New Panthers winger Anthony Duclair set to contribute to Florida’s ‘eye-popping’ offense
The Florida Panthers head into the 2021 season, one set to begin Jan. 13, in a bit of a prove it year. They made the postseason in 2019-2020 thanks to an expanded field following a three-month shutdown due to COVID-19 but were quickly eliminated by the New York Islanders in their play-in series.
The same can be said about Anthony Duclair. The 25-year-old winger is on his fifth team in seven seasons after signing a one-year with the Panthers on Thursday. He’s coming off his first All-Star appearance and had arguably his best season from an offensive standpoint last year (23 goals, 17 assists in 66 games). Despite that, he hit a flooded free agent market when the Ottawa Senators decided not to give him a qualifying offer.
“I didn’t see that coming,’’’ said Duclair, who also had previous stops with the Rangers (2014-15), Arizona Coyotes (2015-2018), Chicago Blackhawks (2018), Columbus Blue Jackets (2018-2019). “At the same time, I truly respect [Senators general manager] Pierre Dorion and the organization’s decision to let me go. They felt it was best for them to move on.”
Now, Duclair believes signing with the Panthers was the best move for him, and there are certainly roles in the lineup that he can fill.
Florida, sixth in the NHL last year in goals per game (3.30), is replacing its top two goal scorers from last season in Mike Hoffman (29 goals) and Evgenii Dadonov (25).
Based on the Panthers’ current roster construction, Duclair is likely to either join the Panthers’ top line as the right wing with Aleksander Barkov at center and Jonathan Huberdeau at left wing or be on the second line centered by Alexander Wennberg, who Duclair previously played with during his brief stint with the Blue Jackets.
“I have had lots of time to dissect all the lineups in the league just to see where I could fit,” said Duclair, who has 79 goals and 83 assists over 353 career NHL games. “These types of guys [in Florida] are pretty eye-popping. I would love to play with some of these guys, learn from these guys even if I am not playing with them. Being around talent like that at practice every day and seeing them work is definitely going to be beneficial.”
Duclair has also previously played with new teammates Sergei Bobrovsky, Markus Nutivaara, Vinny Hinostroza and Keith Yandle during his NHL career.
In a statement, first-year Panthers general manager Bill Zito called Duclair “a dynamic and highly skilled player who is capable of being a dependable offensive contributor for our team.”
Zito part of the Blue Jackets’ front office when Duclair played there. Duclair said Zito was one of the first people he talked with once he hit the free agent market.
“Bill Zito and I had numerous conversations these past few months since I became a free agent,’’ Duclair said. “It wasn’t always talk about contract negotiations and stuff like that.
“Sometimes we’d talk about hockey, myself and how I’ve grown these past few years. I just felt like this was the right fit for me and I just decided to pull the trigger on Florida.”
When training camp begins on Jan. 3, he’ll get his chance to start making his mark with the Panthers. His prove-it year will begin.
This story was originally published December 22, 2020 at 10:06 AM.
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