Panthers part with Kopecky, Upshall
GM Tallon says team is ‘going to go young’
SUNRISE — While looking ahead at what the Florida Panthers hope to add for the future in the upcoming NHL Draft, General Manager Dale Tallon said Thursday that the team will be cutting ties with some components of the recent past.
Tallon said contract offers will not be made to any of the team’s unrestricted free agents. Notable among that group are veteran forwards Tomas Kopecky and Scottie Upshall, who were among a flock of freeagent and trade acquisitions in the summer of 2011 that propelled the Panthers to a division title in the season that followed and their only playoff appearance since 2000.
“We’re going to move in a different direction. We’re going to go with our own guys. We’re going to go young and then we’re going to see what’s available July 1 [when freeagency begins],” Tallon said. “I like young teams, I like young players, and we have some good young players in our systems. We’re going to give them an opportunity.”
The Panthers will be looking to enhance their young core with nine selections in the draft, which they host June 26-27 at the BB&T Center.
“My goal is to have 20 guys on our team that are all draftees of ours. I don’t think that can happen, but that’s the goal,” he said.
Prominent among other departing unrestricted free agents is veteran goalie Dan Ellis, who spent most of last season in the minor leagues but filled in admirably after Roberto Luongo and Al Montoya were both injured, going 4-3-1 with a 2.35 goals-against average.
The Panthers late in the season dealt away
forwards Sean Bergenheim and Tomas Fleischmann, who were part of the 2011 influx of veterans. Those remaining from that group kept some of the young rising talent bottled up in the minors, among them forward Rocco Grimaldi and, for part of the season, center Vincent Trocheck.
Kopecky was one of several players Tallon signed while general manager at Chicago and later brought to the Panthers. Kopecky, 33, helped the Blackhawks win the first of their three Stanley Cup championships in the past six years.
Tallon’s fingerprints are still prominent on the Blackhawks team that Thursday celebrated their latest title with a parade in Chicago. He said their continued success gives him confidence the Panthers are the right track following a similar blueprint.
He sees parallels to Chicago’s star-studded core of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith in the talented nucleus he has constructed in Florida with Aleksander Barkov, Nick Bjugstad, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad.
He said defenseman Michael Matheson, a 2012 first-round pick who signed after leading Boston College to the NCAA Tournament in each of three seasons, should be the next piece in the development puzzle.
“There are a lot of similarities as far as the drafting and the trades. Now that it worked I’m confident in my abilities to be able to do it again,” Tallon said, adding about the Blackhawks, “I’m happy for them. That’s the benchmark. Our goal is to get there and do the same thing.”
After having the first or second overall pick in the past two drafts, the Panthers will select 11th this time.
Asked during a pre-draft media session if he felt any inclination with the Panthers as the host team to make a dramatic move on draft day, Tallon said, “We’re not going to do something silly just because we’re in Florida.”
At the same time he didn’t rule out a trade to move up or including the first-round pick in a deal for an established scorer.
“I like to think outside the box, so you never know what we’re going to do,” Tallon said. “I like to take some risk, so it will be interesting to see what happens.”
If the Panthers retain the 11th pick, they will likely be looking to enhance an area of need, notably on the wing. The organization is deep at center and defense. They will be on the lookout for a goalie for the future, but none rate that highly.
Center Connor McDavid, who evokes comparisons to superstar Sidney Crosby as a prospect, is a virtual certainty to be taken first by the Edmonton Oilers. He is one of five highly coveted prospects, but Tallon said there is enough talent to trickle down to the Panthers.
“The first 15 players are excellent players, so we’re going to get a really good player, whether it is a forward or a defenseman,” Tallon said. “We’re probably focusing on forward, but if one of those top young defensemen slip in there we’re not opposed to doing that as well.”