24-36-13-9 (70 pts.)
13th in East
27th overall

Max Birbraer, LW (FA-NJ); Valeri Bure, RW (W-StL); Todd Gill, D (FA-Chi); Lee Goren, RW (FA-Bos); Jonas Hoglund, LW (FA-Tor); Kent Huskins, D (FA-Chi); Kristian Kudroc, D (FA-TB); Craig MacDonald, C (FA-Car); Eric Messier, LW (T-Col); Vaclav Nedorost, C (T-Col); Lyle Odelein, D (FA-Dal); Jeff Paul, D (FA-Col); Mikael Samuelsson, RW (T-Pit); Travis Scott, G (FA-LA); Dmitri Tolkunov, D (T-Chi)

Pierre Dagenais, LW (FA-Mtl); Tyrone Garner, G (FA-Europe); Ivan Majesky, D (T-Atl); Serge Payer, C (T-Ott); Jamie Rivers, D (FA-Det); Rocky Thompson, RW (FA-Edm); Pascal Trepanier, D (FA-TB); Peter Worrell, LW (T-Col)

The key to building a good franchise, the old saying goes, is to start in goal and build out. If that's the case, the Panthers have done a good job with Roberto Luongo.

With four seasons under his belt, the 24-year-old netminder is already a seasoned veteran, and there's a consensus around the league that he represents the next generation of upper-tier goaltenders, the heir apparent to Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek and Martin Brodeur.

How has he earned this reputation? He stops a lot of pucks. And sometimes he comes up with a miracle save. Thanks the Luongo, the Panthers had the ninth-best save percentage (.913) although they faced the most shots in the league last year.

General manager Rick Dudley is taking a huge gamble on his kids. He's betting that Olli Jokinen can repeat his miracle season. He's hoping that Valeri Bure can stay healthy and snap out of his two-year slump. He's also making the assumption that the Panthers' most consistent scorer, Kristian Huselius, can post another 20-goal season and finally get out of Mike Keenan's doghouse.

That's a lot of risk, but Dudley basically has no choice as the Panthers face yet another rebuilding year. Florida actually made a few waves last season, picking up 42 points on the road, but their lethargic offence couldn't keep them in the playoff hunt. They managed just 176 goals, or 2.15 per game. But that's what happens when the team is made up of fresh-faced kids who don't have a lot of NHL experience.

If there's one area Dudley and Keenan have to worry about, it's on defence. Jay Bouwmeester had no trouble adjusting to the NHL game, but the Panthers look determined to push him hard. He led Florida defencemen in ice time after the departure of Sandis Ozolinsh, and now he finds himself as their top option on the blue line.

And he doesn't have much to help him out. The Panthers traded away their two most physical defencemen last summer. The defence will go through a lot of growing pains.

Most teams depend on their goaltender to steal the odd game. The Panthers depend on Luongo to be brilliant every night.