The 2008 offseason saw lots of change for the Florida Panthers, but is it for the better or is it a step backward? The Panthers finished 38-35-9 last season and missed the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by 9 points. After yet another season, the 7th in a row, that saw the Panthers miss the playoffs,  the team decided to make some moves this offseason to try and get a spark and turn things around in South Florida. The team made trades for 3 new defensemen, signed a new forward, and got a new head coach.

The Panthers’ biggest move in the offseason was trading center and captain Olli Jokinen to the Phoenix Coyotes. In return the Panthers received defensemen Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton. Both players are solid defensemen and Ballard in particular is a stellar pick up. Speaking from experience, Ballard is an exceptional defenseman. Ballard played hockey for 3 years at the University of Minnesota, and as a student there I watched him first hand as he developed. Ballard has only gotten better in the NHL. He is solid in defense and has a wicked slap shot from the blue line. Boynton is no slouch either and brings another solid body at the blue line and will assist the Panthers in rebuilding their D.

More recently the Panthers traded Mike Van Ryn to the Toronto Maple Leafs for veteran defenseman Bryan McCabe and a 2010 4th round pick. McCabe also brings a solid body to the defense of the Panthers. McCabe’s career blossomed in Toronto where he finished 4th in Norris Trophy (NHL’s Best Defenseman) voting after the 2003-2004 season and played for Team Canada in the 2006 Olympics. McCabe also brings a great blue line slap shot and a strong veteran presence.

In order to replace the production lost in trading Olli Jokinen (30+ goals/season) the Panthers signed free agent Cory Stillman. Stillman is capable of putting up 20+ goals/season and though he is no spring chicken, he does bring veteran leadership to the forward lines. Stillman has twice reached the Stanley Cup.

Last, and believe me not least, is the new head coach for the Panthers, Peter DeBoer. DeBoer comes to the Panthers from the Canadian Junior leagues where he coached for 13 years. In his 13 years in the Junior leagues DeBoer only had one losing season and led his teams to a 2003 Memorial Cup title and a finals appearance last season. Though this is DeBoer’s first NHL head coaching job, he brings experience nonetheless and will be very energetic.

The clear focus of the Panthers was to improve on a defense that allowed the 2nd most goals in the NHL last season, but lets just hope that those improvements didn’t come at the cost of an offense capable of using that great defense to reach the playoffs. It is going to be an interesting year, hold on for the ride!