CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) — The kitchen inside the home of Florida general manager Bill Zito has some nice amenities, such as a warming drawer and a built-in griddle. He hasn’t used either.
The reason: He doesn’t do something just because he can.
Such was the philosophy at the NHL trade deadline when the Panthers — who were on the outside of the playoff picture at the time — were the only team in the league to be involved in zero deals. They held firm, rolling the dice with what they already had in the locker room. And since the Panthers went 12-5-2 the rest of the way, clearly playing their best hockey, Zito making no moves then seems like the best move now.
“It wasn’t intended to send a message,” Zito said. “Perhaps the inference is, ‘Hey, this guy, all the things he’s telling us, he seems to believe it.’ Sometimes I wonder if people just execute to execute. If something doesn’t make sense to do, don’t do it.”
Nothing made sense at that time, and things fell into place. The Panthers — Presidents’ Trophy winners last season — now take on this year’s Presidents’ Trophy winner in the historically good Boston Bruins in an Eastern Conference first-round series that starts Monday.
The Bruins finished this season with 135 points, the most in NHL history. The challenge Florida is about to face is enormous. But only two teams in the NHL beat the Bruins twice this season — and the Panthers are one of them.
“We believe in these guys,” Panthers President Matt Caldwell said. “They had confidence all season. We’re always looking to get better. If there was something we thought would improve the team, we’d be all ears. But Bill’s very smart. He’s not going to overreact. He believes in our coach and our players and the locker room, so I think that was a strong message and they believe in themselves.”
Making no moves was gutsy.
Making the big move last summer was equally gutsy.
Jonathan Huberdeau was as revered as any player Florida had for years. He was the franchise’s all-time scoring leader, part of a 1-2 punch with Aleksander Barkov that turned the Panthers from an annual doormat into an actual hopeful. But when Florida got swept from the second round last season by Tampa Bay, Zito knew the roster had to change. It needed something different.
So he packaged Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar, sent them to Calgary, brought back Matthew Tkachuk and closed a deal that would keep the young star in a Panthers uniform for eight seasons.
All Tkachuk did in Year 1 with the Panthers was have more than 100 points and 100 penalty minutes, the first NHL player to do that since Sidney Crosby 17 years ago.
“By no means am I any grand visionary,” Zito said. “But he is a franchise-type player and equally important, a franchise-type person.”
Sometimes moves work out. Sometimes not making moves works out as well. It’s been a mixture of both that’s gotten Florida back to the playoffs, with the juggernaut Bruins awaiting.
“We just don’t make change for the sake of making change,” Zito said. “Change is hard, even if it’s for the better.”
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