Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The Florida Panthers have done virtually nothing this offseason in terms of adding to their roster. Dale Tallon has made it pretty clear that he intends on sticking to his budget, and will instead rely on a healthy roster to rebound, rather than adding a bunch of new faces, similar to what he did before the 2011-12 campaign.
Instead, the Panthers have made a few quiet moves, with the most recent being Scott Gomez, who was signed to a one-year contract at the beginning of last week. Gomez, whose reputation has taken a major hit in recent years because of a massive failure of a contract, isn’t the high impact add that many wanted, but he improves a young Panthers squad to at least some degree.
On a six figure contract, there’s not much to dislike about the deal for Gomez. He had a come back of sorts with the San Jose Sharks last season, and while he’s far past his days of putting up 70 or 80 points, he had a decent year as a fourth line player.
He finished with a very respectable 15 points in 39 games, a solid total given his limited role with the Sharks. Eight of those points came on the power play, so he can help the Panthers out in that regard. He also won 56 percent of his draws, which will add to a spot where the Cats weren’t as strong in 2013.
There are some young centers trying to crack this Panthers roster. Gomez is the type of guy who can come in and mentor them, as well as push them as they try to earn playing time. Even if he only tallies 25-30 points on the season, as a fourth line center, he should be a solid addition to the Panthers, in an offseason where they haven’t had a lot of them.
