This Panthers season was a massive step, but patience is running out to actually contend
Aleksander Barkov spent most of eight seasons waiting for a year like this one.
He went to the Stanley Cup playoffs once in 2016 in his third season in the NHL, then got to go to the expanded playoffs last year, but a year like the 2020-21 NHL season for the Florida Panthers — with a franchise record for points percentage and a real belief they were a Stanley Cup contender — eluded him. It was, undeniably, a massive step forward and a positive development for an organization without much history of winning, but, in the end, it will only matter if it’s actually a springboard to playoff success.
Next year, the Panthers have to win a postseason series for the first time since the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs.
“Anything less is a disappointment,” Barkov said, “for sure.”
The best regular season in team history once again yielded a first-round exit when Florida fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0, on Wednesday to bow out of the playoffs. After an unprecedented level of success in a shortened regular season, the Panthers felt a different type of disappointment when they left Tampa after their 4-2 series loss to the Lightning.
After his first season in Florida, Joel Quenneville was disappointed with the way the Panthers played almost all year long, finishing below .500 in the 2019-20 NHL season and only reaching the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs when the league expanded them to 22 teams because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After his second year, the coach was disappointed because of what this season could’ve been.
Florida was the higher seed than Tampa Bay in the opening round. It won the regular-season series with the in-state rival and even regularly generated more shots, scoring chances and high-danger chances than the Lightning throughout the best-of-7 series. The Panthers viewed themselves as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, who just happened to match up against the defending Cup champion in the first round.
Part of it was the result of a COVID-altered season, with teams playing within regional divisions, so Florida wound up playing another of the best teams in the league in the first round despite finishing fourth in the NHL’s overall standings. Part of it, though, was the result of a team still working to join the ranks of the league’s elite.
“For the organization, for us mentally — we’ve got to win a round,” All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau said, “and after, you never know what can happen.”
Huberdeau, Barkov want to win
Barkov, 25 and the captain, is entering his ninth season and still hasn’t won a playoff series. Huberdeau, 27 and an alternate captain, is entering his 10th without a series win.
Those two — plus defenseman Aaron Ekblad, a former No. 1 overall pick who didn’t play in the postseason because of a leg fracture — make up a still-promising core, but patience.
“We’ve been here for a long time and we always say we’re sick of losing, and this year obviously we didn’t win, but it made it just seem like it’s fun to win and this year was a lot of fun. And that’s what we want to feel every year coming in,” Huberdeau said. “I want to bring a Stanley Cup to Florida. That’s what I want to do. I want to play here my whole career, but we’ve got to get on the winning side and the winning culture.”
Huberdeau is still locked up for two more seasons, but Barkov will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2021-22 NHL season.
Although he said he hasn’t thought much about an extension, Barkov is happy right now and wants to stay with the Panthers — as long as they keep winning.
“We’ll talk about it with my people, with the organization, too, and we’ll come up with something, but all I can say is I love it here right now,” the star center said. “I’ve enjoyed this year the most I’ve enjoyed in my entire life, so I want to keep doing that every year.”
Said Quenneville: “Expectations are healthy.”
Florida Panthers offseason outlook, preview
Florida is in position to keep most of its roster intact, too. The Panthers will have about $10 million in cap space to work with this offseason, according to CapFriendly, and have eight unrestricted free agents and and nine restricted free agents.
Impending unrestricted free agents: C/LW Alex Wennberg, LW/RW Nikita Gusev, C/LW Scott Wilson, D Brandon Montour, D Brady Keeper, D Kevin Connauton, G Chris Driedger, Philippe Desrosiers
Impending restricted free agents: C/LW/RW Sam Bennett, LW/RW Anthony Duclair, C Lucas Wallmark, C/LW/RW Juho Lammikko, D Chase Priskie, D Lucas Carlsson, D Noah Juulsen, D Gustav Forsling, G Samuel Montembeault
Of the restricted free agents, Bennett will certainly be back — Florida traded for him in April with the intention of keeping him long term — and the Panthers will have every opportunity to bring back Duclair and Forsling after they both played top-line roles this season.
Of the unrestricted free agents, Wennberg will be the top priority after he spent most of the year as the second-line center. Driedger is coming off a breakout year — he was tied for fourth in the NHL in save percentage in the regular season — but there’s not really room to keep him around with Sergei Bobrovsky entering the third season of a seven-year, $70-million deal and fellow goaltender Spencer Knight ready to compete for the starting job.
The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft also complicates the offseason plan. The Seattle Kraken will select one player from each NHL team, except the recent-expansion Vegas Golden Knights, and the Panthers can protect up to 11 players, as long as they’re seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie. All players with no-move clauses must be protected, which means, as of now, Bobrovsky and defenseman Keith Yandle both have to. Impending free agents are also part of the Expansion Draft, giving the Kraken an exclusive window to negotiate with them.
A fair expectation of forwards to be protected: Barkov, Huberdeau, Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Patric Hornqvist, and two of Wennberg, Duclair and Frank Vatrano. As for the three defenseman, Yandle, Ekblad and MacKenzie Weegar are virtual locks, plus Bobrovsky as the goaltender.
Unless Yandle and Bobrovsky waive their no-move clauses, Forsling will be exposed, Driedger will be unprotected and at least one potential top-six forward will be available to Seattle.
Still, the Panthers will mostly be intact — and probably even improved — next year.
“Huge step forward, but we’re not satisfied. We’re not done. This is just the beginning,” Barkov said. “I’m really looking forward to next season.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 1:36 PM.
