Roblogg’s Panthers Portal

Sometimes no news can be good news. In this case it depends on your take of the proposed take-over of the Florida Panthers by an investment consortium. Good thing, bad thing? No one really knows. Will it even happen? No one knows. Certainly, if anyone does know; they are keeping a tight lid on things.

Apparently the rumors of the franchises sale were just that – rumors. At least for now, that is. It doesn’t mean the deal is dead in the water, merely that more time is needed. However, the fact that it has taken so long in the first place, makes the deal less likely you would think. If it had been a straightforward investment takeover it would have been done by now. Makes you wonder what exactly is going on, doesn’t it?

Perhaps the whole Phoenix situation is also playing a part in the delays?

After all, potential buyers might be interested to know whether they can move the franchise without the full blessings of the NHL in the future. Indeed, if the Coyotes are relocated it could set a dangerous future precedence for hockey fans in South Florida. The Panthers are not the hottest name, on an already crowded local sports market, and there are other hockey areas crying for a team of their own.

Better then with an owner, Alan Cohen, that you already know?

Perhaps, but then again new owners could provide a greater impetus to succeed, to plow money in to the roster and go all out in search of on-ice success; which could very well (if sustained and significant enough) rejuvenate the franchise and endear it to more sports fans in the region. There is some untapped potential here, that’s for sure.

Again – no news so far; just speculation. And we’ll probably have to sit in the silence for some while; whilst little newsdroplets trickle out one at a time. Nothing looks, unlike what the Herald may have claimed earlier, imminent at this time in space anyway.

Meanwhile, LW Ville Peltonen, has gone over to the KHL to play for Belorussian outfit Dynamo Minsk. The team ended dead last in the league last season, but have now decided to invest heavily in to the playing squad. Ville is one in a line of foreign signings that will try and help the capital club find some success. And good luck to him!

As I reported last Friday, Evgeni Dadonov’s KHL club Traktor Chelyabinsk will be seeking compensation from the Panthers if the proposed deal to sign the winger goes through. The latest to come out from Russia is that the club indeed consider that the player has signed with them and are seeking help from the KHL to defend their contractual rights.

The coach, Andrei Nazaros, said on the Russian site Sovsport.ru that Chelyabinsk will want compensation money from the Florida Panthers; so they can sign a new player in Dadonov’s place. He say’s that they don’t want anything extravagant or too hefty – just a modest $500.000 dollars…

“Traktor spends 12 years developing its students like Dadonov and bringing them to the first team,” Nazarov also said. “And then some cunning guys from North America simply steal our players.”

The man obviously has a point, especially if Dadonov indeed has a valid contract with the Russian team. How the Panthers organization responds to this latest development remains to be seen, as of yet no word has come out of the organization in response.

If Evgeni is signed, he’ll be plying his trade with the Rochester Americans this coming season.

Despite rumors to the opposite effect, circulating the Internet yesterday, star winger Alex Tanguay has not signed with the Panthers. It doesn’t mean he won’t, but like I reported here a few days ago; Alex will likely take his time to review several offers from a plethora of interested teams and then make an informed decision.

After declining numbers in recent years, mainly due to injury woes, he will need to jump start his career with his next team. That makes his decision an important one, not just for his future career, but also, it could mean he’d be willing to spurn some dollar signs in return for a perfect fit.

Whether or not the Florida Panthers could provide that remains uncertain. Certainly they are one of the interested parties, and inter-rim GM Randy Sexton also states that the club indeed have money to spend on a good player/addition to the squad (such as Tanguay, we would presume): “We’ve got dollars,” Sexton said on the Panthers website. “We don’t have unlimited dollars. I don’t think anyone does these days…There’s dollars available if we need them.”

He further goes on to say: “We’re having ongoing discussions with agents and players. We’re being selective to find the right fit to fill the right need at the right price. We the like the chemistry of our team and have to be sensitive to that. I think there’s going to be a fairly good-sized pool of people still around. We also want to provide a spot for some of our younger players.”

One can gather from this statement that the Cats indeed aren’t finished in the marketplace, and there are several good signings to be made (check out this list from the NHL website to see which ones are yet to find a new home), but it is likely the Panthers may only make one/two at most/ additions to the projected roster. The other signings are likely to be aimed at the Rochester Americans; who need an overhaul after last season’s dreadful performance in the AHL.

Meanwhile, one Eastern Conference team that was active today was the New Jersey Devils. They snapped up former Panther Cory Murphy on a 2-year, two-way contract. The details have not been released, but his salary will obviously depend on whether he can make the Devils team or if he’ll spend the season in the AHL. Murphy is a skillful and quick, yet small blueliner that can contribute on the power-play. He was picked up by the Tampa Bay Lightning on re-entry waivers last season, as the Panthers had plenty of depth in defense and didn’t need his services.

I always felt it was a bad deal for the Cats to lose him to the Bolts on re-entry waivers (hence being stuck with half his wages) and a slap in the face for the Amerks – who could have needed his experience on that level. However, it was a chance for Murph to re-ignite his career in the NHL. And now the Devils, who are well known to pick up fringe players and then mold them in to stars, have reached out toward him and wish him the best in Jersey.

Hopefully the Panthers won’t be left to rue this move in the future. We’ll see I guess….

The Florida Panthers have signed RW Graham Mink to a 2-year contract. The winger played for Washington’s farm team Hershey last year and was part of the team there that won the Calder Cup. The Trophy was his second as a member of the AHL’s Bears. Panthers inter-rim GM Randy Sexton said about Mink:

“We are very pleased to welcome Graham to the Florida Panthers. Graham, [...] has experienced tremendous success on the AHL level and also understands what it takes to compete on the National Hockey League level.”

The 30-year old AHL veteran played in 68 games for Hershey last year, scoring 32 goals and accumulating a total of 59 points. In the Calder Cup playoffs he played in 22 games and scored 7 goals and contributed 8 assists. While mink is very experienced on the AHL level he has only played 7 games in NHL with the Capitals.

The Stowe, Vermont native, may very well have a shot at playing on the Panthers fourth line this coming season, but most likely this deal has made with an eye on helping the Rochester Americans achieve some success in the increasingly competitive AHL. After a disastrous previous season, the first with the Cats as the sole NHL affiliate, the Amerks are now getting some solid AHL veterans to boost its cause this coming campaign.

The lure is likely to be a shot at making a Panthers roster that is remarkably open to a competitive challenge from seasoned AHL’s at the moment. Many will probably feel that head coach Pete DeBoer will give everyone a fair chance of making the roster out of training camp.

While this is good; it is important to have a successful farm team, it is also a bit concerning to see that the Cats’ roster perhaps lacks some proven NHL quality through the lines….