2020–21 Florida Panthers season

The 2020–21 Florida Panthers season is the 28th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established in 1993. Head coach Joel Quenneville will enter his second season with the team.[2] On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada-United States border. As a result of this realignment the Panthers will play this season in the Central Division and will only play games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season and potentially the first two rounds of the playoffs.

2020–21 Florida Panthers
2020–21 record	5–0–2
Home record	2–0–1
Road record	3–0–1
Goals for	27
Goals against	22
Team information
General manager	Bill Zito
Coach	Joel Quenneville
Captain	Aleksander Barkov
Alternate captains	Aaron Ekblad Jonathan Huberdeau Patric Hornqvist
Arena	BB&T Center
Minor league affiliate(s)	Charlotte Checkers (AHL) Syracuse Crunch (AHL)[1] Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Patric Hornqvist Carter Verhaeghe (5)
Assists	Jonathan Huberdeau (8)
Points	Jonathan Huberdeau (12)
Penalty minutes	Keith Yandle (12)
Plus/minus	Anthony Duclair Radko Gudas Carter Verhaeghe (+4)
Wins	Sergei Bobrovsky (3)
Goals against average	Chris Driedger (1.95)

Standings

Divisional standings

Central Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Tampa Bay Lightning	8	6	1	1	5	29	17	+12	13
2	Columbus Blue Jackets	12	5	4	3	4	31	37	−6	13
3	Florida Panthers	7	5	0	2	2	27	22	+5	12
4	Carolina Hurricanes	8	6	2	0	3	26	19	+7	12
5	Chicago Blackhawks	12	4	4	4	4	35	39	−4	12
6	Dallas Stars	8	5	2	1	4	32	21	+11	11
7	Nashville Predators	10	5	5	0	2	28	34	−6	10
8	Detroit Red Wings	11	2	7	2	1	21	40	−19	6

Updated to game(s) played on February 4, 2021. Source: National Hockey League[3]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater amount of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater amount of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater amount of goals scored (GF)

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.[4]

2020–21 game log
January: 5–0–1 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 3–0–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap — January 14 Dallas – Florida Postponed due to COVID-19.[5] Rescheduled for February 22. — January 15 Dallas – Florida Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for May 10. 1 January 17 Chicago 2–5 Florida Driedger 4,147 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 January 19 Chicago 4–5 Florida OT Bobrovsky 3,667 2–0–0 4 Recap — January 21 Florida – Carolina Postponed due to COVID-19.[6] Rescheduled for February 17. — January 23 Florida – Carolina Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 7. 3 January 26 Florida 4–3 Columbus SO Bobrovsky 0 3–0–0 6 Recap 4 January 28 Florida 2–3 Columbus SO Driedger 0 3–0–1 7 Recap 5 January 30 Florida 3–2 Detroit OT Bobrovsky 0 4–0–1 9 Recap 6 January 31 Florida 3–2 Detroit Driedger 0 5–0–1 11 Recap
February: 0–0–1 (Home: 0–0–1 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 7 February 4 Nashville 6–5 Florida OT Bobrovsky 3,698 5–0–2 12 Recap 8 February 5 Nashville – Florida 9 February 7 Detroit – Florida 10 February 9 Detroit – Florida 11 February 11 Tampa Bay – Florida 12 February 13 Tampa Bay – Florida 13 February 15 Florida – Tampa Bay 14 February 17 Florida – Carolina 15 February 19 Florida – Detroit 16 February 20 Florida – Detroit 17 February 22 Dallas – Florida 18 February 24 Dallas – Florida 19 February 25 Dallas – Florida 20 February 27 Carolina – Florida
March: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 21 March 1 Carolina – Florida 22 March 4 Florida – Nashville 23 March 6 Florida – Nashville 24 March 7 Florida – Carolina 25 March 9 Florida – Columbus 26 March 11 Florida – Columbus 27 March 13 Chicago – Florida 28 March 15 Chicago – Florida 29 March 16 Florida – Tampa Bay 30 March 18 Nashville – Florida 31 March 20 Nashville – Florida 32 March 23 Florida – Chicago 33 March 25 Florida – Chicago 34 March 27 Florida – Dallas 35 March 28 Florida – Dallas 36 March 30 Detroit – Florida
April: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 37 April 1 Detroit – Florida 38 April 3 Columbus – Florida 39 April 4 Columbus – Florida 40 April 6 Florida – Carolina 41 April 8 Florida – Carolina 42 April 10 Florida – Dallas 43 April 13 Florida – Dallas 44 April 15 Florida – Tampa Bay 45 April 17 Florida – Tampa Bay 46 April 19 Columbus – Florida 47 April 20 Columbus – Florida 48 April 22 Carolina – Florida 49 April 24 Carolina – Florida 50 April 26 Florida – Nashville 51 April 27 Florida – Nashville 52 April 29 Florida – Chicago
May: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 53 May 1 Florida – Chicago 54 May 4 Dallas – Florida 55 May 6 Tampa Bay – Florida 56 May 8 Tampa Bay – Florida
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)   Postponement

