When Dale Tallon was hired in May of 2010, he sat down at his press conference and said that he was committed to building the Florida Panthers the right way: A professional and championship way. He wanted to make the Florida Panthers a first-class organization from top to bottom. Championship aside, I believe he has already turned this franchise around with the help of Doug Cifu and Vincent Viola.
Tallon is a smart GM, and was always thinking long term. He immediately traded those who wanted a one way ticket out of South Florida in exchange for draft picks. In 2010 alone, he stockpiled 13 draft picks. Five of which are on the Florida Panthers 2015 opening night roster: Erik Gudbranson, Nick Bjugstad, Quinton Howden, Alex Petrovic and Connor Brickley.
In years past, the Florida Panthers organization would have rushed these kids through development, essentially setting them up for failure. In the summer of 2011 after adding another 10 prospects to the pool, Tallon went on a free agent frenzy. Many may even say that Tallon overpaid some of the veteran additions. Just ask Paul Bissonnette, who jokes about former teammate Scottie Upshall winning the powerball 32 seconds into this video. However these contracts were necessary on both the business and hockey side of running an NHL team.
Tallon had continued this trend of adding youth through the draft and trades while bringing in veterans in order to allow his seeds to develop. Fast forward to now, Tallon believes this is the year they will blossom. Instead of committing to veterans early on in free agency, Tallon remained very quiet. Once training camp came rolling around, Tallon invited two intriguing players to camp on PTOs: Martin Havlat and fan favorite David Booth. Both were injury prone, but with a potential for offense. Something the Panthers desperately need.
The invitation was a smart play by Tallon because it added competition in training camp and was risk-free. In the end, it was determined that youth is the spark that this team needs to reach the next level. As of today, Tallon’s blueprint is finally taking shape. He’s got a veteran in Roberto Luongo protecting the net, a couple of Stanley Cup winning defensemen to mentor the young core that will protect our end for years to come, including 2015 Calder winner Aaron Ekblad, and a plethora of forwards salivating at the chance to learn from an icon such as Jaromir Jagr.
Over the past five years, all of Tallon’s moves at the NHL level were made in order to slowly develop the teams prospects in the system. When a first class organization is built, it is set up to allow these prospects to properly mature and beat out veterans to earn a spot on an NHL team. That is exactly what Quinton Howden and Connor Brickley have been doing since they were drafted in 2010 and finally accomplished over the last few weeks. The two of them deserve praise and will look to make an impact this season early on.
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