Florida Panthers Busy Off-Season By Sebastien Veilleux At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The Florida Panthers finished a somewhat disappointing 37-34 last season—85 points. They finished fourth (out of five teams) in the Southeast Division. If they are going to have a shot at anything next year, they need to improve. So far this off-season, the Florida Panthers have made a few key signings.

Deal One: Alex Auld and Stephen Weiss

To kick off the off-season, the Panthers gave one-year deals to goaltender Alex Auld and center Stephen Weiss.

Deal Two: Craig Anderson

Last season Craig Anderson was a goaltender for the Blackhawks. In mid-July, the Florida Panthers signed him to a one-year deal worth $650,000.

Deal Three: Ed Belfour

This was the first big deal for the Florida Panthers this off-season. They had been wooing Belfour for some time. Belfour is 41 years old now and the NHL's second all-time winningest goaltender. He signed a one-year contract with the Panthers. With the signing of Belfour—and the other goaltenders—Florida believers their goaltender issue is now solved.

Deal Four: Jay Bouwmeester

On July 26th, the Florida Panthers came to terms with defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. Actually, coming to terms is a bit off. The contract was awarded through an arbitrator. That arbitrator awarded Bouwmeester a two-year contract. The deal is going to make Bouwmeester, who's only 22, $2.1 million next season and $2.25 million in the 2007-08 season. The third overall pick in the 2002 draft made $946,000 last season, so this deal doubled his salary.

Deal Five: Mike Van Ryn

The Bouwmeester ordeal really set up this deal. The Florida Panthers were not interested in going through another arbitration. As a result, they came to terms with blueliner Mike Van Ryn and signed him for four years. Mike Van Ryn is a great defenseman and the Panthers needed to make sure they locked him up. He was a first-round pick back in 1998.

The off-season is far from over for the Florida Panthers. They figure to make some more signings before all is said and done. If they can make the right moves to pick up a handful more points than they did in 2005, they could sneak into the playoffs this coming season. The 11 game losing streak in November of last season really cost them. It actually started on Halloween night (October 31st) in Toronto.

One other deal to mention involves their main goaltender from last season, Roberto Luongo. He's no longer on the team. The Panthers decided it was best to let him go, since he was disgruntled. In Late July, he was traded and signed by the Canucks for $27 million over four years.

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