Panthers seek eventual successor to Luongo
It’s no secret that the major reason for the Panthers’ NHL-best net 25-point improvement last season emanated from the net with the return of goalie Roberto Luongo to All-Star form.
That said, Luongo, who enjoyed his best statistical season since 2010, turned 36 a few days before the season ended with a disappointing, close-but-no-cigar playoff push. Since their long-projected goalie of the future, Jacob Markstrom — who was part of the Luongo trade with Vancouver in March 2013 — didn’t pan out, the goalie depth in the Panthers organization has become dangerously thin.
Florida General Manager Dale Tallon and scouting director Scott Luce both have said that they are looking for a future No. 1 goalie and will address that quest in this week’s draft with one of their nine picks, but certainly not in the first round.
The last time a goalie was drafted in the first round was in 2012, when the Lightning took Andrei Vasilevskiy at No. 19 and the Bruins tabbed Malcolm Subban at No. 24. While Subban played only one game for Boston this season, Vasilevskiy provided capable depth behind Ben Bishop, and even got into two Stanley Cup Finals games (1-1) due to Bishop’s mysterious groin injury.
Luce said that while the draft lacks “star power’’ in net, there are potential No. 1s such as Daniel Vladar of Czechoslovakia and 6-foot-4 MacKenzie Blackwood, the NHL Central Scouting Service’s topranked North American goalie, who excelled for Barrie of the HOL and then dominated the other goalies in the scouting combine tests in Buffalo earlier this month.
“I think it’s average-plus goaltending; the depth might not be there, but in the early to mid-rounds there are some good guys that could be had, but they all need time to develop,’’ Luce said.
Luongo’s backup, Al Montoya, 30, who has another year left on his contract, was inconsistent last season with a 6-7-3 mark and 3.01 goals-against average before tearing his groin in a March 3 loss to the Leafs in which he and Luongo were knocked out of the game.
Montoya did return to notch a 3-2 win in the season finale against the Devils, but the career-long backup isn’t a candidate to succeed Luongo, whose contract goes through the 2019-20 season, when he would be 41.
The well-conditioned Luongo, who has never suffered a major injury, certainly could remain elite for four more seasons as the blossoming Panthers’ stars come of age, but young goalies often need several years to develop.
Markstrom, for instance, played seven games for the Canucks over the past two seasons with Ryan Miller and Eddie Lack in front of him, but at 25, the 6-foot-6 Swede led the Utica Comets to the AHL Calder Cup Finals after a 22-7-2 regular season.
Canucks General Manager Jim Benning recently said that Markstrom, the Panthers’ 31st overall pick in 2008, is NHL-ready, but he is looking to trade either him or Lack before the season begins.
The Panthers’ goalies-inwaiting are Sam Brittain and Michael Houser, respectively their fourth-round pick in 2010 and a free-agent signing in 2012. Both are coming off decent first professional seasons, with Brittain posting a 12-13-1 mark and 3.05 GAA in San Antonio, while Houser went 4-2-1 with a 1.76 GAA as his backup after spending most of the year in Cincinnati at the Panthers’ ECHL affiliate.