Litter Box Cats, a Florida Panthers community

From the D&C's KevinO: "Jacques Martin agreed that player development is enhanced in a winning environment," Staats said. "I firmly believe that if Jacques Martin had not left Florida (...) we would probably have been talking about renegotiating (with the Panthers). "We had the same philosophy. Jacques Martin’s approach to the partnership in Rochester was a much different approach than the approach of his successors (Tallon and his assistant, Mike Santos)." Way to keep it classy until after the divorce has been finalized.

From Allan Muir: This is a team so bereft of offensive firepower that coach Peter DeBoer already has said that he's counting on several young players to have career years, and others to maintain last season's career bests. Uh-huh. Probably hoping for 82 games out of everyone, too.

From VanMurph at the official site: The real question from me here is for Jacques Martin: If you knew 18 months ago that Bouwmeester wanted to play for a handful of other teams, why on earth was he still a Florida Panther at this season’s draft? If handing you a list of other teams he would rather play for isn’t a CLEAR indication that he WAS NOT going to re-sign here (despite his rather deceptive public undertones otherwise), then I don’t know what is.

Look who suddenly became A LOT more important? Amerks' press release via Our Sports Central: Our Hockey Department is focused solely on this task and Jody Gage continues to lead the Amerks' efforts in this area. This will be an ongoing process up until July 1st and Jody will be active in this recruitment drive on an ongoing basis. We have been in contact with Bill Torrey and Randy Sexton of the Florida Panthers on the departure of Jacques Martin to Montreal. They have indicated to us that they are working to fill the Panthers general manager role as soon as possible and have assured us that any negotiations and commitments that have been made, on their behalf, regarding the Rochester Americans will continue to be a priority of the new GM and his management team. That Gage flip-flop from last week sure appears on much more solid footing. Someone has to run the show...

From Dan Rosen: On Torrey becoming GM himself: "I think I have served my time as a general manager and I know where I am in this world and in this life," Torrey, the Panthers' alternate governor, said a conference call Monday. "My heart is with this franchise and I want to see a good choice come along." On when permission was granted to the Canadiens to speak with Martin: ...approximately 10 days ago Cohen granted permission for Montreal GM Bob Gainey to speak with Martin, who was hired Sunday and announced as the Habs’ new coach Monday. Yormark confirmed that the Panthers will not receive compensation for Martin from Montreal by saying, "The Canadiens asked for permission to speak with Jacques. We talked to Jacques, granted that permission and that was the terms of the deal."

From Ken Campbell: If the Montreal Canadiens and Jacques Martin had been able to make up their minds two weeks ago, the Panthers would have had the chance to hire either Chuck Fletcher or Joe Nieuwendyk, both of whom have past ties to the organization and might have been a good fit. Instead, Fletcher signed on with the Minnesota Wild and Nieuwendyk was unveiled as the new GM of the Dallas Stars Sunday afternoon. Yep. We're assimilating that down here as well.

Could be, and most certainly in nothing more than an advisory role, according to Steve Gorten: I called up Lemaire today and asked about his interest in joining the Panthers as a consultant, similar to a role Scotty Bowman has filled in recent years with the Red Wings and now Blackhawks. Here's what Lemaire told me: "There were a lot of things that were said that are not true. What I said is I'm looking to work for a team that is located on the East coast. A lot of people, because I live in Palmetto, which is not that far from Tampa, speculated the deal was done and that's where I'm going to go." Gorten quashes the idea with the case of a possible power struggle at the top and the removal of Denis Potvin for "budgetary" reasons. Not mention: You'd have a GM and consultant pushing a defensive-oriented roster and approach on a coach that needs more offensive tools. Sound logic. The Cats would be unwise to not at the very least sit down with the guy and mine his brain; perhaps he could provide something to the club in such an advisory role. But Gorten's points make too much sense.

From Steve Gorten: "(Booth's agent Mike) Liut obviously wouldn't say how much they're looking to get per season from the Panthers. But you have to figure it's between $3 million and $4 million and probably closer to the latter. That's how much Nathan Horton is getting per season on a six-year deal and Booth had better numbers this past season." W4E say: I'd be shocked if the completed deal turns out to be a dime under $4.5M. This contract gets done.