OffThePost.org

Not much. McCabe returns, Weiss doesn't want to be traded and Jack Skille is -5 since being traded to the Panthros. Jack Skille sucks. Tallon will lose his job getting scrubs from his old employer if he keeps this up. At least Dudley knew who had the talent in Chicago.

Florida is 7 points out of 8th in the East with 24 games to go. They look to miss the playoffs for a record 10th straight season. Even those in FLA covering the team have accepted this. DeBoer won't return next season.

McCabe will probably be a decent rental for a contender. He should be moved 5 minutes ago. If Vokoun isn't moved by the deadline Tallon's a moron.

Didn't realize how much of a turnover machine Stephen Weiss is, or is this a recent phenomenon? Probably doesn't help that he has crap for potential linemates apart from David Booth. He realizes the Panthros have a LONG rebuild ahead of them, right? Florida should keep him, if for no other reason that he's a reasonably talented player who actually wants to stay.

Tallon had best not make the same mistake as his predecessor and overvalue his tradeable assets. Get whatever the hell you can for Vokoun/McCabe/Stillman/Dvorak and move on.

At the top of that list has to be Dennis Wideman. He's been brutal at -23 in the +/- department. He'll be difficult to move because he has one more year at $4.5 mil left on his contract so FLA might have to eat a bad contract from another team that needs a power play specialist. Wideman's flaws can be hidden if he's playing with an adept defensive partner and playing in the #4 D-man's spot.

Whoever the Panthers' European amateur scout is, he should be or have been fired after recommending they draft Frolek and Olesz.

It takes big forwards longer to develop but how long does Florida hang onto Shawn Matthias? After coming over in the Bertuzzi trade with much fanfare, he's been a dud in the AHL and the NHL. I know he's had injury problems, do the Panthers wait and see if he can play a full season and what he does if that happens?

If McCabe is traded (and I think he has a no trade clause in his contract which he waived to be traded to FLA but still is in effect so he would have to agree to the move), the Panthers should make every effort to re-sign him in the off-season. He's been good for this club.

I wouldn't mind seeing Marty Reasoner in a Canucks uniform for the playoffs.

Weiss and Booth are what they are - second line talent. This team has no front line talent on the forward lines. Hindsight is 20-20 but Daniel Briere would have been a nice fit on this club at the time the Flyers had him on the market. Tallon is going to have to start by bringing in a coach that players will want to play for, an experienced coach with an NHL name. Then he should try to get some talent off teams in cap trouble. The Panthers can't afford to miss the playoffs for another 5 seasons doing a total rebuild, they have to be competitive while drafting much better than they have. It's the only way out of this dilemma they're in.

Honestly I don't see Weiss or Wideman getting nearly enough in return to justify moving them. In the end you gotta have SOMEONE who can play hockey on that squad.

Can't help but think Matthias would have become a worthwhile player by now had he remained in the Red Wings organization. The Panthros' current situation isn't just a failure to select talent, but a failure to develop it as well.

Frolik and Rosty can play, I'd blame the Swamp Hags' failure as an organization before I blame those two. It's a common story with this franchise, players come in with promise and flatline. Hell, they had a prodigious talent in JayBo and look what happened.

There's no hope here, in terms of success on the ice, at the gate or in terms of any interesting storylines.

They've squandered more than enough lottery picks and have taken no steps forward. They have ugly uniforms. They don't throw the damn rats anymore. This is a blight of a franchise that needs to be expunged from the league. How can you call your league professional with bush league teams like this one gumming up the pipes?

_________________

Looks like the funeral march has begun in earnest...

www.twitter.com/OnFrozenPond



DeBoer likely knows he might be one of those guys.

Clemmensen is starting in tonight's game. Probably means nothing, but you just never know...

Where to start.........................

Eric, all of us here at OTP have discussed the NHL's strategy of expansion and relocation to sunbelt cities. The reality is as long as Bettman and his gang of eight control the BOG, the wet dream of a major network tv contract will be the focus of their pursuit and teams like Florida will be protected from contraction or relocation. If you don't believe me see Coyotes, Phoenix. I'm trying to play armchair GM and post what the Panthers need to do turn this thing around.

As a Canucks fan since they entered the NHL , I've seen them wasted first rounders on players like Jere Gillis, Rick Blight, Libor Polasek, Brad Ference and Patrick White, players who were second rounders at best. These players for the most part were drafted by scouts named "Peanuts" O'Flaherty and Mike "I can't find sand in the Sahara Desert" Penney. The drafting blew, period. Florida's drafting overall has been atrocious and their European drafting has been brutal. The last time I looked, Jay-Bo isn't exactly lighting it up in Calgary and while he was a consensus first rounder, I wouldn't put his play now to being all the Panthers fault. If Marcus Naslund could become the player he did while the turmoil in 1998 with Keenan and all was happening during those bleak years in Canucks history, then what's the reason Olesz and Frolik haven't developed?

Av, I agree that the Panthers need to retain NHL talent and not ice a team full of rookies. I'm not suggesting moving Weiss. He and Booth for now should stay unless a deal which improves the team is on the table. Defensively, the Panthers are not bad and with Gubranson most likely making the team next year, Wideman with his play and his $3.875 mil cap hit needs to go. I'm arguing that McCabe is preferable to Wideman on the Panthers defence. By moving Vokoun and Wideman, the Panthers would open up $9.5 mil of cap space on a team that probably has to pinch pennies. It would allow them to pursue a goalie to share duties with Clemmenson (possibly bringing back Craig Anderson?) and a top line player. If there is a template for Tallon to follow, it would be the roster of the Phoenix Coyotes of the last two seasons. More to come later..............................

If you're proposing contracting the Canucks as well I'm in total agreement. Never a big fan of those foreign timezones.

Your attempts to start a genuine conversation about the podunk Panthers are actually most appreciated, and your selfless act deserves to be lauded (possibly with a position as Tallon's assistant).

In all seriousness, I think Booth will be dealt. He hasn't been the same after those concussions, and I think someone will still be willing to overpay in assets for his services.

They need to deal Vokoun, and preferably for a real piece.

They need to divest themselves of salary and swoop in on cap-crunched teams, like Atlanta did last year.

That Frolik trade will bite them in the ass, I think. In the Q I got a chance to see him play like he cares and play like he doesn't, and while he needs to be prodded, his upside far exceeds anything they have.

My guess is Tallon completely changes the nucleus by the start of next season, so I don't doubt that Weiss is on the block too.

_________________

How sad is THIS marketing campaign?

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/flapanth ... arket.html