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The Hockey Guy’s 2022-23 Season Preview

September 5, 2022, 7:34 PM ET [16 Comments]
Matt Ross
Florida Panthers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The general feeling is that the Panthers will take a step back this upcoming season due to the losses of Huby and Weegar, along with the hiring of head coach Paul Maurice. Many think this down season will be short lived, as the Cats will receive much needed cap relief next year once the Yandle and Hornqvist contracts come off the books.

As an optimist, I believe the Cats will have a good season (I’d rather be excited heading into a campaign than not).

Will they get 122 points (or whatever it was)? No. They won’t repeat their feats of last season.

Will they completely fall off? No. But I think the 2022-23 season will begin the metamorphosis of the team’s next chapter.

What that next chapter will be, remains to be seen, but my hope is that we see a tougher squad, stronger team defense, and more emotional fire - especially in the playoffs.

With the season starting in three weeks, and a lack of news from experts, we turn to The Hockey Guy for his 2022-23 Florida Panthers preview:



I’ve come around to The Hockey Guy over time. It’s obvious he’s not only a massive hockey fan, but his videos are made with a lot of thought, research, and attention to detail. Not to mention he’s been getting us through the off-season with consistent content that not even the experts are providing.

I enjoyed the Cats preview video and jotted down some things I agreed with and some things I didn’t.

Agree

Run-and-Gun Offense Tough to Pull-off in the Postseason

No doubt about it that teams can get away with the offensive style the Panthers played during the 2021-22 regular season, but it’s a lot tougher to do come playoff time when everything tightens up.

But just because it’s tough doesn’t mean you can’t find success. For example, when looking at the Colorado Avalanche, we see one of the most talented teams offensively. Those guys can fly and produce in any situation.

Though both the Cats and Avs played similar styles, there are two major differences between them to me:

1. Colorado knew how to adapt to the opposition and injuries throughout the year. One of the most frustrating things in the playoffs was watching Florida refuse to adjust to what their opponents were showing them. The horrendous PP was a great representation of that - just continuously throwing out the same game plan time after time…They did the same thing at even-strength. Instead of adjusting to WSH and TBL, they stubbornly tried to play the run-and-gun style that clearly wasn’t working. They were actually lucky to get past the first round.

2. They have a true difference-maker on the backend in Cale Makar. What an incredible talent that guy is. He can play defense and he can go score you goals. He can literally win you games. The Panthers do not have this on the backend.

Tampa Doesn’t Care Where They End Up

I know we hate them but I can’t help but respect Tampa’s ability to consistently go deep/get to the Cup finals.

The hype for the Panthers this year was well deserved. They looked like the real deal as they marched towards the best season in franchise history. They momentarily traded blows with TBL in the standings, with the Lightning dipping down a couple spots for long stretches. However, there never seemed to be panic from Tampa (except for maybe the fanbase occasionally). They finished third in the Atlantic and went all the way to the finals. I heard Panthers fans saying things like if the Cats didn’t finish in first there’s no way they could go the distance. Well…look what happened. They finished first and were swept in round two by the Lightning.

Florida can learn from Tampa in this respect. Finishing first in your division, lots of points, the President’s Trophy, etc., are all great things that show the talent your team has, but they are no guarantee your team will have postseason success. Accolades or not, Tampa knows how to get to the big dance.

Little Difference Between Defensive Pairings

THG mentions how there’s little difference between Florida’s top 4 and remaining 2 blueliners. That could be a good thing if you have a nasty corp., but when you’re Florida and have a less-than-desirable defense, it’s no bueno.

Losing Weegar makes a weak defense weaker. Forsling and Ekblad are Florida’s best defensemen. I assume they will be the top pairing, but who makes up the remaining pairings is going to be interesting to see (as THG points out). Maybe “scary” is the better word…haha.

Disagree

Knight Will Breakout

This is going to get me some nuclear heat but I don’t see Knight having a breakout 2022-23 season. In fact, I’m not sure Knight is “the guy.” While he’s still very young (21), and I agree with THG that goalies take a bit longer to develop, I wonder if Knight is Florida’s future in the blue paint. Could they end up regretting the Devon Levi trade?

I’m rooting for Knight to do well for the team. I think he’s taken a step back from his rookie season and that could be due to teams getting a look and figuring him out in some respects. And maybe a touch of the sophomore slump. I just didn’t get a sense of confidence with him in net this past season. I thought he looked a step slow and kind of defeated after letting some in - which was a different guy from the few games we saw him play in during the prior season where he was cold as ice and unfazed.

I know, I know. He was 19-9 with a 2.79 GAA (.908 SV%). Call it the old gut feeling, I just feel there’s still a question mark here. He’s not a “can’t miss” for me like he is for other Cats fans. Hey, I could be completely wrong (hope I am), there’s a lot more to prove, and maybe he does what THG said and it starts with this season…

_____________________________

Can’t wait for this season to start!

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