Welcome back to the first edition of the All-Time Panthers Roster Countdown, Volume XII. If you need to know how this list came into reality (poof!), click here.
Yesterday, we went over the brief Florida careers of centers Mike Green and Petr Taticek, left winger Patrick Rissmiller, defenseman Nolan Yonkman, and right winger Paul Brousseau. Today, for your browsing enjoyment, we have a defenseman, two centers, a right winger and a left winger.
If you think you know who’s coming after the jump, you may be right…but probably not.
234. Kristian Kudroc
Kudroc was a 6’7″ defenseman from Michalovce, Czechoslovakia. He was playing in the Slovak-2 league when drafted by the New York Islanders in the first round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft with the 28th overall pick.
In 1999-00, Kudroc made his QMJHL debut with the Quebec Remparts, scoring 31 points in 57 games. He was traded along with goaltender Kevin Weekes and a draft pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning following the season, for three draft picks.
He made his pro debut in 2000-01, appearing in 44 games with the IHL Detroit Vipers. Kudroc earned a one game callup to the Lightning in November, later playing in 21 more after being called up for a second time in January. He scored two goals with two assists and 36 penalty minutes.
Kudroc spent most of the 2001-02 season between the AHL franchises Springfield Falcons and the Philadelphia Phantoms. He earned two single-game callups to the Lightning, not impacting the scoresheet.
Kudroc skated a total of 35 games with Springfield in 2002-03, missing the bulk of the campaign after suffering a concussion when playing against the Providence AHL franchise on opening night. He was not again recalled to Tampa Bay, and the franchise did not tender him any sort of contract. Florida signed him as a free agent in the 2003 offseason.
Kudroc appeared for 47 games with the AHL San Antonio Rampage, finally making an appearance with the Panthers in January, skating in back to back wins against the Washington Capitals and the Boston Bruins. He signed on with Hammarby in the Swedish League when the 2004-05 NHL season was cancelled, and has since appeared in other Swedish and Finnish professional ice hockey leagues.
All-Time Statline: One season, two games, zero goals, zero assists, zero points, even rating, two PIM, 0.0 APS.
233. Jon Matsumoto
Matsumoto was a 6′ center from Ottawa attending Bowling Green University when selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the third round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft with the 79th overall pick. He continued to skate with the college for another season before joining the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms in 2006-07, bringing his CCHA totals to 49 goals and 64 assists in 110 contests.
Matsumoto spent the next four seasons with the Phantoms, for three seasons in Philadelphia and after their move and name change to Adirondack in 2009-10. In 251 games he scored 81 goals and 92 assists with a minus-30 rating and 189 PIM. In the 2010 offseason, the Flyers traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes for their seventh round draft choice.
Matsumoto spent most of the 2010-11 season with the Charlotte Checkers, in 65 games scoring 20 goals and 28 assists. He was called up to join the Hurricanes twice, in 13 total games scoring two goals (both in a November 3rd victory over the New York Islanders, 7-2) along with a minus-4 rating and four penalty minutes.
Matsumoto opened the 2011-12 season with the Checkers, but after 41 games was traded to Florida, where he appeared for most of the season with the Rampage, scoring a combined 23 goals and 37 assists in 76 games. He was called up for one game with the Panthers. He skated nine shifts and did not figure on the scoresheet, finishing up the season with the Rampage by scoring four goals and nine assists in 10 playoff games.
All-Time Statline: One season, one game, zero goals, zero assists, zero points, even rating, zero PIM, 0.0 APS.
232. Jim Campbell
Campbell was a 6’2″ right winger from Worcester, MA in high school when drafted in the second round of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens with the 28th overall pick. He would spend the next two seasons with the QMJHL Hull Olympiques, scoring 83 goals with 73 assists in 114 games.
After having appeared in 14 games with the US National team over the prior two seasons, Campbell joined the US squad full time for the 1993-94 season of international play. He made his AHL debut late in the season, scoring 23 points in 19 games for the Fredericton Canadiens.
Campbell remained with Fredericton for the duration of the 1994-95 season, in 77 games scoring 27 goals with 24 assists. After 44 games with the club in 1995-96, Campbell was traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Robert Dirk. He played 16 games with the AHL Baltimore Bandits, earning his first NHL action in a 16 game callup starting in early February. He played well, scoring two goals and three assists with 36 penalty minutes.
During the 1996 offseason, Campbell signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Blues, spending the bulk of the next four seasons in the NHL. In 201 games he scored 49 goals and 60 assists with a minus-5 rating an 173 penalty minutes. He was victimized by the numbers game in 1999-00, spending 66 games with the AHL Worcester IceCats.
