JetBlue 2019-20 Season Rewind: Frank Vatrano

Frank Vatrano took on a new responsibility during the 2019-20 campaign.
After being used sparingly on the penalty kill throughout the early stages of his NHL career, the 26-year-old forward managed to carve out an integral role for himself among Florida's top killers this season, skating a career-high 86:36 while also leading the club with two shorthanded goals.

Entering the season, Vatrano had amassed just 4:15 on the penalty kill over 205 career games.
"I love it," Vatrano said when asked about killing penalties earlier in the season. "I think the biggest thing we talked about on the PK is making sure that I'm using my speed. That's going to be my biggest factor. On the PK, it's just killing plays and creating offense when you can."
Vatrano saw his greatest success on the penalty kill when he skated alongside Aleksander Barkov -- an elite two-way center and perennial threat to win the Selke Trophy. Over the 45:52 the duo shared the ice while shorthanded, opposing teams were limited to just three total goals.
"I had a tandem there with Barky," Vatrano said of his chemistry with the Panthers captain. "We created off one another. It gets yourself more ice, more opportunity to keep yourself in the game."
When he wasn't killing penalties, Vatrano, whose versatility allowed him to slot in up and down the lineup as needed throughout the season, helped provide the Panthers with a good amount of secondary scoring while also "playing a hard game," according to defenseman Keith Yandle.
In addition to registering 34 points (16 goals, 18 assists), the East Longmeadow, Massachusetts native also finished second among Florida's forwards in hits (102) and third in blocked shots (43).
"He flies up and down the wing," Yandle said when asked about Vatrano during the team's Return to Play camp in July. "He creates space for himself and his linemates. He's definitely not afraid to get his nose in there… He's a good Massachusetts boy, where he's a little hard-nosed."
Vatrano's best stretch of the season came just before the All-Star break. From Jan. 5-21, he tallied 11 points (six goals, five assists) in eight games, a torrid stretch that culminated with the second hat trick of his career during Florida's final game before the break, a 4-3 win in Chicago.
"He made a couple great shots, quick shots," Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said of Vatrano's performance after the game. "Frankie's been on a little bit of a roll here. He does other good things, definitely gives us some speed in the game. He's got some scoring touch."
Making his second-career trip to the postseason, Vatrano laced up his skates in two games during last month's Stanley Cup Qualifiers, recording three shots on goal, three hits and one blocked shot as the Panthers were unfortunately eliminated by the Islanders in four games.
Over the last two seasons, Vatrano ranks fifth on the Panthers with 40 goals.

COOL STAT

Given his physical style of play, Vatrano's durability is quite impressive.
After missing just one game all of last season, the 5-foot-11, 197-pound speedster was one of just eight players on the Panthers to participate in all 69 games during the 2019-20 campaign.
Since being acquired from Boston prior to the NHL's trade deadline back in 2018, Vatrano is tied for fourth on the Panthers in games played, suiting up in 166 of a possible 168 contests.
Over those 168 games, he's amassed 81 points (45 goals, 36 assists).

BEST GAME

This one was for Coach Q.
Helping Quenneville pick up the win in his highly-anticipated return to Chicago, Vatrano netted the second hat trick of his career to lift the Panthers to a 4-3 victory at United Center on Jan. 21.
"You can see he had a special time here with the Blackhawks with that ovation," Vatrano said of Quenneville, who previously guided Chicago to Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015. "It was a pretty cool moment for him. It was good to finish that off with a win here."
Scoring all three of his goals in the second period, Vatrano lit the lamp at 6:14 and 10:04 before putting the finishing touches on his hat trick by tipping home a smooth centering feed from Mike Hoffman to give the Panthers a 4-1 lead with 37 seconds left on the clock in the middle frame.

Vatrano's only previous hat trick came on Dec. 18, 2015 as a member of the Bruins.
"It's always nice to be rewarded like that," said Vatrano, who earned first-star honors for his stellar showing. "I've said before that scoring one goal in this league is hard enough, so obviously a hat trick is a great honor. It couldn't have been done without the other guys on the ice."

GOAL OF THE YEAR

Even though it was on the road, this goal brought fans to their feet.
After throwing a big hit along the boards in the defensive zone, Evgenii Dadonov sends a tape-to-tape stretch pass up to Vatrano while falling down. Carrying the puck across the blue line on a breakaway, Vatrano then roofs a beautiful shot to tie the game 4-4 at 8:30 the second period.
From there, the Cats went on to beat the Rangers by a score of 6-5 in a shootout on Nov. 10.

"We weathered the storm, played well in overtime and then we got the win in the shootout," Vatrano said after the win. "It was a good all-around effort from all of us."