Once-crazy Cats aim for lower-key 23/24 season

After a frenzied, no-holds-barred 2022/23 campaign that ultimately came up empty-handed, the Florida Panthers are looking to adopt a more stable and predictable management approach heading into 2023/24. 

"We were too focused on being a top regular-season team last year," GM Seo explained. "We saw an opportunity and went all-in, but you can't rob Peter to pay Paul every year when the league is as competitive as it is. We have to do things in a more sustainable way this season." 

Florida kicked off its offseason by trading away two of their big-ticket wingers from last season. William Nylander was shipped to Minnesota for a draft pick that became blue-chip prospect Leo Carlsson, while Johnny Gaudreau went to his hometown Philadelphia Flyers for picks that ultimately became younger top-four defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Mario Ferraro. The hope is that Carlsson, who looks to be starting with the NHL's Ducks to open the season, can gradually step into Patrice Bergeron's role as the captain heads toward retirement, and that Lindgren and Ferraro can be long-term pieces of a younger core. 

There weren't any flashy signings on their way to South Beach, either, with the team's headline acquisition being 32-year-old veteran defenseman Brayden McNabb, who signed a 4-year, $4M AAV deal. Wingers Jonathan Drouin and Ondrej Palat also arrived in Florida in offseason deals, but the club will look to untested forwards Mitchell Chaffee and Nikita Pavlychev to stick as full-time NHLers this season. Chaffee and Pavlychev, who both enjoyed strong seasons in the AHL, will get extended looks in the top six this preseason as they look to earn starring roles. 

That said, the team does look very different in net. After GM Seo's high-risk gamble on regular-season brick wall Semyon Varlamov ended with him getting bombed out of the net in a first-round loss to Columbus, Seo brought in Adin Hill from the rival Buffalo Sabres to be the Cats' new starter, while Collin Delia returned as the backup after being claimed off waivers from Los Angeles. While both players have significant NHL experience, it remains to be seen how the Cats' shift away from high-priced goaltending (just $3.1M total committed in net) will pan out over the course of the year. 

The Panthers also put significant work into a farm team that had been left barren over the last few seasons, adding more than 20 players to a brand-new Charlotte Checkers roster. While the team isn't headlined by any shiny young prospects, players like Yegor Zemula, Akito Hirose, Ryan Fitzgerald and Matt Benning lead a relatively deep Checkers team that should be much improved this coming season. GM Seo hopes that under new coach Andre Tourigny, the Checkers' performance this season will yield at least a few players who can play meaningful bottom-six NHL minutes on bargain contracts next year.  

Overall, this team still possesses considerable high-end talent, but there are certainly more question marks on this team than there were last season. Will that translate to some glaring issues over the course of the year? Is the team good enough to once again challenge for a division title? We'll have to wait and find out.