2015–16 Florida Panthers season

2015–16 Florida Panthers
Atlantic Division Champions
Division	1st Atlantic
Conference	3rd Eastern
2015–16 record	47–26–9
Home record	25–11–5
Road record	22–15–4
Goals for	239
Goals against	203
Team information
General Manager	Dale Tallon
Coach	Gerard Gallant
Captain	Willie Mitchell
Alternate captains	Dave Bolland Brian Campbell Jussi Jokinen Derek MacKenzie
Arena	BB&T Center
Team leaders
Goals	Aleksander Barkov (28)
Assists	Jussi Jokinen (42)
Points	Jaromir Jagr (66)
Penalties in minutes	Alex Petrovic (90)
Plus/minus	Brian Campbell (+31)
Wins	Roberto Luongo (35)
Goals against average	Al Montoya (2.18)
<2014–15 2016–17>

The 2015–16 Florida Panthers season was the 23rd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 14, 1993. The Panthers' regular season began on October 10, 2015 against the Philadelphia Flyers with a 7–1 home win. The Panthers won the Atlantic Division but fell in six games in the opening round of the playoffs to the wild card entrant New York Islanders.

Schedule and results

Pre-season

2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 3–3–0 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 20	Florida	2–5	Nashville		McKenna	15,432	0–1–0
2	September 20	Florida	3–2	Nashville	OT	Brittain	12,711	1–1–0
3	September 22	Dallas	2–3	Florida		Luongo	5,504	2–1–0
4	September 25	Florida	1–4	Tampa Bay		Montoya	16,226	2–2–0
5	September 27	Florida	4–2	Dallas		Luongo	10,113	3–2–0
6	October 3	Tampa Bay	3–2	Florida		Luongo	7,634	3–3–0

