On the Prowl: Panthers Wednesday Links & Open Thread

I am kind of getting fed up at ESPN for making lots of their NHL articles “Insider Only” articles. I imagine they’re doing that to drum up some more subscriptions, but it’s actually turning me off of ESPN more and more.

never before have I been so excited for September! the ice is down, and we’re REaDy.

Longest summer for sure. I’m feeling more like myself now.. I am psyched for some hockey. Woot Woot!

Couple new fan posts up. Interview with Ellerby from today and some pics of Theo’s new mask.

Ugh, I think August has by far been the worst month.. Atleast Fantasy leagues are open and I can have some fun playing around on that (yes I know it’s still early)

By the way for anyone who missed the link up above, if you signed up for the SSH fantasy league you should check the link out. There was a little mix up with it so gotta get it worked out with your vote.

As far as the Huberdeau issue, I’m perfectly fine with him going back to Juniors another year, but I think if he puts on the weight he needs to and is strong in camp we should give him the chance if it won’t hurt our team too much to do so to let him make the team. Anyone has the chance to break out and be big their rookie year, nobody expected skinner to last year..

Using the VUKOTA projection system of Hockey Prospectus, Insider takes the temperature of key players on every NHL team, continuing Tuesday with the Panthers. For a detailed explanation of Prospectus’ proprietary GVT value metric, read more here.

Summer Skate — Florida Panthers

The Panthers invested a ton of money in a lot of veteran talent this offseason. The likes of Brian Campbell, Ed Jovanovski, Tomas Fleischmann and Scottie Upshall were brought in to improve the team’s competition level, as well as reach the salary cap floor. For some reason, Panthers GM Dale Tallon preferred to sign all of the above players to four-year contracts. The Cats may be more competitive in 2011-12, but all of those signings may not cover up the loss of longtime team MVP Tomas Vokoun. The Panthers should, however, receive a boost from a recovering top-six forward.

Trending Up: LW David Booth
Last Season: minus-2.3 GVT | VUKOTA Projection: 4.8 GVT

Booth is a prime example of the negative effects of incurring a terrible concussion. Booth was on his way to becoming a solid second-tier star until being blindsided by Mike Richards in October 2009. Last season, Booth showed he was adjusting to playing a different style and posted only 40 points in 82 games. This season, VUKOTA sees an improvement of 7.1 GVT for the fast winger with a quick wrist shot. Booth will be a key cog in any Panthers turnaround.

Trending Down: D Mike Weaver
Last Season: 5.9 GVT | VUKOTA Projection: 4.0 GVT

Weaver is a solid stay-at-home defenseman with really strong penalty-killing skills. However, he is likely going to be giving up some of his 20:48 in ice time per game to Jovanovski, youngster Dmitry Kulikov and Campbell, the reason for his slight projected regression. Weaver will still prove useful with decreased ice time; in fact, he may be more useful with more restricted ice time. — Pollock

Pronman’s name to know: D Erik Gudbranson

David Booth
Steve Mitchell/US PresswireDavid Booth may rebound to his 2008-09 form in the coming year.

The third overall pick from the 2010 draft is a hulking beast on the back end who has physically developed way beyond where an under-20 player usually is at his age. Within a short amount of time, Gudbranson has the potential to be an elite physical player at the highest level.

The 19-year-old is an athletically gifted player who skates extremely well for his size, has a fine first pass and a booming shot and will put anyone through the boards or on their rear if they’re wearing opposing colors.

While I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Gudbranson break camp with Florida, there are split opinions on him within the industry. Some NHL sources see him as a top-tier defensive prospect who will man first-pairing duties for many seasons. However, other NHL sources (along with me), are concerned with Gudbranson’s hockey sense and whether he can make that transition to the NHL effectively right now. Despite the increase in his scoring rates in the OHL this season, there are also concerns about his ultimate puck-moving potential and whether he can truly play a top NHL pairing on an average club.

Despite those concerns, Gudbranson will certainly be given a look, if not a roster spot this season and has all the natural gifts to succeed. Still, I’m somewhat skeptical he’ll be an instant success. — Pronman

This is a somewhat unrelated question and it might be too early to ask it but does anyone know what the blackout situation will be this season on fox sports. I’m asking because I have dish network up and running and have fox sports florida as one of my channels and i hope i can be able to watch some panthers games this season without them being constantly blacked out.

Just posted a fanshot about it, but apparently Wade Belak was found dead today..