Tippett is working on defensive side of game

CORAL SPRINGS — If youwanted to locateOwen Tippett, it’s typically pretty easy to find him. He’s the red-haired winger with the hard shot, the teenager occupying a 200-pounder’s body. On Friday morning, during the Panthers’ annual development camp scrimmage, Tippett could be found in an unaccustomed position.

He was working on the defensive side of his game.

When the Panthers’ scrimmage flipped into the 3-on-3 portion of the day, Tippett took the ice with two other forwards — and he acted as the de facto defenseman. At other points in the 5-on-5 and 4-on-4 sessions, Tippett sank lower in the defensive zone, a less familiar area for the Canadian sniper.

“That was the one thing they gave me to work on when I went back down,” Tippett said. “I thought I took a lot of time this last season to develop that. … It’s something I’ve been told to work on for a while now. I think it’s slowly coming along.”

Tippett spent seven games with thePanthers at the start of last season, before Florida returned him to Mississauga of the Ontario Hockey League, and he’s likely the only player at development camp with a shot at an opening night roster spot.

When the Panthers selected him with the No. 10 pick in the first round last year, Tippett was regarded as one of the top pure scorers in the draft. In159OHL games, the right-handed shot has 95 goals and 75 assists.

He scored his first NHL goal in October. He scored his first AHL goal in April. The questions don’t follow his ability to score, though. They’re about his ability away from the puck.

“It’s just something that comes from working at it, sitting in the video room, talking about it, working with other coaches at practice and communicating,” Panthers director of player personnel Bryan McCabe said. “Owen is a lot more mature this year, not so much a deer in the headlights coming off the draft and stuff. Really asserting himself as a leader out there and took the bull by the horns for us, which was great.”

McCabe saidAHLaffiliate Springfield’s coaching staff broke into daily video sessions to help Tippett and the other prospects understand their roles and duties on the ice. For Tippett, he said that meant being more aware of everything going on during a game.

“Just kind of paying more attention to it in practice and working it down into little things and just breaking it down one by one,” Tippett said. “I had a lot of help with my coaches back in Mississauga, too. They helpedme with positioning.” mdefranks@sunsentinel. com or Twitter @MDeFranks