Panthers part with GM Tallon
The Panthers will have a new general manager next season after announcing Monday that former Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon is leaving the franchise after 10 years.
Tallon’s contract as president of hockey operations and GM expired July 1 and was extended by Panthers owner Vincent Viola to get through the rest of a season that was stretched out by the coronavirus pandemic. The Panthers were eliminated from the playoffs Friday, falling to the Islanders in four games in a qualifying-round series.
That ouster — the end of yet another season of high expectations that didn’t deliver as planned — sealed Tallon’s fate. The Panthers said it was a mutual decision for Tallon to leave.
Tallon had been with the Panthers since May 17, 2010, coming in at a time when they were 10 years removed from what had been their most recent playoff appearance. They went to the postseason three times in the decade Tallon spent with them, but they didn’t win a playoff series.
The Rangers won the second phase of the NHL Draft lottery, giving them the chance to select wing Alexis Lafreniere, the consensus No. 1 pick.
The Rangers were among eight teams that lost in the qualifying round of the playoffs with a chance to claim quite a consolation prize. They have the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since 1965.
The NHL turned the lottery into a two-phase process after the COVID-19 pandemic paused the season in March. The bottom seven of the 31 teams had their seasons ended before the restart, but none won the lottery in June. The winning placeholder team, which became the Rangers, got the top pick.
The Hockey Hall of Fame postponed its 2020 induction ceremony because of the pandemic. It was to have taken place Nov. 16 in Toronto.