A dressing room that has seen better days
Adam Proteau published an analysis earlier today for The Hockey News on a topic Florida would rather sidestep. The Panthers core is ageing, and it is ageing fast.
The list is pretty eye-opening. Brad Marchand is 38, Lars Eller 37, Radko Gudas 36, Jacob Markstrom 36, Dmitri Kulikov 35, Garnet Hathaway 34. This is no longer a couple of veterans sprinkled through a young group. It is the spine of the team.
The overall numbers back that up. With an average age of 30.32, Florida now has the second-oldest roster in the league. Marchand is already ruled out for the start of the season.
Try it for $0.99.
The injury room keeps telling the story
The real issue is not the candles on the cake. It is what comes with them. Last season, four of the club’s six top scorers missed at least 18 games. On defence, Seth Jones and Niko Mikkola missed 44 games between them.
The biggest concern remains Aleksander Barkov. The captain missed the entire previous season after a knee injury. Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett also bring a long list of knocks and setbacks.
Matthew Tkachuk, meanwhile, has played just 83 games combined over the last two seasons. Jones has not topped 72 appearances since 2022-23. At this point, these absences are not bad luck anymore.
A goalie under the microscope
That leaves the crease. Markstrom arrives as the starter, but he has never quite hit the heights of his benchmark year, back in 2021-22 with Calgary. In a loaded Atlantic Division, an average goalie is enough to send a season off the rails.
Florida still has a roster that can beat anyone on a given night. The question is how many nights this group can actually ice its best players. Over 82 games, wear and tear always sends the bill.
Discover the rest of the NHL news on our site and app mathodds!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply