Florida Panthers: Everything you need to know before playoffs

The Florida Panthers have been battling for position all season. They had a hot start, leading the Atlantic Division briefly early on before falling off the pace.

The Panthers only dropped out of the top three recently. Since the All-Star Break, the Florida Panthers have struggled for consistency. If they want to make the playoffs, they will need to be more consistent and get on a winning streak.

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Where do Florida Panthers stand ahead of NHL playoffs?

Forwards

Everyone knows how good Matthew Tkachuk is. He showed the NHL world what he's capable of by going home with the NHL All-Star Game MVP in the middle of the season.

He leads the team with 87 points, with 30 of them being goals. His fellow linemate Carter Verhaeghe is having his best statistical season as well.

The one place the Panthers don’t lack is center depth. Aleksander Barkov is the true number one center that teams across the league were clamoring for when he was rumored to be on the trade block years ago.

Sam Bennett has been every bit the player the Panthers acquired from the Buffalo Sabres. Eric Staal, meanwhile, is a veteran with a knack for scoring and winning faceoffs. Anton Lundell has been a breakout star for the Panthers in their up-and-down season.

Defensemen

The Florida Panthers may have a blueline unit that's solely focused on defense above anything else.

Their top line, Gustav Forsling and Aaton Ekblad have some of the best true defensive metrics in the NHL. Brandon Montour and Marc Staal are two crafty veterans who should be able to keep up with the NHL’s best.

The biggest surprise for the Panthers’ blue line has been Josh Mahura, who leads the Panthers’ blue liners in plus/minus, showing his worth in both offense and defense this season. Radko Gudas is his linemate, who although won’t be counted on much for production, has a unique style of play that benefits the Panthers.

Goalies

The Florida Panthers lost nearly all of their goalie depth when Spencer Knight left due to rumored mental health issues. Knight was having a difficult season, posting a .500 record with a GAA and a save percentage around the league average.

The Florida Panthers called up Mack Guzda as their backup goaltender but haven’t used him at all. Sergei Bobrovsky is going to be their workhorse in the net. If he goes down, the Panthers might be up a creek. Bobrovsky has been better than average this season, with a .904 save percentage and a GAA slightly under three.