The Panthers have a serious decision to make...

With the NHL season about to start, the Florida Panthers have a massive decision or decisions to make regarding how they're going to shape out their rosters and make roster cuts. I'm going to be talking about three players, I wanted to do four, but we're just going to talk about three today that I think are on the outside looking in and unfortunately they are going to be not substantial losses for the Florida Panthers, but good players. We have a very stacked roster that's looking healthy besides Brad Marchand, which that's I think the biggest question mark is who is going to fill in for his role as he is rehabbing the off-season surgery on his groin and sports hernia, and hip, excuse me, and sports hernia. There's one player in particular that I really don't want to see go and I think he will be snatched up off of waivers pretty fast, but we gotta hope he falls through the cracks and goes to the Charlotte Checkers. But we're getting into all this stuff right now, this is Panthers Digest, thank you all for joining me. I'm your host Greg Andrews, comment, like, share, subscribe, hybrid the video, appreciate every single person supporting me, supporting the channel, and the Florida Panthers. So let's go and dive into this right now. So yeah, three players the Florida Panthers are at risk of losing through NHL waivers. The first one, Cole Reinhart, I think we all liked how he played this season, didn't put up tremendous numbers in 59 games, but nine goals, six assists, very good offensive upside, he can lead the rush and control the offense, and has, you know, puts in some decent defensive minutes, but he's not a very physical player. With Gajevic and Hathaway on our team now on that fourth line, I hate to say that Cole Reinhart is now on the outside looking in, unfortunately. He also has to battle with Sam Lafferty and Cole Schwint, not an easy task. He logged in all those games because of all the injuries, and now that the team is healthy, again, besides Brad Marchand, he's on the outside looking in. He is going to be one of those cuts that the Florida Panthers are going to have to make, and he will be claimed off of waivers. He has enough NHL experience, he's young, he can still be molded, he's got good skaters, got good hands, again, he can lead the rush to create offense, and I think teams saw last year what he's capable of doing, they like him. Obviously, playing with the Senators in the past and the Golden Knights, people know who he is. His name is heard around the league. It's going to be sad to see him go, but Reinhart is on the outside looking in. So, it's going to be tough, but we've got a great fourth line. I think Lafferty is a massive addition. Cole Schwint, we already know, is a very solid player as well, and I do think Cole Reinhart is a better offensive player than Gajovic and Hathaway, but just not physical enough. Doesn't do the kind of grinded out physical style of hockey that we all know the Florida Panthers play. He's not that guy, and when the team is healthy and with the lines that they have, he's the odd man out. Unfortunately, he's not even the 13th man in that forward center position that will be called upon. Falls through the cracks, maybe he hits the Charlotte Checkers, but I don't think so. I think he will be claimed off of waiver, so it'll be sad to see him go, but we are deep this year. The moves that Bill Zito made this offseason, I think, has made this team deeper than it's ever been, and I'm loving what I'm seeing. It's pretty amazing. So, let's take a look at the next man out. It will be Donovan Sobrango. With the signing of Gutis, what this did was essentially push Donovan Sobrango not to be the 7th defenseman. He is the 8th. Uvis Belinskis is technically our 7th defenseman, because Gutis will pair up with Dmitry Kulikov on the 3rd pair. I know a lot of you have mixed feelings about Donovan Sobrango. At 24 years old, there is a lot of potential in this young man to be molded to get better. I think he'll be claimed off of waivers as well. I wouldn't, hey, again, all three of the guys I'm hoping do slide through the cracks and hit our AHL affiliate, because we need to keep our prospect pool as deep as we possibly can. I don't think he's the greatest defenseman out there, but I think if you give him time and he works a little bit harder, I mean, he made some mistakes. You see the penalty minutes were pretty substantial in just 42 games. He had some mistakes, yes, obviously, and those mistakes will not be erased, but become less and less with experience. I think that he will be claimed off of waivers, but like I just said, he's technically the 8th man out, and Uvis Belinskis is our 7th defenseman. He was claimed off of waivers last year, played a lot more than I think anybody expected, especially because of all the injuries, but he got the experience. It's very, very hard to find NHL caliber defensemen these days. He will be picked up off of waivers. I'm going to say without a doubt. Some of you might be like, no, he's terrible. He stinks. Look, there's a lot of defensemen that are out there that I think aren't as good as Sabrengo or right up there around his caliber. Somebody will take him. Someone will take him. 223 pounds, 6'2", 24-year-old defenseman. Somebody will say, we'll take him. He's got the experience. Let's bring him up. Again, offensive upside, not really there for this young man. Only 8 assists in 42 games, no goals, but he did have some decent defensive stops from time to time. He plays the role well on that third defensive pairing when he's called upon, injuries, whatever. I think someone will pick him up and have him. He will be that team's seventh defenseman or possibly last man on the third pairing. Now, the one that I think hurts the most is this defenseman, Tobias Bjornfoot. I really like this guy. 25 years old, had a good year last year, 19 games, two goals, two assists. The biggest thing about Bjornfoot is his leadership especially with the AHL affiliate Charlotte Checkers. When he was with that team and then he got called up, he came onto the ice and delivered. He did what was asked. He's fast. He's scrappy. He's great on the forecheck. Not the biggest defenseman at 6'200", but I liked watching him play. Like I said, when he was on the ice, it just seemed like he was everywhere. He was flying all over the place. I like this kid so much, but we are deep on the defensive front. I already just went through with Donovan Sobrango, why he is going to be gone. We are deep now with Guttis signing with the team. He's on the third defensive pairing. The seventh defenseman is going to be Uwes Belinskas. Hopefully, Tobias Bjornfoot falls through everything and goes to the Charlotte Checkers and remains there. He's a great talent to have on the team. If he gets called up upon, we know he delivers. He puts his heart and soul out there on the ice. I liked him a lot this past season. For the three seasons that he's been on this team, I've liked every time that I saw him on the ice. I've watched a few of the games for the Charlotte Checkers when I was on my computer. He's a great leader. I do think someone might try to scoop him up because of those leadership capabilities. 153 games logged in the NHL. Again, NHL caliber players are not easy to find in terms of defensemen. They're not. He's got a lot of experience. That is the strong upside to Tobias Bjornfoot. Replacement level defenseman, unfortunately, on the outside looking in. I'm very tired. Sorry, I'm just getting over being sick this past weekend. In order for the Panthers to have some more organizational depth, I hope he falls through the cracks and he goes to the Charlotte Checkers. I think that's just going to be such a massive thing for the Cats to have him there, still be a leader for the Charlotte Checkers, be down there with Jack Devine. If we see Vilminis, all those guys, he's a critical piece to the success of the Charlotte Checkers and to our organizational depth. Absolutely. That'll do it for this episode. Let me know what you guys think about these three players ideally going to be cut and placed on waivers. Do you hope they fall through the cracks and go to Charlotte Checkers? Or do you just want to say, good riddance, we don't need them. Hopefully they fall through the cracks. They don't and they get picked up somewhere else because we don't want them on our Charlotte Checkers team. We don't want them at all within our organization. I disagree. I think if all these guys end up falling through, that's a massive win for the Florida Panthers to keep them in our system. That would be tremendous. Let me know what you guys think. Also, take a look at the roster. It is, again, I've shown it before, it is just stacked. Biggest question though is who is going to take Marshan's spot as he rehabs his injury or his post-season surgery? Who is going to take his place for the time being until he gets healthy? That's it guys. Thank you so much. Until tomorrow, go Cats.