Toronto Maple Leafs: Did the Florida Panthers Get Better?
We all know the Toronto Maple Leafs got better this summer. Did any of their Atlantic Division rivals follow suit?
That’s the question I’ve been trying to answer for the past two weeks. After breaking down the offseasons of Montreal and Boston, the Florida Panthers are up next.
Additions: Mike Hoffman, Michael Hutchinson…uhhh that’s it
Departures: Radim Vrbata, Harri Sateri, Connor Brickley
Summer Recap
Purely from a hockey perspective, the Panthers put together a concise and effective offseason.
Age finally caught up to Radim Vrbata, as the 37-year-old managed only 14 points in 42 games in 2017-18 before ultimately calling it a career in April. His was a steep decline, coming just one year removed from his 20-goal, 55-point output in 2016-17.
Aside from Vrbata, Connor Brickley is the highest profile name walking out the door, and even he’s only taking 12 points in 44 games along with him. Not a huge loss there, either.
No one by the name of Harri Sateri exists on this earth. It’s just not possible.
Essentially, the Panthers exited the summer losing nothing of value from an already phenomenal roster built atop cornerstones Alexander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad, and Vincent Trocheck. That’s downright terrific. Retaining a productive young core is the blueprint for sustained success in today’s NHL, and Florida seems to be following it.
Now, what if they added one of the league’s most effective wingers to the mix. Can you imagine?
Well, that’s exactly what they did.
Again, purely from a hockey perspective, acquiring Mike Hoffman for nothing but a 4th and 5th round pick in 2018, and a 2nd round pick in 2019 is incredible. Highway robbery. Hoffman has consistently averaged close to 30 goals on an annual basis in full-time NHL duty, somehow even flirting with 60 points last season despite being stranded on the barren hellscape that was and continues to be the Ottawa Senators.
The guy is lethal, a money-in-the-bank PP threat making a smidge above $5 million with two more years of team control. That’s Tom Wilson money, folks. In fact, Hoffman’s cap hit lands just $200,000 north of Wilson’s, despite Hoffman having more than doubled Wilson’s career points total across 40 fewer games.
Boy, that contract is bad. But I digress.
The trade’s optics turn even rosier upon realizing that Vegas ponied up a package consisting of a 1st, 2nd and 3rd rounder at the deadline for Tomas flippin’ Tatar. Nabbing a talent like Hoffman’s for even less is downright comical.
Until…
“Character”
Look, I’m not a lawyer. I won’t sit here and tell you that Hoffman and his fiancée, Monika Caryk, are definitively the ones behind the wave of vicious cyber-attacks waged against Erik and Melinda Karlsson. Attacks launched from numerous fake Instagram accounts to specifically target the death of the couple’s unborn child, ultimately driving Melinda to file an order of protection against Caryk.
The law upholds the alleged status of Caryk’s guilt, even in the face of numerous Senators’ significant others publicly voicing their belief that attacks of this nature are par for the course with Caryk. As far as the law is concerned, neither Hoffman nor Caryk has committed a crime. Innocent until proven guilty, right? Both Hoffman and Caryk have denied all the allegations.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t negate the horrific nature of this situation.
A player’s wife pursued legal action in an attempt to protect herself from unspeakably heinous personal attacks, the first of which wished death upon her unborn child, and then, when death tragically occurred, proceeded to mock it.
No amount of legal speak can deny the victim’s belief that her suffering originated from the spouse of one of her husband’s teammates, a person she’s forced to spend countless hours in close proximity to throughout the season. Furthermore, multiple colleagues, all of whom occupy the same inner circle as Karlsson and Caryk, collectively support the notion of Caryk’s guilt.
Hockey has rarely dealt with an issue of this nature. Quite frankly, it shows.
Which brings us to Dale Tallon. Mr Character.
You know, Trader Dale has made his fair share of confounding statements over the years, most of which have since come back to bite him. They’re all relatively harmless, however, solely confined to the realm of hockey. Criticizing the analytics community or declaring that his team should “thank god he’s back” mere weeks after gifting Vegas 2/3rds of their top line, for free, all occupy the category of dumb hockey events.
Out in the real world, they don’t matter. Ultimately, we’re talking about a game.
Still, it’s a quote from Tallon, made upon his return to Florida’s GM post in May of 2017 that, in light of recent events, ventures outside that realm. When asked what he looks for most in building a team, Tallon replied:
“Character plus more character…size, speed, skill, that’s our mantra and always has been wherever I’ve been. It’s important we get good people because it’s a game after all, but you have to have quality people to really want to go through these wars together”
Hmmm. Anything from that jumble of Hockey Man speak stand out to you? I’ll give you a hint.
The man didn’t just double, he tripled down on character as his most intrinsic component to roster construction. Clearly, Dale casts the appearance of being willing to sacrifice skill in the pursuit of a contending team, one stuffed entirely full of good ol’ boys.
What a stand-up guy. Such unwavering morals.
Unfortunately, when a 30-goal scorer becomes involved, those morals apparently don’t mean jack.
Tallon, the most outspoken GM on the importance of hockey’s human side, willfully surrendered assets to acquire the single most morally toxic commodity in the league today. No one forced him to do this. Dale picked up the phone, negotiated the trade, took it upstairs to approve it with ownership and, finally, completed the trade call.
There were numerous opportunities for him to re-think his actions. He ignored them all.
Not to mention, was Hoffman averaging say, 15 goals a year, opposed to the 30, I’d bet my left pinky toe he’d be nowhere near an NHL roster, let alone a fixture on a promising Panthers squad.
Oh, is it important to get “quality people to really want to go through these wars together”? Is that how you feel? Really, Dale? Because your players will now do so alongside a teammate whose fiancée is accused of creating thousands – thousands, Dale – of fake Instagram accounts for the sole purpose of turning the lives of a couple mourning the death of their unborn child into a living hell.
Are you really going to stand at your pulpit and preach about character? That’s rich. How do you think the Panthers’ spouses feel about sharing a social circle with someone accused of this nauseating behaviour? I doubt they’ll be lining up to share intimate details with Caryk, knowing there’s a chance she might use the info to ignite a one-sided online war against them?
You’re the character expert, Dale. You tell me.
Hypocrisy in sports should come as no surprise. It’s ever-present, ingrained within the very seams. It’s not as if Tallon would’ve even been the only person to have considered this move. There’s only one way this story ends, and it’s with an NHL GM inevitably targeting Hoffman’s services, opting for on-ice production over human decency.
You know it, I know, the world knows it.
It just didn’t need to be the one GM who, on numerous occasions, has publicly taken steps to build a reputation by preaching the values of character.
Guess what, Dale? Your words, much like your morals, mean even less than they did before. Enjoy your inescapable first-round exit. Hope it was worth it.
Did They Get Better?
Hockey-wise, adding Hoffman to this current core absolutely made Florida better. Markedly so. Did it make them good enough to hang with Tampa and Toronto at the top of the Atlantic?
Well, that remains to be seen.
Still, it’s not a stretch to suggest the Panthers leapfrog Boston for the division’s #3 seed. They’ve always had the talent. Now they have the depth.
Only, at what cost?
Next. Trade Value Power Ranking. dark
Thanks for reading!