Young, Fast Third Line Has Panthers Excited

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -The Florida Panthers want to be more than a two-line team.
When the Panthers open the 2018-19 regular season on Saturday night in Tampa, coach Bob Boughner will roll out a top-six forward group that not only has a chance to be one of the most successful in the league, but also one of the best in the 25-year history of the franchise.

From the incredible all-around game of superstar center Aleksander Barkov to the power play powerhouse that is Mike Hoffman, the group features five players that have scored 60 points at least once in their career, with four posting more than 65 points during the 2017-18 campaign.
That said, Boughner reiterated after Thursday's practice at the Panthers IceDen that he wants "all four lines to contribute," with added emphasis on the high expectations for the club's new-look third line that will feature center Jared McCann flanked by Frank Vatrano and Denis Malgin.
"I like our third line," Boughner said. "Vatrano offers some speed. Malgin had a great preseason, and Canner [McCann] has come a long way. They're going to get some tough assignments on the road when we don't have last change, but Canner has improved his game defensively, so I'm not worried about that. I know on the other side of the puck, they're going to produce some offense and produce some chances."
Although the line projects to be involved heavily in the offense, Boughner also expects the trio - most notably McCann - to be sound defensively. In addition to the career-high 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists) he notched last season, McCann also made great strides on the other side of the puck, where he posted a career-best 32 blocked shots and 39 takeaways.
"I think that last year he was just trying to make the team," Boughner said of McCann, who inked a two-year contract extension this summer. "He was in and out very little, but there were games when we sat him out and he watched a couple. He got better as the season went on. I think he got rewarded a little bit with his contract, a little security for him.
"Now, he's concentrating on taking it to that next step, that next level. Whether it was nine or 10 goals last year, I could see that increasing. But it's more so his responsibility on defense and on the penalty kill. That's something that we need. We want to trim some minutes from Barky a little bit, and I see that's where McCann will play a big part."
As the youngest line on an already youthful team, Boughner said he hopes that McCann, 22, Malgin, 21, and Vatrano, 24, will also be provide a spark for teammates, night in and night out.
"That youthful energy is a little bit infectious for everybody," Boughner said. "It's a great opportunity for all those guys."
For all three players, opportunity is nothing new. In the early stages of their respective careers, only McCann has played more than 60 NHL games in season, while Malgin's career-best sits at 51 and Vatrano's at 44. With this chance, all three hope to finally secure full-time roster spots.
"Whether you're in a top-six spot, a bottom-six role or out of the lineup, you're trying to earn your job every single day," said Vatrano, who recorded five goals and three assists in 16 games after being acquired from Boston in February. "You can't take any days off.
"For me, ever since I became a pro - no matter where I've been - I've just wanted to prove that I'm out there for a reason. I don't want to be a guy who will play a good game and then be invisible for the next five. Once you've been around for a little bit, you know what you need to do to stay in the lineup. I think I've started to figure that out now."
While the combination of Vatrano, McCann and Malgin isn't a completely brand-new idea (the trio played a combined 13:55 last season), this will be the first season that they are really given a chance to build some chemistry. And although Vatrano only suited up in one preseason game with his new linemates, Malgin and McCann saw plenty of ice time together last season.
In the 76:52 they played together at 5-on-5 in 2017-18, Malgin and McCann were on the ice for five goals and just two against, while also generating 41 scoring chances and allowing just 29.
"I think we have a really good, fast line," said Malgin, who registered a career-high 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) last season. "I hope we can do something… I think we have pretty good chemistry now. We're always practicing together. We'll see on Saturday. Hopefully we can score a couple. I'm looking forward to it."