Roster

Updated January 30, 2021[7][8]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
55		Noel Acciari	C	R	29	2019	Johnston, Rhode Island
16		Aleksander Barkov (C)	C	L	25	2013	Tampere, Finland
72		Sergei Bobrovsky	G	L	32	2019	Novokuznetsk, Soviet Union
44		Kevin Connauton	D	L	30	2021	Edmonton, Alberta
10		Brett Connolly	RW	R	28	2019	Campbell River, British Columbia
4		Tommy Cross	D	L	31	2019	Simsbury, Connecticut
30		Philippe Desrosiers	G	L	25	2019	Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec
60		Chris Driedger	G	L	26	2019	Winnipeg, Manitoba
91		Anthony Duclair	LW	L	25	2020	Laval, Quebec
5		Aaron Ekblad (A)	D	R	24	2014	Windsor, Ontario
42		Gustav Forsling	D	L	24	2021	Linköping, Sweden
7		Radko Gudas	D	R	30	2020	Kladno, Czechoslovakia
20		Aleksi Heponiemi	C	L	22	2017	Tampere, Finland
13		Vinnie Hinostroza	C/RW	R	26	2020	Bartlett, Illinois
70		Patric Hornqvist	RW	R	34	2020	Sollentuna, Sweden
11		Jonathan Huberdeau (A)	LW	L	27	2011	Saint-Jérôme, Quebec
58		Noah Juulsen	D	R	23	2021	Surrey, British Columbia
25		Brady Keeper	D	R	24	2019	Cross Lake, Manitoba
83		Juho Lammikko	C	L	25	2014	Noormarkku, Finland
94		Ryan Lomberg	LW	L	26	2020	Richmond Hill, Ontario
27		Eetu Luostarinen	C	L	22	2020	Siilinjärvi, Finland
19		Mason Marchment	LW	L	25	2020	Uxbridge, Ontario
65		Markus Nutivaara	D	L	26	2020	Oulu, Finland
61		Riley Stillman	D	L	22	2016	Calgary, Alberta
6		Anton Stralman	D	R	34	2019	Tibro, Sweden
74		Owen Tippett	RW	R	21	2017	Peterborough, Ontario
77		Frank Vatrano	C	L	26	2018	East Longmeadow, Massachusetts
23		Carter Verhaeghe	C	L	25	2020	Toronto, Ontario
52		MacKenzie Weegar	D	R	27	2013	Ottawa, Ontario
21		Alexander Wennberg	C	L	26	2020	Nacka, Sweden
3		Keith Yandle (A)	D	L	34	2016	Boston, Massachusetts

Draft picks

Below are the Florida Panthers selection at the 2020 NHL Draft which was held on October 6–7 at NHL Network Studios.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationally	College/Junior/Club Team (league)
1	12	Anton Lundell	(C)	FIN	HIFK (Liiga)
2	43	Emil Heineman	(LW)	SWE	Leksands IF (SHL)
3	74	Ty Smilanic	(C)	USA	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
3	87	Justin Sourdif	(RW)	CAN	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
4	105	Zachry Uens	(D)	CAN	Merrimack Warriors (H-East)
5	153	Kasper Puuito	(D)	FIN	Everett Slivertips (WHL)
7	198	Elliot Ekmark	(C)	SWE	Linkoping J20 (SuperElit)
7	212	Devon Levi	(G)	CAN	Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL)

References

1. "Syracuse Crunch will have dual affiliation in 2021". The Post-Standard. January 6, 2021.
2. Whyno, Stephen (October 6, 2020). "NHL trageting Jan. 1 to begin next season". Chicacgo Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
3. "NHL Hockey Standings". www.nhl.com. National Hockey League.
4. "2020-21 NHL schedule announced". NHL.com. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
5. "NHL schedule changes; Stars open season Jan. 22 due to coronavirus". NHL.com. January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
6. "Hurricanes games postponed through Jan. 23 because of COVID-19". NHL.com. January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
7. "Florida Panthers Roster". National Hockey League. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
8. "Florida Panthers Hockey Transactions". The Sports Network. Retrieved October 3, 2017.