Buffalo Sabres division rivals’ 2023 offseasons Part I: Florida vulnerable?
The Buffalo Sabres were much improved in 2022-23, and they added sensible pieces to their lineup. But what about their seven division rivals?
Welcome to Part I of a seven-part series where I will make an honest analysis of the Buffalo Sabres Atlantic Division rivals, starting with the Florida Panthers. Before we dive in, here is how we are going to conduct this series: For the next seven weekdays, we will break down each Atlantic Division team’s respective offseason, and how they could fare with their respective key players gained and lost.
Depending on where each team finished in the playoffs is the order in which we will discuss them, so naturally, Florida is Lucky #1, followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, then the Tampa Bay Lightning. We’ll follow up with the Ottawa Senators, then finish with the Detroit Red Wings, and Montreal Canadiens.
Now that you have a quick rundown on how we’re concocting this series, let’s explore the Florida Panthers, and the overall state of their team heading into 2023-24.
Breaking down the Buffalo Sabres division rivals – Florida Panthers
Florida only lost three key players in Radko Gudas, Anthony Duclair, and Alex Lyon, the latter of whom the Sabres may see when they face the Detroit Red Wings. One thing to remember about the Panthers is that, not only did they lose a trio of good players, and yes, even Lyon had a good season, but Florida could also enter the season banged up.
Matthew Tkachuk had a fractured sternum, while Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad both had offseason shoulder surgery, and the jury remains out on their respective statuses. If the trio isn’t ready to return by the beginning of the season, it could put them behind the eight-ball early. However, by the time the Sabres face the Panthers for the first time on February 15th, Florida won’t just have them back; they will also be playing with a sense of urgency.
Buffalo will also only play the reigning Eastern Conference Champions just three times, unless the two teams eventually meet in what could be an epic playoff battle between Tkachuk and Company and Rasmus Dahlin and Company.
Florida signed a handful of serviceable but unspectacular free agents
As you know, this was a rather weak free agency class, but given the potential time that a few contributors could miss along with the players lost in free agency, one of the Buffalo Sabres most heated rivals had to compensate. Enter Evan Rodrigues, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Mike Reilly, Dmitry Kulikov, and Niko Mikkola, all of whom are coming to the eastern side of the Sunshine State to try and keep the Panthers afloat.
You may remember Rodrigues for his time in the Queen City, where he played between 2015-16 and 2018-19. Rodrigues then went to Pittsburgh for three seasons, before he spent a year with the Colorado Avalanche. Last season with the Avs, Rodrigues put up 39 points in 69 contests, showing that he can be at least serviceable on offense.
Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson spent most of his career with the Arizona Coyotes before he jumped to Vancouver for a pair of seasons with the Canucks. Now 32, Ekman-Larsson remains a rather formidable hitter capable of playing Top 4 minutes, though his possession metrics were rather uninspiring last year.
Mike Reilly is another blueliner who saw just 10 regular season games with the Boston Bruins, logging 21 hits and 10 blocks in those contests. Dmitry Kulikov is yet another player Florida signed that is over 30, yet he still showed a tenacious edge with 108 blocks and 96 hits splitting time between a terrible Anaheim Ducks team and the underachieving Pittsburgh Penguins.
And finally, we got Niko Mikkola, a towering blueliner who has already seen time with three different NHL teams, despite being a rather young player. Last season with the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers, Mikkola logged 151 hits and 108 blocks, adding yet another physical chess piece to the Panthers lineup.
The Verdict
At first glance, the Buffalo Sabres and the Florida Panthers appear to be two teams heading in different directions. The Sabres continue their steady climb while the Panthers are undoubtedly undergoing some turbulence.
But that doesn’t mean Florida won’t be any less formidable when the Blue and Gold play them with two contests in February, and in the next-to-last game of the year in April. In fact, the Panthers could be even more formidable given the sense of urgency they will undoubtedly feel once the likes of Tkachuk, Ekblad, and Montour are all healthy and in midseason form.
Even so, the Panthers will feel their potential absences early – especially Ekblad and Montour, as Tkachuk should be cleared to play come October. This leaves a ton of question marks on the defensive side of the puck that will rely on rentals sans Mikkola to fill the gaps.
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Overall, Florida may not be completely healthy to kick things off, and if they stagnate while the Buffalo Sabres find their stride, the Blue and Gold may hold an edge if they stay healthy. But you can expect a hardfought three-game series during the final two-and-a-half months of the season regardless of what the patchwork unit on the Panthers blue line does early in the year.
Source: Atlantic Division summer outlook: Huge questions surround Bruins, Panthers after their big seasons by Mike Harrington, Buffalo News
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference – All roster transactions discussed occurred before the time of this writing on August 2nd, 2023).