wait to see that in action. We lost a few gritty guys in Morrow and Clowe, but feel like we more than improved there by picking up guys like Callahan and Lapierre. We also will probably have the trio from the championship winning San Antonio Rampage (Howden, Toffoli and Sheppard) come in to the forward core to play key roles. Adding in Mike (Ribeiro) was also key, as it allows Marc to really shuffle the lines when needed because we are 3 deep at centre.”

When asked about the big move of sending away top pairing defenseman Keith Yandle for futures, GM Wilson assured it’s part of the long term plan. “It’s always tough to move a guy of Yandle’s calibre. If this was a non-cap world, we wouldn’t have. But similar to how we had to move out Backes last summer, we just had to figure out who we could move without damaging the core too much.”

“We didn’t have the depth to move out a forward and with 6 potential top paring D, it was obvious where we had the depth to move out. It was just a matter of figuring out who, and we knew  we weren’t moving OEL or Pietrangelo, and Faulk and Dillon make very little. So it came down to either Vlasic or Yandle, and when we were able to work out a deal with the Flyers, we feel both teams came out a winner. Last year we got Toffoli for Backes, and he will play a big part of this year’s team.”

“This time around we got a very talented centre in Alexander Wennberg who we honestly believe is a top 15 prospect in the game, and a very intriguing goalie in Michael Hutchinson who looks to have the skillset of a #1 goalie. So these young controllable assets are key, and we really wish Yandle the best in Philly.”

Coach Marc Crawford gave some early ideas of what he expects the line-up to look like on opening day.

Projected Roster

Forwards

Rick Nash – Sidney Crosby – Ryan Callahan

Jamie Benn – Evgeni Malkin – Patrick Kane

Tyler Toffoli – Mike Ribeiro – James Sheppard

Quinton Howden – Brad Richardson – Maxim Lapierre

In the Mix: Brock Nelson, Justin Florek, Taylor Beck, Brett Sutter

Defense

Alex Pietrangelo – Marc-Edouard Vlasic

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Brenden Dillon

Justin Faulk – Brett Bellemore

In the Mix: Xavier Ouellet, Matt Tennyson

Goalies

Steve Mason

Darcy Kuemper

In the Mix: Michael Hutchinson

“Rick and Sid seemed to have excellent chemistry last year and we really don’t plan on messing with that. Callahan adds a physical body in front of the net on that line, and should add another element to that line. Kane was also excellent with Sid at the end of last year, but we just see a better fit with him playing with Malkin and Benn, though it’s all an experiment. The bottom 6 is really up for grabs except for Ribeiro. Guys like Florek, Beck, Sutter and Nelson could make serious claims for one of those spots. On D, we are going to try and pair up solid offensive guys with defensively responsible guys. Obviously guys like Pietrangelo are great at both ends, but this is our plan to start the year. In net, Mason has the reigns and it will really come down to either Kuemper or Hutchinson.”

 One thing is fairly obvious though is that expectations are at its highest in Florida, and anything less than winning it all won’t be accepted. “We’ve put the pressure on ourselves to win, and we feel like we’ve assembled a group of players that thrive on that kind of pressure.”