Trade acquisition McGinn back on ice
CORAL SPRINGS During his first practice as a Florida Panther on Thursday morning, Jamie McGinn circled close to the blue line then dove toward the net. He camped out in front of the crease, his 6-foot-1, 205-pound frame muddying an otherwise clear view for the goaltender.
He stood there, swiveling back and forth, trying to tip a shot into the net. For McGinn, it’s a role that’ll be familiar for him. For the Panthers, it’s a necessary job as they search for new offense.
Florida traded for McGinn on Sunday afternoon, sending defenseman Jason Demers to the Arizona Coyotes. The trade helped shed the four years remaining on Demers’ contract, and gave the club a nine-year veteran at left wing who figures to slot in on the third line.
“I play north-south hockey, physicality, trying to make the right plays,” McGinn said. “I’m not going to be flashy, I’m going to be meat and potatoes, get in front of the net and hopefully get back to my scoring ways.”
McGinn, 29, has been a scorer in his career. He scored 20 goals in 2011-12. He scored 19 in 2013-14. He scored 22 in 2015-16. But he wasn’t a scorer last year, netting only nine goals in 72 games with Arizona.
He said he’s erased last year from his memory, and he’ll have a chance to prove it was a fluke with a strong showing this season in Sunrise.
“It’s been flushed,” McGinn said. “That’s what the summer was for. It was a very different year. You learn from it. You remember what happened, but it’s got to be flushed. If I dwell on that, I’m not going to excel and move forward past that.”
Last year, McGinn started the season with six points in eight games. He scored three goals on 15 shots (20 percent shooting percentage) and averaged 14:24 of ice time. The rest of the season, in 64 games, McGinn scored just six goals on 101 shots (5.9 percent) and averaged 13:01 on the ice.
He finished the season goalless in his final 18 games.
“Things just didn’t click,” Jamie McGinn McGinn said. “The ice time went way down. I’m not sure why, but it’s something that you learn from, you move on.”
On Monday, Panthers general manager Dale Tallon said McGinn might have been feeling the pressure of a three-year, $10 million deal he signed in the offseason. McGinn said he wasn’t. (“Not at all,” he said.) He’s hoping more opportunities in Florida will result in a return to form.
Last year, the Panthers were third-worst in the NHL in shooting percentage, converting on only 7.8 percent of their shots. The league average was 9.2 percent. Now, Florida will try to replace four of its top scorers from last year in Jonathan Marchessault, Jaromir Jagr, Reilly Smith and Jussi Jokinen.
New Panthers coach Bob Boughner identified net presence as a weakness for Florida, saying the team was missing an attitude needed to score dirty goals.
“One of the things that this team didn’t do well enough last year was have that shooting mentality and the second and third chances around the net,” Boughner said. “I think that’s what he’s going to supply. He’s going to put his body in the blue paint and take a little abuse and score a goal, pay the price to score some goals.”
McGinn said he’s always liked to crash the net, create both traffic and havoc for opposing goaltenders.
“The goals are scored around the net, so why not go there and get rewarded?” McGinn said. “It’s just an area I like to be, plant myself there and create havoc. Good things eventually happen.”
For McGinn, Thursday’s practice was a release of sorts. He was traded on Sunday but didn’t arrive in South Florida until late Wednesday night (after his flight from Arizona took him through Detroit). He worked out, but hadn’t been on the ice.
On Thursday, he’ll go through one-on-one meetings with the coaching staff to learn Boughner’s new systems, a video crash course designed for new acquisitions from trades or the AHL.
McGinn said he was surprised by the trade initially.
“In shock a little bit, at the start,” McGinn said. “You don’t see too many training camp trades. After that passed by, very excited. I think it’s going to be a good fit for me. It’s nice to go somewhere where you’re wanted and trying to fill a role.”