Florida Panthers season preview
After what felt like a Cinderella story type of playoff run, the Florida Panthers are going to have to face some injury adversity to kick off the 2023-24 season. This group was very inconsistent in the regular season last year, but they were able to play their best hockey at the most important time. With that said, the way they battled last year might have a negative impact on them this season, physically speaking.
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Offense
It became clear during the 2023 postseason that Matthew Tkachuk is the heartbeat of this team. Tkachuk has put up back-to-back 100+ point seasons, but his first year in Florida came with new career highs (69 assists, 109 points). The Panthers have other offensive weapons aside from Tkachuk, like Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe. And they added Evan Rodrigues this offseason.
Thanks to these guys, the Panthers were a top-10 offensive team last season, scoring 3.51 goals per game while skating to a 22.8% power play success rate. They finished with the best expected goals per 60 in the NHL (3.76), as well as the most high-danger chances per 60 (15.74).