Panthers show promise only gets you so far
In cautionary tale for Leafs, Florida has regressed despite roster full of young talent
As the Maple Leafs returned home from a 1-1-0 road trip through Pittsburgh and Detroit, head coach Mike Babcock made the point that it was the team’s young players who are the leading scorers.
Sophomores Auston Matthews (49 points), Mitch Marner and William Nylander (each with 46) are 1-2-3 in Leaf scoring.
“When you look at it, you’ve got three kids leading our team in scoring,” Babcock told reporters in Detroit. “It’s not like they are leading our team, because we’ve got Patty (Marleau) and (Ron) Hainsey and guys like that doing that.
“But they have huge growth potential and they are intelligent people and they have a chance to get better. The more tight games and big games we’re in, the better they’re going to be.”
The games are going to get better. The Leafs are trying to get chase down Boston and/or Tampa Bay to gain home-ice advantage. The playoffs, and the pressure that comes with them, are almost a lock. The growth potential is rising.
Yes, with youth comes promise and hope. But there are no guarantees. The Leafs need look no further than Tuesday night’s opponent to learn that lesson.
It was just a couple of years ago the Florida Panthers were that team filled with youth and promise. A pair of then-20-year-olds were at their core: Alexander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad, as well as a 22-year-old in Jonathan Huberdeau.
They went 47–26–9 in 2015-16, making the playoffs for the first time in four years. They were eliminated in the first round, in six games.
But the Panthers’ plan went off the rails, starting when Dale Tallon was inexplicably removed as general manager and moved to an advisory role. There was a change in direction, with new GM Tom Rowe eager to more fully include analytics in the decision-making process. It cost head coach Gerard Gallant his job, though he landed nicely on his feet in Las Vegas. The Panthers regressed, missing the playoffs last year.
It’s worth noting that Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello’s contract is due to expire on June 30, with some suggesting he be moved to a senior adviser’s role while letting younger blood take over — perhaps one of assistants Kyle Dubas or Mark Hunter.
Rowe was eventually fired in Flori- da. Tallon was reinstated as GM and hired Bob Boughner as coach. But it has taken the Panthers some time to recover. Only now are they putting on an unlikely run toward a playoff spot.
“We talked about having to have patience,” Boughner told the Star on a conference call. “There was a lot of adversity. And our job was to come in here and provide stability and structure. I think we’ve done that. It took us a little while to get us working in the right direction.
“We’re real close and we’re going in the right direction.”
As of Monday, the Panthers were eight points out of the final wild-card spot, but with four games in hand on the Islanders, who held the wild card. They also had either three or four games in hand on the three teams between them and the Islanders.
“There’s a lot of belief in our room,” Boughner said. “We don’t sit there and post the standings everyday and say, ‘We have to win this game against this team.’ ”
But Boughner and the coaching staff are well aware of the situation.
“If you look at our March schedule, we’ve got a ton of home games, and a ton of games that in my mind are very winnable,” Boughner said. “We’re trying to get through February. We’ve had the most travel of anyone from January. So we’re talking about keeping in the race, keeping it tight, and getting to March.”
Both teams took Monday off. The Panthers flew in from Winnipeg after a loss Sunday, their only blemish on a five-game trip through Canada that wraps up Tuesday.
The Leafs came home from Detroit, and are on a five-game home winning streak that is part of a much larger 9-2-0 run since Jan. 24.