There's a real lack of quality hockey talk on these boards in general, but there's no reason there has to be a lack of it here. For those curious as to why the Panthers' season has been up in flames: First and foremost, this roster has just not been constructed to play anything resembling defense. The defensive roster has been a gaping hole, and the cupboard has been left bone dry, with the team refusing to draft capable defensive talent since picking Ekblad years ago. Russian import Kiselevich was brought in, and surprise AHL signing Jacob MacDonald seems promising, but those would be two notable improvements for the back end of an otherwise capable defensive position - not the only improvements made to a position that lacked defensive talent in the first place. Yandle is among tops in the league in scoring for a defenseman, but so is anyone on the ice against him. He's a turnover-prone player and always has been, equally incapable of battling down low. Ekblad continues to be a mediocre player, unable to keep proper positioning, and usually late to diagnose in any scenario. He's scored a bunch, but usually off the one-timer within feet of the net. So... not the way you're used to seeing a D-man score. Meanwhile, Matheson is convinced he's playing forward, having made a few of his usual highlight plays on the way to putting it in the back of the net. However, he's been so absent on the defensive end that you're able to make good money betting on a team scoring more often than not against him. Last night, against Minn, he had a full shift's worth of time in his defensive zone, and not only failed to get and clear the puck, but allowed Minn to make a shift change, establish in the zone, take several quality shots from his side, and then move the puck right past him into the slot. Calling him a liability is generous. Unfortunately, given that he's surrounded by Yandle and Ekblad, he's in similar company. Pysyk isn't a bad defender, but he's someone you'd like to see on your bottom pair, and isn't capable of running with teams' top players. Weegar has been improving, but is a similar story. Kiselevich is a strong D-first player, and moves the puck well, but again - not someone who's going to run with top lines. Meanwhile, Petrovic isn't even worth putting on the ice, losing sight of the puck to try and aggravate players who don't have it anymore. In the pipeline? Ian McCoshen, who I thought played well in the bigger D-man role last year, though still a lower pair guy. No sight of him this year, and I haven't watched enough of the minor league team to say one way or the other. Jacob MacDonald was a great story, emerging as an opening day starter due to injuries, and playing admirably. He's continuing that play in the minors, but sights like Tampa's forward Joseph blowing by him one-on-one stick in the head of anyone who might otherwise think he's ready to make the difference in the Panthers' D group. But it's not just a matter of talent - guys like Matheson, Ekblad, and Yandle are physically talented. However, the entire team is just as lazy in the defensive zone as anything I've ever seen. Sure, the D-men need to take their share of the blame. But the forwards do, too. It seems that everyone on the team is looking for someone else to make the play, and be ready to receive the puck and move up ice. However, when everyone's doing that, you leave lots of room for opponents to make plays. You saw it several times in the Minn game - guys watching the puck, and choosing to give less than full effort. Maybe they're figuring they'll save the energy, or that someone else will make the play. But it's just not acceptable. It's pure laziness in their own zone, and it's killing this team each night. Problem is, one of the best ways to remove that laziness is to use roster depth to change who's on the ice. And, of course, this team doesn't have that. Ultimately, this is a team losing most games by a goal, often by ceding big leads. It's not because there's a lack of scoring (although scoring outside of the top two lines / powerplay has been pretty non-existent). This team has to stop others from scoring at will. And until they can do that reliably, they're not going anywhere. They'll continue to need big performances from their top forwards to stay competitive, both in games and during the season. Realistically, this isn't tenable. Where can we point the finger? Well, it starts with a team that drafted their first D-man this year in the 7th round, while drafting another sniper winger in the first. And it ends with a group of players that seem to be more worried about making the offensive play than the defensive one. A lot of people want a coaching change - I maintain that it's not enough on the coach's shoulders for him / they to be fired at this moment. But considering that the words out of Boughner's mouth continue to be about scoring, and their practices continue to focus on it (having sat in on several, myself), it may not be far down the road. If the coach goes, however, so should the GM - this starts there.
