Maple Leafs 2021-22 Opponent Preview: Florida Panthers

Welcome back to my Toronto Maple Leafs Opponent Preview series. In this series, I will be previewing each team in the Atlantic Division and breaking down how they match up against the Maple Leafs. The purpose of this series is to refresh people on how teams in the Atlantic Division are built for the 2021-22 season, especially considering the Maple Leafs haven’t played most of these teams since 2019-20.

It’s painfully obvious that Bobrovsky has not lived up to his monster of a contract thus far, but if Knight carries his success from last season over, he’s going to make the Panthers that much more difficult to play against.

How Do the Maple Leafs Match Up?

This is a really tough one. For now, I’m going to give the edge to the Maple Leafs only because of the uncertainty in the Panthers’ crease. Granted, there’s still a little bit of uncertainty in the Maple Leafs’ crease as well, but at least we’ve been able to see what Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek are capable of as NHL goalies. If Knight proves last year wasn’t a fluke and he’s actually ready to play like a top NHL goalie, this answer could quickly change.

Head Coaching Matchup: Sheldon Keefe vs. Joel Quenneville

In this scenario, Florida has a better head coach and it really isn’t a debate. Nothing against Keefe, of course, but when you’re going up against a head coach with the pedigree that Joel Quenneville has, it’s hard to come out on top.

I think Keefe is on his way to great things, but he doesn’t have a full 82-game season as a head coach under his belt yet. Meanwhile, Quenneville has 22 of those along with three Stanley Cups. In this case, experience takes the cake.

Panthers Prospect Corner

Anton Lundell

Lundell impressed at just about every level last season, and if I’m Quenneville, it’s going to be very hard for me to leave him off of the roster to start the season. The 20-year-old first-round pick in 2020 had 25 points in 26 games for HIFK of the SM-Liiga last season and also had ten points in six games for Team Finland at the World Juniors.

With Barkov and Reinhart likely to make up the top two centres, Lundell has a perfect opportunity to slide into that third-line centre role and develop under sheltered minutes. If that goes well, he should be seeing top-six minutes sooner rather than later.

Aleksi Heponiemi

A fourth-round pick of the club in 2017, Heponiemi spent the majority of last season playing for MODO of Sweden’s Allsvenskan league on loan, where he had 14 points in 16 games. He also put up six points in six games for the American Hockey League (AHL)’s Syracuse Crunch and got his first taste of NHL action where he had two points in nine games.

Heponiemi was sent to the AHL recently, but I’d imagine he’ll be one of the first call-up options, and when he does, he’ll provide some offensive flair to the bottom six. If he doesn’t, I believe he’ll be a go-to call-up player for them all season.

Grigori Denisenko

Grigori Denisenko dipped his feet into the waters of North American hockey for the first time last season, tallying four assists in seven NHL games and nine points in 15 AHL games.

Selected 15th overall by the Panthers in 2018, the 20-year-old Russian could very well join fellow rookies Lundell and Heponiemi in providing Panthers fans with a taste of what’s to come over the next few years.

What They’re Saying

Looking into what I’ve seen so far, I think Florida’s gonna give Toronto a run for their money. Their forward core has upgraded to new heights with a healthy mix of old and young. In addition to their new prospect goalie stepping up in Spencer Knight, the defense gets a huge break with the return of Aaron Ekblad. Toronto is gonna have their hands full all year.

Joey Ganzi, The Hockey Writers

Schedule

Mar. 27, 2022 vs Florida
Apr. 5, 2022 @ Florida
Apr. 23, 2022 @ Florida

2021-22 Season Prediction: Third in Atlantic

With the Atlantic Division returning after being out of commission since the original postponing of the 2019-20 season, I believe this is the year that the Panthers will establish themselves as one of the division’s top teams.

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Despite losing more than they gained this offseason, the addition of Reinhart along with a potential strong rookie season between the pipes from Knights will make them one of the tougher teams to match up against this season.