The Florida Panthers begin their 2024-25 season on Tuesday, when they host the Boston Bruins. It’s banner night in Florida, as they begin their Stanley Cup title defense, against the very team they eliminated in the Final.
The Panthers are once again expected to be among the top teams in the Eastern Conference, but due to the likes of defensemen Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson departing via free agency, there’s certainly a number of question marks surrounding their back end, heading into the new year.
With the new NHL season kicking off, it means so to is a brand new season of Daily Faceoff Live, with Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli. They discussed a number of items on today’s show, including the Panthers skillset on defense.
Yaremchuk: No team in the league has played more hockey than the ‘Cats over the last three seasons. They’ve appeared in 55 playoff games, over the last three runs. It finally ended with them lifting the Stanley Cup, and tonight it will be them raising a banner. What do you make of the Panthers as they begin their stretch of trying to repeat as Stanley Cup champions?
Seravalli: First off, the first thing I think of, is that’s a lot of hockey. 55 playoff games, that’s a ton…What do I make of their defense? They’re going to be in tough. Not just based on the residual wear and tear, even though Paul Maurice said this team came back in fantastic shape, and maybe even a little bit better than they expected. I think they’ve lost so many significant pieces on the back end, that look, this team has found lots of diamonds in the rough.
Whether it’s been Josh Mahura, or whether it’s been re-claiming and working on Brandon Montour, after a really tough stint in Buffalo. Or, pick whoever you might want it to be, but the two power-play quarterbacks to open the year for this team are – Adam Boqvist and Uvis Balinskis. They need some help. And, I think as constituted, although Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad are nice pieces to lead off your top-six, or back end, I just think they are not as right as currently constituted as Cup contenders on the defense category.
Yaremchuk: Yeah, I mean you look at this, and Uvis Balinskis, Frank? That’s a guy, of all the people watching our show, I bet you 95% of them are going – ‘who is that?’. And, you mentioned Boqvist, a guy who struggled to stay in the lineup consistently with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the past. Now, you’re asking him to run the power play of a team that’s trying to defend their Stanley Cup title.
For more on the Panthers, and a loaded opening show, featuring a ton of predictions for the season, watch the full episode here: