panoo

Scott Cullen
5/9/2007 11:59:01 AM

Another season of slight improvement wasn't enough to get the Florida Panthers into the postseason.

Off-Season Game Plan looks at what the Panthers might do this summer to get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2000.

The Roberto Luongo-Todd Bertuzzi deal blew up in the Panthers' face last year, with Luongo earning a Hart Trophy nomination and Bertuzzi playing only seven games before undergoing back surgery and getting traded to Detroit.

Even so, the Panthers' young talent started to prove that they could get it done at the NHL level and that provides reason for optimism.

Jay Bouwmeester and Nathan Horton, in particular, are living up to their lofty draft positions (Bouwmeester third overall in 2002, Horton third overall in 2003) and are on the cusp of stardom.

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