Regular season

2015–16 Game Log
October: 5–4–2 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 2–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 10 Philadelphia 1–7 Florida Luongo 19,434 1–0–0 2 2 October 12 Florida 0–1 Philadelphia Luongo 19,769 1–1–0 2 3 October 13 Florida 4–1 Carolina Montoya 10,901 2–1–0 4 4 October 15 Buffalo 2–3 Florida Luongo 11,616 3–1–0 6 5 October 17 Dallas 4–2 Florida Luongo 12,834 3–2–0 6 6 October 20 Florida 2–3 Pittsburgh OT Luongo 18,471 3–2–1 7 7 October 22 Florida 2–3 Chicago Luongo 21,591 3–3–1 7 8 October 24 Florida 6–2 Dallas Montoya 18,532 4–3–1 9 9 October 27 Colorado 1–4 Florida Luongo 11,694 5–3–1 11 10 October 30 Boston 3–1 Florida Luongo 14,112 5–4–1 11 11 October 31 Washington 2–1 Florida OT Montoya 11,207 5–4–2 12
November: 5–5–2 (Home: 3–3–1 ; Road: 2–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 12 November 4 Florida 2–3 Anaheim SO Luongo 15,169 5–4–3 13 13 November 5 Florida 2–5 San Jose Montoya 15,525 5–5–3 13 14 November 7 Florida 1–4 Los Angeles Luongo 18,230 5–6–3 13 15 November 10 Calgary 3–4 Florida Luongo 11,242 6–6–3 15 16 November 12 Buffalo 3–2 Florida Luongo 11,271 6–7–3 15 17 November 14 Florida 5–4 Tampa Bay SO Luongo 19,092 7–7–3 17 18 November 16 Tampa Bay 0–1 Florida Luongo 12,067 8–7–3 19 19 November 19 Anaheim 3–1 Florida Luongo 10,947 8–8–3 19 20 November 21 NY Rangers 5–4 Florida OT Luongo 17,866 8–8–4 20 21 November 23 Los Angeles 3–1 Florida Luongo 10,997 8–9–4 20 22 November 27 NY Islanders 2–3 Florida SO Luongo 14,598 9–9–4 22 23 November 29 Florida 2–1 Detroit OT Luongo 20,027 10–9–4 24
December: 11–3–0 (Home: 5–1–0 ; Road: 6–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 24 December 1 Florida 3–1 St. Louis Luongo 15,395 11–9–4 26 25 December 3 Florida 2–1 Nashville Luongo 15,405 12–9–4 28 26 December 4 Florida 2–1 Columbus SO Montoya 14,162 13–9–4 30 27 December 6 Florida 2–4 New Jersey Luongo 13,643 13–10–4 30 28 December 8 Ottawa 4–2 Florida Luongo 11,571 13–11–4 30 29 December 10 Washington 1–4 Florida Montoya 12,810 14–11–4 32 30 December 12 Florida 1–3 Boston Luongo 17,565 14–12–4 32 31 December 15 Florida 5–1 NY Islanders Luongo 13,656 15–12–4 34 32 December 17 Florida 5–1 New Jersey Montoya 12,512 16–12–4 36 33 December 18 Florida 2–0 Carolina Luongo 10,511 17–12–4 38 34 December 20 Vancouver 4–5 Florida SO Luongo 13,459 18–12–4 40 35 December 22 Ottawa 1–2 Florida SO Luongo 14,538 19–12–4 42 36 December 27 Columbus 2–3 Florida Luongo 16,902 20–12–4 44 37 December 29 Montreal 1–3 Florida Luongo 19,822 21–12–4 46
January: 8–3–1 (Home: 5–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 38 January 2 NY Rangers 0–3 Florida Luongo 20,289 22–12–4 48 39 January 3 Minnesota 1–2 Florida OT Montoya 15,426 23–12–4 50 40 January 5 Florida 5–1 Buffalo Luongo 18,560 24–12–4 52 41 January 7 Florida 3–2 Ottawa Luongo 17,150 25–12–4 54 42 January 10 Florida 2–1 Edmonton Montoya 16,839 26–12–4 56 43 January 11 Florida 2–3 Vancouver OT Luongo 18,570 26–12–5 57 44 January 13 Florida 0–6 Calgary Luongo 18,702 26–13–5 57 45 January 17 Florida 1–3 Tampa Bay Luongo 19,092 26–14–5 57 46 January 18 Edmonton 4–2 Florida Montoya 14,897 26–15–5 57 47 January 22 Chicago 0–4 Florida Luongo 19,343 27–15–5 59 48 January 23 Tampa Bay 2–5 Florida Luongo 19,626 28–15–5 61 49 January 26 Toronto 1–5 Florida Luongo 14,585 29–15–5 63
February: 6–4–3 (Home: 4–2–2 ; Road: 2–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 50 February 2 Florida 5–2 Washington Montoya 18,506 30–15–5 65 51 February 4 Detroit 3–6 Florida Luongo 16,991 31–15–5 67 52 February 6 Pittsburgh 3–2 Florida OT Luongo 20,295 31–15–6 68 53 February 8 Florida 0–3 Detroit Montoya 20,027 31–16–6 68 54 February 9 Florida 7–4 Buffalo Luongo 18,837 32–16–6 70 55 February 12 St. Louis 5–3 Florida Montoya 13,904 32–17–6 70 56 February 13 Nashville 5–0 Florida Luongo 13,019 32–18–6 70 57 February 15 Pittsburgh 1–2 Florida SO Montoya 15,595 33–18–6 72 58 February 18 San Jose 2–1 Florida SO Montoya 13,019 33–18–7 73 59 February 20 Winnipeg 1–3 Florida Luongo 16,210 34–18–7 75 60 February 25 Arizona 2–3 Florida Luongo 13,134 35–18–7 77 61 February 27 Florida 3–4 Columbus SO Luongo 15,400 35–18–8 78 62 February 28 Florida 1–3 Minnesota Luongo 19,093 35–19–8 78
March: 8–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 5–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 63 March 1 Florida 3–2 Winnipeg Luongo 15,294 36–19–8 80 64 March 3 Florida 2–3 Colorado Luongo 16,194 36–20–8 80 65 March 5 Florida 1–5 Arizona Montoya 12,361 36–21–8 80 66 March 7 Boston 5–4 Florida OT Montoya 19,194 36–21–9 81 67 March 10 Ottawa 2–6 Florida Luongo 15,051 37–21–9 83 68 March 12 Philadelphia 4–5 Florida SO Luongo 19,404 38–21–9 85 69 March 14 Florida 2–3 NY Islanders Luongo 14,106 38–22–9 85 70 March 15 Florida 4–1 Montreal Montoya 21,288 39–22–9 87 71 March 17 Florida 4–1 Toronto Luongo 18,922 40–22–9 89 72 March 19 Detroit 5–3 Florida Luongo 20,817 40–23–9 89 73 March 21 Florida 2–4 NY Rangers Montoya 18,006 40–24–9 89 74 March 24 Florida 4–1 Boston Luongo 17,565 41–24–9 91 75 March 26 Florida 5–2 Tampa Bay Luongo 19,092 42–24–9 93 76 March 29 Toronto 5–2 Florida Luongo 16,724 42–25–9 93 77 March 31 New Jersey 2–3 Florida Montoya 15,803 43–25–9 95
April: 4–1–0 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 2–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 78 April 2 Montreal 3–4 Florida Luongo 17,427 44–25–9 97 79 April 4 Florida 4–3 Toronto Montoya 18,846 45–25–9 99 80 April 5 Florida 4–1 Montreal Luongo 21,288 46–25–9 101 81 April 7 Florida 1–3 Ottawa Montoya 19,165 46–26–9 101 82 April 9 Carolina 2–5 Florida Luongo 18,434 47–26–9 103
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

