Litter Box Cats, a Florida Panthers community

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.

From Steve Gorten: "It's nice to know a little bit where I stand," (goalie Tomas) Vokoun said Tuesday. "As you know, nothing is guaranteed in this business, but at least I know how he feels. I got a whole different feeling from that [conversation] than from my end-of-year meeting with [then-GM Randy Sexton]. …Randy didn't tell me he was going to trade me. But I just wasn't sure." Doesn't mean other clubs aren't interested. Still, with Tallon claiming Jacob Markstrom will start his season in Rochester, this is not an entirely surprising admission. Got to wonder how this plays in the Clemmensen household. More notes at the link.

Keith from LetsGoAmerks! with a great piece on where things stand in Rochester, along with predictions for a number of current organizational assets.

Ryan Kennedy's blog @ The Hockey News: The closest Florida has come to a legitimate game-breaker was during the Olli Jokinen era. The big Finn crested at 91 points in 2006-07, but then the Cats were doomed, ironically, by a porous defense. But hope may be on the horizon, albeit maybe a little late to salvage the season. In March, Florida has averaged better than four goals per game so far, including a seven-goal outburst in a win over Philadelphia.

USA standout and Florida prospect A.J. Jenks' empty-netter against Sweden uber-tender (um, and fellow Cats prospect) Jacob Markstrom has set the stage for a WJC final round matchup with Canada, slated for Monday. Sibling rivalry, indeed.

Shane Malloy finds a lot of goodness in the Panthers' system with his profile of prospects who are rising to the surface. W4E say: keep an eye open for Kenndal McArdle in training camp. He was spectacular last summer, bested only by the heroics - and ultimately, talent - of Michael Frolik and the give-ya-one-more-shot Anthony Stewart. Whole new game come September.

Tonight, the Gold Medal game of the World Junior Championships will be played between Canada and Sweden, and the standout goaltender of the series so far would be...? "The key player for Sweden will be goalie Jacob Markstrom, a second-round pick of the Florida Panthers. Markstrom has been the top goalie at the WJCs, with a 4-0 record, 1.25 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage." Heady numbers, and a chance at immortality. More on tonight's game and Markstrom can be found here.