Prospective Look at Florida

One of the few things that can be said about the Florida Panthers is that they are seemingly devoid of direction of where to take the team. GM Jacques Martin took over a team that so little hope after Mike Keenan had finished with it, that there was hardly a base to start building from. It must be a frustrating position to be in, but it sure isn't the first time Keenan has done that to a team. The team's superstar, Olli Jokinen, would probably welcome some change... either a new team or have his GM come to him and tell him where the team is supposedly going. You can only sit in limbo for so long before you end up getting bored and antsy.

The team does show potential after the trade for Tomas Vokoun and the emergence of Nathan Horton, which is good news. Sadly, the trade deadline acquisitions of Wade Belak and Chad Kilger from Toronto really threw a wrench into the works for direction. Thankfully for Panther fans, they have more names like Shawn Matthias and Michal Repik coming through the ranks to create a stir on offense, while the defense corps unearthed a gem in Cory Murphy. Still lots of work to do before they are considered the NHL recycling bin for talent.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Olli Jokinen	Cory Murphy	Tomas Vokoun
Nathan Horton	Bryan Allen	Craig Anderson
Stephen Weiss	Karlis Skrastins
David Booth	Mike Van Ryn
Brett McLean
Richard Zednik
Josef Stumpel
Ville Peltonen
Chad Kilger*
Radek Dvorak

This talent pool of 16 players is worth an approximate $37.5 million for next season and they haven't even approved the likes of Matthias and Repik to join the ranks at some good youth market values. So, there is room to stretch.

Of course, they have some business they will want to attend to before July 1st, maybe even before the Draft on June 20th. Most notably, Jay Bouwmeester will need a new contract as a restricted free agent and his value is starting to soar. If it was just on plain goals and points, Bouwmeester should have a market value of around $5 million per season. If the Panthers were to play upside, he could go up as high as $6 million. That isn't to say the team doesn't have room, because they do and I'm sure the team will buckle down and accept their fate there. Bouwmeester does have arbitration rights as well, not to mention likely being a target for teams and their offer sheets.

The team will also have to give Rostislav Olesz a good look as a restricted free agent as well. He could command somewhere in the ballpark of $1.5 - $2 million per year, more likely on the low end with no arbitration.

The Panthers won't be holding a first round pick this summer, as their team pick has gone to Nashville in the Vokoun deal last summer, which arguably should be okay. It also seems unlikely that Martin will make any big splashes on Draft Day, but I've been surprised by smaller happenings before.