It’s hard to believe that the Florida Panthers are just a few years removed from a division title and a seven game playoff series with eventual Eastern Conference champion New Jersey. Hard times have fallen upon south Florida’s Panthers as the sporting world in that zip code chose to hop on the King James bandwagon.

Good times may soon be here again Florida fan(s), as long as the team sticks around!! The young squad may not contend for the Stanley Cup this season, but the rebuilding got underway a couple of years ago with Jonathan Huberdeau in the summer of 2011, Aleksander Barkov in the 2013 draft and with young Aaron Ekblad, the Panthers top pick in the 2014 entry draft.

These young spark plugs will obviously need some help to get the Florida franchise back to respectability, but with the exception of Ekblad, have made a seamless and productive impact since their introduction to NHL hockey. With the parity in the Eastern Conference, Florida is near the bottom of the pack, but still much closer and more competitive than the bottom tier teams in the west.

Now that we have reminded you that there is an NHL team in Miami, let’s take a look at how they’ll line up for 2014-15. Appreciate them while they are in town folks, because even your owner acknowledges that the team is literally a “business model that can’t be sustained.”

Offense

I will pay you $100 if you can name the Panther’s top scorer in 2013-14. Seriously. I’ll toss in another crisp Benjamin if you can tell me his stats. Less than 50 people honestly know that the answer is Nick Bjugstad with a whopping 38 points. The goal scoring stuff isn’t an area that Florida has excelled since the days of the Russian Rocket, Pavel Bure.

Huberdeau and Barkov lead the Panthers top line and will look to bounce back after disappointing seasons. Huberdeau just couldn’t seem to get things going after an impressive rookie season and Barkov was shut down to injury after showing flashes of brilliance in his introductory season. Brad Boyes completes the top line to add some veteran leadership.

Bjugstad, Tomas Fleischmann and Jussi Jokinen fill the second line and Dave Bolland continues to steal money by anchoring the third line at $5.5 million per season, by far the Panther’s most expensive forward.

Defense

The ageless Brian Campbell leads the defense with his $7 million-plus contract somehow avoiding amnesty. His partner on the top pair is Erik Gudbranson a feisty 22-year old that is tasked with keeping opponents honest with the young Panther stars. The second pair of Willie Mitchell and Dmitry Kulikov has the perfect combination of youth and experience, with the Florida brass hoping that the veteran Mitchell can help the Russian youngster find his productive form from two years ago.

Goaltending

Roberto Luongo is miles from the Canadian microscope that overanalyzed his every move in Vancouver. He is also nowhere near anything that remotely resembles a goaltending controversy. This is his team with Al Montoya on board to spell him for about 20-25 games. A loose Strombone is a good Strombone, or so the saying goes.

Special Teams

The bulk of the talent on this club is under the age of 25, so expect Florida to take lumps with the extra man and playing shorthanded. On the power play, Campbell runs the show. Even though the Panthers were dead last on the power play, experience and time together will see them improve.

Speaking of dead last, Florida finished exactly there on the penalty kill. Having Luongo in goal for the entire season will help immeasurably. A young defensive corps with a talented veteran behind them will give them confidence to improve.

Coaching

Gerrard Gallant was selected to lead this young group by general manager Dale Tallon, with the bar set low. The expectations are to see a team grow from October to April without taking any steps back. That being said there isn’t much room to take a step back from last place, but the Panthers were at least competitive. Ownership has committed $60 million to the team in salary, the highest number in franchise history, so there are some expectations.

Outlook

In all honestly the Panthers did very little to improve this roster from last year. A healthy Barkov and resurgent Huberdeau could help enormously, but those are only a couple of bright spots. Ekblad is a can’t miss prospect and has an unlimited ceiling on the blue line. Ownership has made no secret about the fact that if the team doesn’t start winning (ahem, making money) that they may have to explore other options.  That, however, is a conversation that has no place in the exciting possibilities for the 2014-15 Florida Panther’s season. Predicted finish: Eighth