Panthers’ new additions made an instant impact. Here’s what Florida is getting with them
Lukas Haula wasn’t afraid to start making loud proclamations as soon as he joined the Florida Panthers.
Haula was one of two new additions the Panthers made before the NHL trade deadline Monday and once he joined the team for the finale of a five-game road trip against the Arizona Coyotes he started to talk about what he envisions for his new team.
“I haven’t been outside the playoffs ever in my career yet,” said Haula, who is in his seventh season. “I’m not planning to start now. We have a good group here. I’m excited to get started. The mindset now is that every game is important.”
Haula and fellow center Lucas Wallmark both joined Florida (33-24-6) earlier this week as part of a trade sending center Vincent Trocheck to the Carolina Hurricanes. They both debuted in the Panthers’ 2-1 win in Arizona, and each logged more than a dozen minutes of ice time. On Thursday, both made their BB&T Center debut for Florida in a critical showdown with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Haula, in particular, will be leaned on almost as a one-for-one swap with Trocheck. Coach Joel Quenneville immediately plugged the Haula, who has also played left wing, into Trocheck’s old center spot on the second line. Wallmark has slid into the center spot on the third line. Both continued playing those roles Thursday in Sunrise.
“We’re looking for balance,” Quenneville said Tuesday ahead of Florida’s win in Glendale. “We want to make sure that we’ve got scoring on all the lines, and hopefully we get a little more possession time and a little more predictability.”
In 41 games with Carolina before trade this season, Haula had 12 goals and 10 assists. Wallmark played 60 games for the Hurricanes before the trade, logging 11 goals and 12 assists.
In his debut for the Panthers at Gila River Arena, Haula made one of the biggest plays of the game, screening Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper as winger Frank Vatrano ripped in a game-tying goal in the first period.
As Florida jockeys with the Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division, both Haula and Wallmark will play an important role.
“I like them a lot,” Quenneville said. “I thought both guys gave us a lot of strength in the faceoff circle, a lot of positionally aware strength in the puck area. They look like they kept themselves in a lot of plays and sustained a lot of pucks. They’re aware defensively, keeping themselves in situations offensively, but they know that there’s some safety to their game as well.”
