Litter Box Cats, a Florida Panthers community

Former (part-time) Panthers forward Drew Larman has signed with the Everblades. Nick Tarnasky also recently joined the club. Go ahead and pinch yourselves, 'Blades faithful.

Bolts GM Steve Yzerman via NHL.com: "The Everblades and their management have demonstrated a strong commitment to success by guiding their team to the playoffs in each of their 12 seasons in existence. That is exactly the type of winning environment we feel our players should develop in. Couple that with their proximity to Tampa and there really isn't a better option for us." In the end, having the Panthers walk away from Estero is not that devastating a blow. How many players were assigned there last season...three?

From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Harvey Fialkov: The Panthers are severing ties with their ECHL affilitate, the Florida Everblades and will add a new affiliate by the "end of next week,'' according to (assistant general manager Mike) Santos. Santos also said he expects to name a coach at AHL Rochester this weekend. That came out of nowhere, though it probably should not have. Getting fed up sharing a minor league club - and fighting for prospect ice time - with an Everblades organization owned by the division-rival Hurricanes. Still, the geography of the partnership was second to none... UPDATE: 'Blades beat writer Woody Womack has been on this for the better part of a month, stating: The Everblades have been mentioned in rumors suggesting the team could be in talks with to add either New York Rangers or the Anaheim Ducks as a second NHL affiliate.

Both are on two-way contracts, along the lines of Kenndal McArdle's "Last Stop till Vegas" deal: low-risk but potentially high reward for both sides. Curious to see how the goaltending glut works out; beginning to run short on room between Markstrom, Salak, and Plante. Keep in mind, Marc Cheverie remains without a home. And without question, we've been serious Duco fans for a long while.

A very slick profile from DH's Justin Goldman: What really impresses me about Florida’s depth chart is their effective goalie drafting. Not once in franchise history has the team chosen a goalie in the first round. In fact, 33% of their drafted goalies came in the second round (six of 18). The team found a gem in Mark Cheverie in the 7th round (193rd overall in 2006) and they did plenty of homework by plucking Markstrom 31st overall in 2008.

Mike Burrell of Hockey's Future looks at Florida's minor-pro prospects and how they fared in 2009-10.

From FloridaEverblades.com: Cameron, 40, coached (ECHL) Florida from 2008-10. In his first season with the Everblades (2008-09) his club claimed the Brabham Cup, best regular-season record, with a mark of 49-17-5. He finished with a record of 87-42-14 in two seasons in Florida and led the Everblades to the Kelly Cup playoffs in both years. In both seasons, Cameron’s Everblades were eliminated in the American Conference semifinals. The Florida Everblades are a shared ECHL affiliate of the Hurricanes and Panthers based in Estero, FL.

From NaplesNews.com: The Panthers don't play again until March 2nd and I highly doubt that Beckford-Tseu would jump straight from the ECHL to the NHL and see any playing time, especially after seeing little ice team when he was with the Rochester Americans earlier this year. Wanna go all-out and say this move provides coverage - of a sort - for the rumored looming absence of a certain Cats' starter? Naaah...

To no one's surprise, goaltender Jacob Markstom takes the top spot. Ian Bross has the full list above.

Panthers' 2005 fourth-rounder gets another spin at the AHL wheel. HF has a nice interview with Duffy - focusing mostly on his time with Maine - from April of 2009 here, and more recent goodness from Naples News can be found here.