The Florida Panthers have announced on Twitter that they have signed former New Jersey Devils center John Madden. No details have officially been announced, though rumor is that it’s a one-year contract, which is what would be expected. Madden played most of his career with New Jersey, followed by one year stints with the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild.
Madden has won multiple Stanley Cups, most recently in 2010 as a member of the Blackhawks. While in New Jersey, in addition to Cup wins in 2000 and 2003, he won the Selke trophy, awarded to the League’s best defensive forward, for the 2000-2001 season. He brings experience, plus good faceoff and penalty killing skills to the Panthers, both areas that have needed improvement this season. In addition, he has played with current Panthers Kris Versteeg, Brian Campbell, Tomas Kopecky and Jose Theodore. He will wear Pavel Bure’s David Booth’s number 10 for the Cats, and he is expected to center the fourth line once Marcel Goc returns to action.
Madden’s career statistics after the jump.
| Career Stats | |||||||||||||||||
| Year | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | Hits | BkS | PPG | PPA | SHG | SHA | GW | SOG | Pct | |
| 1998-99 | NJ | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .000 | |
| 1999-00 | NJ | 74 | 16 | 9 | 25 | 7 | 6 | N/A | N/A | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 115 | .139 | |
| 2000-01 | NJ | 80 | 23 | 15 | 38 | 24 | 12 | N/A | N/A | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 163 | .141 | |
| 2001-02 | NJ | 82 | 15 | 8 | 23 | 6 | 25 | N/A | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 170 | .088 | |
| 2002-03 | NJ | 80 | 19 | 22 | 41 | 13 | 26 | N/A | N/A | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 207 | .092 | |
| 2003-04 | NJ | 80 | 12 | 23 | 35 | 7 | 22 | N/A | N/A | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 210 | .057 | |
| 2005-06 | NJ | 82 | 16 | 20 | 36 | -7 | 36 | N/A | N/A | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 194 | .082 | |
| 2006-07 | NJ | 74 | 12 | 20 | 32 | -7 | 14 | N/A | N/A | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 153 | .078 | |
| 2007-08 | NJ | 80 | 20 | 23 | 43 | 1 | 26 | N/A | N/A | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 185 | .108 | |
| 2008-09 | NJ | 76 | 7 | 16 | 23 | -7 | 26 | N/A | N/A | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 132 | .053 | |
| 2009-10 | CHI | 79 | 10 | 13 | 23 | -2 | 12 | 59 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 127 | .079 | |
| 2010-11 | MIN | 76 | 12 | 13 | 25 | -9 | 10 | 43 | 59 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 107 | .112 | |
| Career | 867 | 162 | 183 | 345 | 24 | 215 | 102 | 117 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 11 | 23 | 1767 | .092 | ||
What this likely means for the Panthers lineup is that it will ultimately make Tim Kennedy and Mike Santorelli expendable, but only once more forwards return from injury. Marcel Goc was on a line with at practice today with Mikael Samuelsson and Matt Bradley. The returns of Samuelsson and Goc, along with Madden’s signing, put the Panthers at their roster limit. Santorelli was practicing on the fourth line with Bill Thomas and Kennedy today with Madden as one of the extra forwards with Krys Barch. The Panthers have not announced lineups for tomorrow’s game, but it seems likely that they will be the odd men out for the weekend, but that players will be returned to San Antonio next week, with Thomas and Kennedy will likely the first two sent back since they don’t require waivers. Jack Skille and Sean Bergenheim are also skating on their own now and when they return, then we’ll likely see Kennedy returned to San Antonio and Barch and Santorelli sitting in the press box.
Team release here.