Florida Panthers 2010 Preview & Predictions

Florida Panthers 2010 Season Preview, Predictions Picks & Odds

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FLORIDA PANTHERS

2009-10 record: 32-37-13
Shootout Record: 6-10
Division Finish: 5th, Southeast
Conference Finish: 14th, Eastern
Goals For: 208
Goals Against: 244

Florida Panthers 2010 Preview

Dale Tallon was not around to celebrate the success of helping build the champion Chicago Blackhawks.

But he will be on the ground floor again, this time as general manager of the Panthers. Tallon’s mission is simple: put the blocks in place to end a League record nine years without a playoff spot and within a few years challenge for the Stanley Cup.

He’s hardly starting from scratch with a team that is perennially making noise at playoff time but, through one misfortune or another, has missed the dance. Last season, there were issues at both ends of the ice where the offense plunged to a near-franchise record 208 goals.

Tomas Vokoun did his best in net with seven shutouts, but the defense was culpable in giving up a three-year high of 244 goals.

To that end, Peter DeBoer is staying as head coach, after winning 41 games in . his rookie year. Tallon flew to Germany right after his hiring to meet DeBoer, who was assisting Team Canada at the World Championship.

Three established Panthers will continue to carry much of the weight, forwards Stephen Weiss, David Booth and Michael Frolik, after back to- back 21-goal seasons. Weiss, Frolik and the departed Nathan Horton were on a tear as a line before Horton broke his leg.

Booth played only 28 games, while Horton and Gregory Campbell missed a . quarter of the schedule.

Tallon and DeBoer will also be working on getting more out of Rostislav Olesz, six years after he was a top 10 pick. He had a terrible finish to 2009-10 with three points in the club’s closing 30 games.

He entered the June draft in the enviable position of holding nine picks, including third overall, which he used on industrial-sized defenseman Erik Gudbranson of the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs, the first blueliner taken in the proceedings. He followed that with center Nik Bjugstad, a Minnesota high schooler.

2010 Florida Panthers Offense:

Tallon wants size up-front, but just as important would be having Booth around a full 82 games once more. With 56 goals in 193 games prior to last season, the young Detroit native had definitely arrived, but two long term concussions clouded his year. The Panthers landed Steve Bernier from the Canucks, with the right winger usually in the 15-goal range. They also got Michael Grabner from Vancouver. In addition to Weiss having big plans to get back on the radar for this term, Tallon is excited about left winger Kenndal McArdle, a 2005 first-rounder who made it into 19 games. McArdle ended the season on the injured list, with double shoulder surgery. The ageless Cory Stillman had four game-winners for the Cats last season, in Stillman’s case, his most in three years. Olesz had three winners as well.

2010 Florida Panthers Defense:

Under the right circumstances, management and coaches believe Dmitry Kulikov will advance by leaps and bounds. As a 19-year-old, the Panthers’ first-round pick in ’09 played almost a full season with 16 points and placed sixth in rookie power-play assists with nine. McCabe played a full season for just the second time since 2001-02, had a healthy 35 assists and hit the 500-point mark. Bryan Allen played 74 games after the previous year was wiped out. .Of note was his team-leading 99 penalty minutes. The Panthers added some talent in Dennis Wideman, obtained in the Horton deal with Boston, but also moved Keith Ballard to Vancouver.

2010 Florida Panthers Goaltending:

Vokoun did his best to keep the Panthers in the playoff hunt a third straight year. In a memorable run between New Year’s Eve and the start of the Olympic tournament, the big Czech made 21 straight starts and surrendered three or fewer goals in all but four of the contests. His .925 save percentage bettered everyone in the League with the exception of Rask and Ryan Miller, and he was two shutouts shy of matching Martin Brodeur’s nine for top honors. He will be gunning for his seventh straight season of 20 or more victories. The ever reliable Scott Clemmensen won nine games and added a shutout, but the Panthers are waiting to see what prospect Jacob Markstrom is made of.

Florida Panthers 2010 Special Teams

Nowhere to go but up for Florida’s penalty killing and power play, which both ranked in the bottom 10 in the League. The Panthers actually placed last on the road with a 10.7% power play and barely ahead of Toronto in the overall picture. Hence Tallon’s desire to put some bite in his offense. Where would they have been without Weiss’s 12 goals? But Booth’s absence cost them around 10 goals to be sure. Florida was last in the conference killing penalties at home, though Radek Dvorak notched three shorthanded markers.

Florida Panthers 2010 Season Predictions

Florida won just eight games within the Southeast Division and given that just six points separated the four teams behind the leading Washington Capitals, a little home cooking would be in order. The Panthers will improve with their changes on the ice and off it, but by how much?

We predict that the Florida Panthers will finish 5th in the NHL Southeast.

Florida Panthers Betting

Florida Panthers Stanley Cup Odds: +10000
Florida Panthers Eastern Conference Odds: +4500

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