At the trade deadline on March 3, will the Florida Panthers be on the selling or buying side? Pierre LeBrun spoke with Bill Zito, the general manager of the Panthers, to this effect, and even he is not in a position, at this moment, to answer this question.
At the time of writing these few lines, Zito, like his flock, sees himself in the playoffs. Nobody in this group believes that they will not reach the spring waltz, and the atmosphere installed is already that which we see during the series.
“I don’t think there’s anyone on our team who thinks otherwise (talking regarding making the playoffs). We are focused. We approach every match diligently. It’s almost like every game is a playoff game. The energy is similar.” – Bill Zito
Will the Panthers be in or out at the NHL trade deadline? Can they fight their way back into a playoff spot ? Catching up with GM Bill Zito
via @TheAthletic https://t.co/niYJymLBvT
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) January 18, 2023
Are Zito and his Panthers dreaming in color, or do they have their feet firmly planted in reality?
If we have fun a bit, to achieve this near-feat, the Panthers will have to present a record of 24 wins and 12 losses by the end of this campaign. We are talking regarding collecting no less than 24 victories in 36 games.
Now that every NHL team has passed the midway point of the season, here are the projected playoff cut lines:
East: 95 points
West: 93 pointsTo make it in the east, Florida would have to go the equivalent of 24-12. In the west, Colorado needs the equivalent of 23-17.
— Gord Miller ???? (@GMillerTSN) January 18, 2023
It is certainly a colossal job, if not practically impossible. It’s quite an order for a formation that is slow to establish consistency with its new pilot, Paul Maurice, and a new element in Matthew Tkachuk.
Yes, the individual performances of Tkachuk are downright monstrous, he who has 56 points, including 22 goals, in 43 games, but… at the collective level, we will come back. Casually, Tkachuk is enjoying another 100+ point campaign, which is still a mind-blowing feat.
At the Panthers, the current record is 21-20-5, for a total of 47 points, which blames them for teams that find themselves among the “wild teams”, or Wild Card.
All in all, since the Habs have the first choice of the Panthers in 2023 and the upcoming auction is radiant, we can understand them to avoid giving “too” a big gift to CH.
A lot of
– Shea Weber in Vegas Golden Knights colors!?! Weird!
— SadHabsFan21???????????????? (@Juliansoilis21) January 17, 2023
– At some point, you better close your g*eule!
????????️???????? https://t.co/QhpoRgKCLy
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) January 18, 2023
– Good news for Michael McCarron.
Nashville Predators | Michael McCarron reinstated following admission to NHL aid program https://t.co/DvJmN06ARn
– The Sports Press (@LaPresse_Sports) January 18, 2023
– How do you find that?
Looking sharp, @BizNasty2point0. pic.twitter.com/YEeO4TTWWe
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) January 18, 2023