He had never played forward before this year. Now this Panther is a playoff X-factor
Sometimes throughout the regular, Mark Pysyk would ask a teammate a question and get a dumbfounded look as a reply. He had never played forward before — not even at the junior level — so he peppered spent the year pepper the Florida Panthers forwards with seemingly basic questions. It often took them a moment to remember he was total newcomer to right wing.
I just found myself asking questions to my linemates that I’m sure seemed very, very simple to them,” Pysyk said. “You kind of see the look on their face when I ask them, too, like, Oh, yeah, right, you’ve never done this.”
The Panthers started experimenting with Pysyk, naturally a defenseman, as a bottom-line forward early in the season when they were thin on the wing. For the first part of the season, the experiment yielded mixed results, but it was interesting enough for Pysyk to stick and eventually deliver one of Florida’s best moments of the season. Back in February, Pysyk delivered his first career hat trick to help the Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs.
By the time the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the regular season in March, Pysyk had carved out a consistent role as the right wing on Florida’s fourth line with center Noel Acciari and winger Colton Sceviour. All throughout postseason training camp at the Florida Panthers IceDen Pysyk has been playing as part of the same trio.
At the start of the season, Pysyk never could have envisioned being anything but a defenseman. He honestly can’t remember the last time he played forward.
Now he’s entirely focused on playing the wing in the qualifying round of the Stanley Cup playoffs next month against the New York Islanders in Toronto.
“Looking into the season, that’s not how I saw it going, but there was an opportunity where a couple guys were out of the lineup and it just sort of started from there, and it’s kept going,” Pysyk said. “I’ve been enjoying myself. I’ve been enjoying doing it. It’s been a good challenge. It’s made things a little different excitement, trying something new.”
The hat trick against the Maple Leafs was the highlight of the most productive offensive season of his career. Before this year, Pysyk had a reputation as nothing more than a steady, bottom-line defenseman. He was often a healthy scratch early in the season — an afterthought, at times, in Florida’s lineup.
In just 58 games, the converted defenseman set career highs with nine goals and 18 points, and his nine assists were only four off a career mark. His versatility has made him a surprisingly valuable piece for the Panthers — particularly given the team’s focus on fixing its defense ahead of the expanded postseason.
In the regular season, Florida had one of the NHL’s top offenses paired with one of the league’s worst defenses. It ultimately made the Panthers a middling team in the Eastern Conference and had them on the outside of the playoff picture when the regular season abruptly ended.
Just before the stoppage, Florida made a series of tweaks searching for better balance. Quenneville moved All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau down to the second line, hoping to give the line an extra scoring punch and make the top line a bit more defensive minded. The Panthers briefly toyed with a “helicopter” fourth line — no wings — with defenseman Mike Matheson playing in Sceviour’s place. The defensive-minded line even spurred a win against the New Jersey Devils in February when Pysyk contributed three points.
Pysyk, of all people, has been at the center of some of Florida’s most memorable wins of the season.
Now Sceviour is back on the fourth line, but it remains a defensive-minded bunch. It sets exactly the tone the Panthers are looking for right now in Coral Springs.
“We had a few weeks of skating here and I was kind of jumping in as a forward in some drills, D in some,” Pysyk said, “but then once we got here, playing with Skeeter and Noel — it was good to get back with them.”
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 4:06 PM.
