I know, I know. The title of this article probably makes you laugh. Remember, though, these same Florida Panthers took the eventual Eastern Conference Champions - the New Jersey Devils - to double overtime in Game Seven just two years ago. Surely they will be competitive soon, right?
This doesn't appear to be the year so far. The Panthers just came off of an impressive win against one of the NHL's best teams in the Anaheim Ducks, but that win snapped a nine-game losing streak. They also fired their coach, Kevin Dineen, over the weekend.
It's only mid-November, but the Panthers have already dug themselves into a hole this season in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division. The playoffs may be out of reach unless they make a miracle run, but the Panthers could be in a decent position for future success.
Yes, they have had early draft picks for over a decade, but Dale Tallon is one of the league's smarter General Managers who build a bottom dweller into a champion in the Chicago Blackhawks.
Jonathan Huberdeau, last year's Calder Trophy winner for Rookie of the Year, is a decent piece to build the team around. Aleksander Barkov, the second overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing stellar hockey so far as well.
It will be fun to watch Huberdeau and Barkov play side-by-side as they mature, and another good forward or two could turn the Panthers into one of the league's higher scoring teams within a few years.
The most recent high draft pick other than Huberdeau or Barkov, however, is defenseman Erik Gudbranson, and he has not been performing the way the Panthers need him to perform.
In fact, the defense and goaltending is what is hurting Florida the most, as the Panthers have given up more goals than any other team in the Eastern Conference.
Tallon needs to spend most of his time focusing on shoring up the blue line and hoping that goaltender Jacob Markstrom develops into a much better player than he has shown this year, as he was recently sent down to the AHL.
The major problem is that Florida has what may be the worst group of defensemen in the NHL. Brian Campbell isn't getting any younger, and the rest of the defense needs to step up big time.
The young offense will mature and come around, but the defense needs to be re-structured for this team to even be able to think about being a contender in the tough Atlantic Division.