From zero to Zito: Changes started at top

Bill Zito is looking for a word. Serendipity? That’s not really it. Luck? No, it must be more than that. Maybe it’s something simpler — “Good timing?” he says — that the Florida Panthers needed whatever he brought to their table.

“I’m not sure they even needed it,” says the first-year general manager of the Florida Panthers.

Something’s different this year. Finally, something’s better as the Panthers move toward the playoffs in a few weeks. Zito says it’s the players — “it’s always about the players” — but after arriving last summer and talking to the staff and players the path he struck on must have helped, too.

“The first thing I thought we needed was a culture change — we needed communicative, work-ethic accountability,” he said.

That sounds lofty, even theoretical. Here’s what it means: Patric Hornqvist, one of the veterans Zito brought in this season, said something as everyone moved off the ice after a pre-season practice.

“He said, ‘Where’s everyone going? We’re not done,’ “Zito said. “Did some players need to hear from a guy like him about putting in more work? He even said it to [goalie Sergei Bobrovsky], who’s one of the hardest-working guys I’ve seen. ‘Hey, we need to work on the penalty kill.’ “

Maybe the change in the standings started there. Maybe it started with coach Joel Quenneville getting some players he needed for this team. Maybe it just was Zito signing Hornqvist, Carter Verhaeghe, Radko Gudas — you can go down the roster of new, supporting names brought in before this season.

This moribund franchise had signed new players for years. Just the previous year, they brought in so many players the news conference had to have two shifts because there weren’t enough seats at the table to accommodate them all at once.

Here’s the difference: These signings led to wins. Again, serendipity? Again, luck? The nucleus of this team, the

stars like Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Frank Vatrano and until his injury Aaron Ekblad, were brought in by previous general manager Dale Tallon. Did they need a push?

“Maybe it was just time,” Zito says.

Zito has carved a fascinating career. He went to Harvard for a week — before transferring to Yale. He went to Wisconsin law school while coaching hockey and then built a successful sports agency.

He switched sides by joining the Columbus Blue Jackets front office — sometimes negotiating deals with players who were former clients. By last summer he was a rising commodity inside the league when the Panthers hired him.

Now this odd, pandemic season. It isn’t just the success thus far that’s struck him. It’s the 56 games squeezed into four months — meaning not just the solid Panthers goaltending of Bobrovsky and Christian Driedger has been invaluable or injuries like Ekblad’s broken leg seem to hurt more.

Each decision Zito made mattered more his first season, too. In a backhanded manner, the strange season might have helped him.

“It’s been hectic, harried, but due to the pandemic and social or other issues instead of having three or four options you might normally have as a GM — maybe you have only two options,” he said. “The menu of choices is limited. In some cases, that might have made it easier.”

The trade deadline last Monday was perhaps every GM’s final help for the season. Zito traded for Buffalo defenseman Brandon Montour to help replace Ekblad and Calgary forward Sam Bennett to provide depth down the line.

“I think our group is proud of what they’ve done, and hungry for what they can do,” Zito said.

This Panthers have had good seasons one year only to sputter the next. So a quarter-century’s worth of scars aren’t forgotten by most of one good season. Sustainability matters. Communicative work-ethic, accountability must, too.

They’ve gone from a surprise start to a good story to a team capable of making a run in the playoffs. It’s more than luck or serendipity. Just how much more is waiting to be seen.

MIAMI HERALD Panthers GM Bill Zito is looking to build long-term success.