Fantasy Impact of the Panthers letting go head coach Peter Horachek

In a not so surprising move, the Florida Panthers have relieved head coach Peter Horachek of his coaching duties. Horachek took over for Kevin Dineen just 16 games into the season on an interim basis, so the Panthers likely viewed him as someone to just get them through a poor year.

Florida went 26-36-4 under Horachek and missed the playoffs for the 12th time in 13 seasons. There will be a nice consolation prize for the Panthers and the new coach coming in with the team holding the No. 1 draft pick this summer. 

How this will impact the Panther players at this point is hard to say until a new head coach is named. You always like to think a coaching change should help fantasy numbers, but so much will depend on the style of play they will employ. Let’s say it’s Barry Trotz hypothetically. He’s a defensive guru that may help Florida get more wins, but that isn’t necessarily ideal for the individual numbers of the skaters. However, someone like Roberto Luongo would benefit a great deal.

 – – Discuss the firing (and the Barry Trotz rumors) here – – 

We don’t know who the coach will be, but we do know this. The Panthers have ranked 30th and 29th in goals against over the past two campaigns, meaning one would think Dale Tallon would likely want to bring in a defensive-first coach. The new coach would also probably favor the youngsters as opposed to veterans if the Panthers are in a rebuild mode. 

There were also several Panthers that had down seasons last year. During the lockout shortened season of 2012-13 several notable Florida players were operating on a much better points per game pace than their totals turned out to be this year.

For example, Jonathan Huberdeau was on a 53-point pace during the 48-game season, but this year he finished with just 28 points. Tomas Fleischmann operated at a 60-point pace in 2012-13, but was also held to just 28 points in 2013-14. 

Two defensemen displayed a similar pattern. Brian Campbell would have had a 46-point campaign two years ago, but last year he managed just 37. Dmitry Kulikov would have hit 24, but this year he slid back to 19 points. 

The players this move hurts would likely be some veterans like Ed Jovanovski, Sean Bergenheim, and Tomas Kopecky. This move should signal the Panthers are starting from scratch and while the team has some young talent in place, some other veterans may find their minutes cut while a new coach evaluates younger skaters.

The Panthers currently own the league’s lowest payroll, so it’s going to take some kind of coach to get this group to start winning games. They might be wise to spend some significant cash to ensure they acquire the right guy or Florida may be destined for mediocrity for the foreseeable future. 

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

Huberdeau

Fleischmann

Kulikov

Campbell

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

Bergenheim

Kopecky

Jovanovski