Figuring Out the Panthers New Look Defense

With defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour expected to miss the early part of next season with injuries sustained in the playoffs; GM Bill Zito had to do some work this offseason to address the holes they would be leaving in the lineup. With the departures of Radko Gudas and Marc Staal it was expected that the Panthers would target defense, but I didn't expect them to sign the amount of defenseman they did. The Panthers brought in four defenseman, all left-handed, with the additions of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Niko Mikkola, Mike Reilly, and Dmitry Kulikov. They also resigned Lucas Carlsson who was one of the best defenseman in the AHL last season. 

The first signing of the free agency period for the Panthers was veteran offensive defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. OEL was once one of the premier offensive defenseman in the game but age and lower-body injuries have really slowed him down. OEL became a free agent after being bought out of his 8 year $66m dollar contract that kicked in only in 2019. The Panthers brought him in on a one year deal worth $2.25m hoping that he can quarterback the powerplay while Montour and Ekblad get healthy. While OEL's defensive game has never been a strength, and the decline of his skating ability has really hurt his play driving ability, OEL is still a talented passer and can hopefully keep the powerplay afloat.

The most lucrative contract the Panthers gave to a defenseman this season was given to the big defensive defenseman Niko Mikkola. Mikkola, after being drafted by the Blues in the 5th round in 2015 played 139 games with them before being traded at this years deadline to the New York Rangers. The 27 year old, is a large man at 6'4 who I expect to take the Marc Staal role and play on the left side of Brandon Montour when he's back. While he's out I don't expect much different of a role for Mikkola, he will play a lot on the penalty kill and play mostly with OEL or Mike Reilly at even-strength.

Mike Reilly has been a perennially underrated defenseman in the NHL for a long time. The veteran had great underlying numbers in Montreal and on a very bad Ottawa team from 2017-2021. He was traded to Boston at the 2021 deadline and signed a 3 year $9m dollar deal that offseason with the Bruins. Reilly could never really find a role in Boston though, and at his $3m cap hit the Bruins decided to waive him. After being bought out, the Panthers swooped in and signed Reilly to a one-year deal. Reilly is a strong puck mover who drives play at both ends. With Ekblad and Montour out for the beginning of the season I expect Reilly to be given at least 17 minutes a night and play a very prominent role at 5 on 5, maybe on the top pair with Gustav Forsling. This is a big opportunity for Reilly, on a one-year deal, he is auditioning for an everyday role with the Panthers when their two star defenseman get back and auditioning for a much more lucrative contract next offseason.

Former Panther Dmitry Kulikov was also brought back, just like Reilly, for one year. Kulikov never really had the type of career the Panthers hoped for when they drafted him in the first round all the way back in 2009. Now with almost 900 games played across 8 different teams Kulikov is back to where it all started in Florida, and he will have a sizeable role to start the season. I expect Kulikov at about 14 minutes a night with time as well killing penalties. With 8 defenseman when Montour and Ekblad are healthy I think there is a decent chance that Kulikov gets waived when they are back. He's probably going to be battling for that 6th and 7th D spot with OEL and Reilly and I expect one of them to be waived.

In what was a surprise to me, Lucas Carlsson resigned with the Panthers on a two-way deal. Carlsson played 40 games for the Panthers in 2022, and played pretty well, but was almost exclusively an AHL player last season. Carlsson lit up the AHL with 20 goals and 54 points in 61 games with Charlotte but never was really given a shot in the NHL, even when there were injuries. Now with the injuries to Ekblad and Montour I expect Carlsson to start the season on the NHL roster... how much he'll play, I can't predict. Carlsson should start the season as the 7th defenseman and I suspect Paul Maurice will look to get him into some games. But this is a guy who did not get a shot at all last year, Marc Staal played 82 games, there were injuries to Ekblad and Gudas, and Josh Mahura was claimed off waivers days before the season and played all 82. With his two-way contract I expect him to be sent back to Charlotte when Ekblad and Montour are back.

The Cats are going to have a bit of a rag tag group while Ekblad and Montour get healthy, Gustav Forsling is going to be relied on for a lot of minutes and you can't realistically expect the group to play at a high level. With that being said, I think it's a group that can keep the Panthers afloat for a month. Training camp is going to be really important for this new group to learn how to play together, there's only two players from last years team ready to start the season after all. With some veterans who have played a lot of minutes in the league, and guys who specialize in different things, I think this is a group who can play well enough until Ekblad and Montour get healthy.