The Florida Panthers have had back-to-back memorable playoff runs under head coach Paul Maurice. The Panthers made it all of the technique to the Stanley Cup Finals from the No. 8 seed within the Eastern Conference. They earned their spot within the postseason on the last day of the regular season and defeated the record-setting Boston Bruins in the primary round of the playoffs.
They followed with wins over the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes before dropping the ultimate series to the Vegas Golden Knights. There was could be no denying the Panthers last season, as they made a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals and outlasted the Edmonton Oilers in 7 games.
The Panthers are in first place within the Atlantic Division and so they have a 4-point lead over the Maple Leafs with 16 games to go within the regular season. The Panthers have probably the most talented and driven teams within the league, and so they must have an excellent probability of winning a second consecutive Stanley Cup when the regular season involves a conclusion.
While general manager Bill Zito knows the Panthers have a robust core featuring Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Aleksander Barkov, he refused to face pat on the trade deadline. He made multiple moves — including an earth-shattering trade for Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins — that give the team legitimate hope of raising the Stanley Cup for a second consecutive season.
Marchand joins the Panthers
It’s one thing when a superstar’s name is mentioned in trade rumors, it’s quite one other when a player like Marchand actually gets moved. It’s even larger news when a team just like the Bruins trades their captain to the team that eliminated them from the postseason in consecutive years.
The Bruins captain was in the ultimate yr of his contract with the Bruins, and while the 2 sides had negotiated throughout the season, a deal couldn’t be accomplished. Still, trading Marchand didn’t appear to be a move the Bruins would make, particularly after he had been injured in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins lower than per week earlier.
Nevertheless, Panthers and the Bruins accomplished a deal that sent Marchand to South Florida in the ultimate hours of the trade deadline. Marchand may not don a Panthers uniform until the ultimate week or two of the regular season, but he needs to be recovered from a lower-body injury in the approaching weeks.
Marchand was skating with the Panthers in a no-contact jersey in the times that followed the trade. When he returns to motion, the Panthers may have a relentless player who could make plays at each ends of the ice. While he isn’t any longer at his peak, the 36-year-old left wing has scored 21 goals and 26 assists in 61 games this seasonwith 47 penalty minutes.
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Marchand is a longtime playoff performer who has scored 54 goals and 81 assists for 135 postseason points in 157 games.
Panthers usher in right-shot defenseman in Seth Jones
Certainly one of the team’s most precious performers of their last two playoff runs was defenseman Brandon Montour. He moved to the Seattle Kraken within the offseason and the Panthers have needed a right-shot blue liner since that departure.
The Panthers acquired Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks to fill that role. Jones had scored 7 goals and 20 assists for the Blackhawks, and while he was minus-18 for the Blackhawks, the Panthers have high hopes that he can play an efficient role on a contending team.
Jones is a 4-time All-Star with size at 6-4 and 213 kilos. He should give you the option to choose up his level of play for the Panthers. He has been fidgeting with Gustav Forsling on the team’s first defensive pairing.
Panthers add goalie Vitek Vanecek and Nico Sturm from Sharks
The Sharks aren’t a team that might appear to have much that would help the Panthers, but backup goalie Vitek Vanecek should give you the option to supply some relief for Sergei Bobrovsky. Vanecek won his first game in a Florida uniform, registering a shutout in a 4-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. He has a 4-10-3 record overall this season with a 3.66 goals against average and an .886 save percentage.
Sturm is a solid 4th-line player for the Panthers and he does a wonderful job within the faceoff circle. He isn’t a significant offensive factor, but he has scored 7 goals and 6 assists this season. He has been successful on 62.1 percent of his faceoffs. That could possibly be an enormous consider the postseason.