During the 2000 offseason, he signed a free agent contract to play for the Canadiens, the team that originally drafted him. He scored nine goals and 11 assists in 57 games. Campbell spent most of the next season between AHL franchises, appearing in nine games for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2001-02. He signed on with the Panthers prior to the 2002-03 season.
In 64 games that season with the AHL San Antonio Rampage, Campbell scored 16 goals and 37 assists. He skated 14 shifts in one game on November 13th with Florida, not impacting the scoresheet as the Panthers tied the New York Islanders, 3-3.
Campbell spent the next several seasons between AHL franchises and Swiss and Russian leagues. He appeared in one more NHL game, with the Tampa Bay Lightning in January, 2006.
All-Time Statline: One season, one game, zero goals, zero assists, zero points, even rating, zero PIM, 0.0 APS.
231. Jeff Taffe
Taffe is a 6’3″ center out of Hasting, MN. He was skating with the University of Minnesota when drafted in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft with the 30th overall pick by the St. Louis Blues. He would total three seasons with the Golden Gophers, scoring 56 goals and 59 assists in 120 contests through the 2001-02 season.
During the 2001 offseason, the Phoenix Coyotes sent Keith Tkachuk to the Blues for Taffe, Michal Handzus, Ladislav Nagy, and a first round draft choice. He would make his NHL debut with the Coyotes near the start of the 2002-03 season, and totalled 20 games with the parent club, scoring three goals and an assist with a minus-4 rating and four PIM. He improved on those numbers in 2003-04, in 59 games scoring eight goals and 10 assists.
Before the 2005-06 season, Taffe was traded to the New York Rangers for Jamie Lundmark. He appeared in two games with the club before they traded him back to the Coyotes for Martin Sonnenberg. Taffe appeared in 19 more games for Phoenix over the next two seasons, spending the balance of his playing time with the Coyotes then AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage.
The Pittsburgh Penguins would sign Taffe to a free agent deal during the 2007 offseason. He appeared in 53 games with the club over then next two seasons, scoring five goals and nine assists. He joined Florida as a free agent during the 2009 offseason.
Taffe scored 28 goals and 28 assists in 2009-10 for the AHL Rochester Americans over 61 games. He was called up to the Panthers five times during the season to fill in for day-to-day injuries through the lineup, tabbing a goal and an assist through 21 games. After the season, Florida sent him to the Chicago Blackhawks for Marty Reasoner.
Taffe played one game for Chicago in 2010-11, spending most of the season with the AHL Rockford IceHogs. In 2011-12, Taffe played five games with the Minnesota Wild. It’s become clear at this point that Taffe will never mean more than a fifth line center for an injury decimated NHL team.
All-Time Statline: One season, 21 games, one goal, one assist, two points, minus-1 rating, four PIM, 0.0 APS.
Jeff Taffe (via hitthefivehole)
230. Jeff Greenlaw
Greenlaw was a 6’1″ left winger from Toronto with the Canadian National team in 1986. The Washington Capitals took him in the first round of that season’s draft with the 19th overall pick.
As an 18-year old rookie, Greenlaw appeared in 21 games for the Caps in 1986-87, assisting on three goals and racking up 44 penalty minutes. Most of the ensuing seven seasons were spent with the Capitals AHL affiliates, the Binghampton Whalers and the Baltimore Skipjacks. In 261 AHL games he scored 58 goals and 65 assists.
Greenlaw only appeared in a total of 53 Washington games over his seven seasons in the Capital’s system. Florida signed him as a free agent prior to their inaugural skate, in the 1993 offseason. He totalled four games with the Cats on two separate callups from the IHL Cincinnati Cyclones. He was never again called back to the NHL, but spent the next five seasons as a Cyclone. In 283 Cincinnati games he scored 53 goals with 66 assists.
Greenlaw joined the WPHL Austin IceBats prior to the 1998-99 season, and after two seasons with the club as a player stayed on as a coach.
All-Time Statline: One season, four games, zero goals, one assist, one point, minus-1 rating, two penalty minutes, 0.0 APS.
Thanks for stopping by and muddling through this early part of Florida’s countdown. Join us right here, next week, where we get into positive adjusted point shares.
What is Jon Matsumoto’s future value to the Panthers?
| Rampage standout | 27 |
| Injury fill-in | 20 |
| Trade-bait | 5 |
| 10 goal, 25 point NHL player | 9 |
| 30 goal NHL scorer | 0 |