The Florida Panthers waste another promising season with playoff miss

The Florida Panthers have missed the playoffs once again despite all the talent they have in place. What’s the problem here? Can it be fixed for next season?

For the third straight season and the fifth time in the last six years, the Florida Panthers will not be involved in the Stanley Cup Playoffs after being officially eliminated from contention after a 6-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

The Panthers playoff series winless streak will extend to 22 consecutive seasons (lockout season not included), the longest current streak in the NHL, the next closest team being the Columbus Blue Jackets, who’ve only existed for 17 seasons.

Despite their years of constant failure, the Panthers early exit from playoff contention is still a baffling scenario, considering where they stood at the end of last season and the steps they took in the off-season to ensure they could take the next step and make the playoffs.

After missing the playoffs by a singular point last season, the Panthers went out and acquired Mike Hoffman from the San Jose Sharks to supplement their already high end core, and push them over the top. The move made the Panthers a popular sleeper team to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, but not yet Stanley Cup contenders. I personally predicted the Panthers to finish in the first wildcard in the Eastern Conference, claiming “there should be no excuse for them to miss the postseason with the talented roster they have.”

Despite those expectations, the Panthers stumbled out of the gate and could never recover enough to ever hold a playoff spot for more than a few days with consistent inconsistency, going on win streaks followed by more significant losing streaks. Now here we are at the end of March, and the Panthers couldn’t even entertain the idea of making the playoffs down the final stretch, being eliminated without a second thought, putting a bow on another unremarkable season that begins to waste the best years of their talented young core.

The newly appointed captain Alexander Barkov broke out into being a well respected superstar in the NHL, posting 34 goals, 57 assists and 91 total points, smashing his previous career best of 78 points. Outside of his point totals, Barkov is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best defensive forwards in the league, and will almost surely be nominated for the Selke Trophy at the end of the season.

Barkov has voiced his disappointment with the teams failure to make the postseason, having only experienced playoff hockey once in his career back in 2015-16 when the Panthers were eliminated by the New York Islanders in six games.

“With this team, I think we should have made the playoffs,” Barkov said this week. “It’s disappointing if you don’t.”

“Of course it’s frustrating when you don’t make the playoffs,” Barkov continued. “The biggest goal before the season and during the season is to win games and make the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup. When you don’t make them, you’re frustrated.”

“We’ve had a lot of guys hurt,” he said. “At the same time, the guys who played, well, we didn’t play that well. (Specifically) we didn’t play that well in the defensive zone. We can score but our issues are in the defensive zone. We have to learn how to be better at that.”

Barkov was not the only one carrying the load on the Panthers. In fact, their offense was absolutely lethal for a majority of the season. Jonathan Huberdeau has quietly posted a phenomenal career season with 27 goals, 61 assists, for 88 total points in 79 games, smashing his previous career high of 69 points. Newly acquired Mike Hoffman has a career best season of 69 points, Evgeni Dadonov also had a career best season with 68 points, and Frank Vatrano had a breakout season of his own with 23 goals after signing a three years contract extension.

So what is wrong with the Florida Panthers? How does a team with such a talented core continue to disappoint season after season despite getting career seasons from their best players?

Goaltending continues to be a massive concern as the aging Roberto Luongo suffered through yet another injury riddled season, and posted the worst save percentage and goals against average of his career. His backup James Reimer was unable to carry the load when called upon, and also missed time with injury. Florida couldn’t rely on getting saves when they needed them, and had to rely on their goal scoring night after night.

The alleged solution is for the Panthers to go out and sign Sergei Bobrovsky in free agency like they’ve been rumored to do, and they’ve cleared plenty of cap space to do so, but is that really the right move? Signs of decline for the 30 year old net minder have begun to rear their head, and he’ll expect nothing less than between $8M-$10M a season for probably the maximum of seven years. However, it might just be worth it to have the comfort of knowing you can rely on getting some saves when you need them, but their could be a practical option out there.

The Panthers will still have Luongo and Reimer at a combined salary cap hit of a little less $8 million and with three and two seasons left on their contracts. If Bobrovsky is signed, Reimer is likely shipped off to another team in need of a backup goalie.

However, its not fair to place this lost season squarely on the shoulders of the goaltending. The Panthers need a massive shakeup to their defensive core this off-season, because it simply just wasn’t good enough to be passable for a playoff contender, even if they had improved goal-tending. Florida is currently 29th in the league in goals allowed with 271 goals, ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks (276) and the lowly Ottawa Senators (285).

Aaron Ekblad and Keith Yandle is not enough to take a team into being true contenders, and once you get past them and Mike Matheson on the depth chart, the defense is bare. Even those three have had serious struggles this season. Matheson has an NHL high 123 giveaways with Ekblad tied for third with 112 and Yandle tied for eighth with 100. Those are their best three, and the rest are replacement level.

Whether through trade, or signing some big names in free agency, they need a serious upgrade and probably more than one. Perhaps somebody like Tyler Myers or Jake Gardiner could fit the bill, or could they be in running for Erik Karlsson if their other free agent plans don’t pan out? They made all of this cap room for a reason, and they might as well use it.

This upcoming offseason is perhaps the most important in Panthers franchise history. Next year absolutely cannot be another waste of a season, or else the entire franchise might be in serious trouble, and relocation might have to be on the table with how consistently poor their attendance has been. The best way to get fans back in those seats is to give them an on-ice product that’s worth watching.