2016 Stanley Cup playoffs

Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC) New York Islanders: New York won 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 14 NY Islanders 5–4 Florida Luongo 17,422 0–1 2 April 15 NY Islanders 1–3 Florida Luongo 18,373 1–1 3 April 17 Florida 3–4 NY Islanders OT Luongo 15,795 1–2 4 April 20 Florida 2–1 NY Islanders Luongo 15,795 2–2 5 April 22 NY Islanders 2–1 Florida 2OT Luongo 20,247 2–3 6 April 24 Florida 1–2 NY Islanders 2OT Luongo 15,795 2–4 Legend:       Win       Loss

Player stats

Final stats

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Jaromir Jagr	79	27	39	66	23	48
Jussi Jokinen	81	18	42	60	25	42
Aleksander Barkov	66	28	31	59	18	8
Jonathan Huberdeau	76	20	39	59	17	43
Vincent Trocheck	76	25	28	53	15	44
Reilly Smith	82	25	25	50	19	31
Aaron Ekblad	78	15	21	36	18	41
Nick Bjugstad	67	15	19	34	−8	41
Brian Campbell	82	6	25	31	31	26
Brandon Pirri‡	52	11	13	24	−4	30
Alex Petrovic	66	2	15	17	17	90
Dmitri Kulikov	74	1	16	17	8	51
Derek MacKenzie	64	6	7	13	7	36
Jiri Hudler†	19	6	5	11	0	10
Quinton Howden	58	6	5	11	−1	18
Teddy Purcell†	15	3	8	11	−2	2
Erik Gudbranson	64	2	7	9	3	49
Logan Shaw	53	5	2	7	−7	13
Corban Knight	20	2	5	7	3	4
Willie Mitchell	46	1	6	7	−2	18
Rocco Grimaldi	20	3	2	5	−4	2
Shawn Thornton	50	1	4	5	−2	80
Dave Bolland	25	1	4	5	−2	16
Connor Brickley	23	1	4	5	1	14
Steven Kampfer	47	0	4	4	5	26
Greg McKegg	15	2	0	2	1	2
Jakub Kindl†	19	0	2	2	10	4
Dylan Olsen	8	0	1	1	−1	2
Michael Matheson	3	0	0	0	1	2
John McFarland	3	0	0	0	−1	0
Kyle Rau	9	0	0	0	−1	2
Brent Regner	7	0	0	0	−2	4
Garrett Wilson	29	0	0	0	−3	24

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Reilly Smith	6	4	4	8	7	0
Nick Bjugstad	5	2	2	4	6	2
Jussi Jokinen	6	1	3	4	5	4
Dmitri Kulikov	6	1	3	4	4	4
Alex Petrovic	6	1	3	4	5	4
Aleksander Barkov	6	2	1	3	−2	2
Jonathan Huberdeau	6	1	2	3	1	10
Teddy Purcell	6	2	0	2	−3	0
Jaromir Jagr	6	0	2	2	−2	4
Brian Campbell	6	0	1	1	−3	0
Derek MacKenzie	6	0	1	1	−1	4
Jiri Hudler	6	0	1	1	−2	4
Garrett Wilson	6	0	1	1	−1	4
Vincent Trocheck	2	0	1	1	1	0
Michael Matheson	5	0	1	1	1	0
Aaron Ekblad	6	0	1	1	0	0
Shawn Thornton	4	0	0	0	0	2
Jakub Kindl	1	0	0	0	−1	0
Greg McKegg	1	0	0	0	0	2
Erik Gudbranson	6	0	0	0	−2	2
Logan Shaw	3	0	0	0	−2	0
Rocco Grimaldi	2	0	0	0	−1	2

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Roberto Luongo	62	60	3602:51	35	19	6	141	2.35	1801	.922	4	0	2	4
Al Montoya	25	22	1351:15	12	7	3	49	2.18	608	.919	0	0	0	2

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Roberto Luongo	6	6	438	2	4	15	2.05	227	.934	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Panthers. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Awards and honours

Awards

Regular Season

Player	Award	Awarded
J. Jagr	NHL All-Star game captain	January 2, 2016
A. Ekblad	NHL All-Star game selection	January 6, 2016
R. Luongo	NHL All-Star game selection	January 6, 2016
V. Trocheck	NHL Third Star of the Week	February 8, 2016

Milestones

Regular Season

Player	Milestone	Reached
C. Brickley	1st Career NHL Game	October 10, 2015
C. Brickley	1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point	October 13, 2015
D. MacKenzie	400th Career NHL Game	October 31, 2015
A. Ekblad	100th Career NHL Game	November 19, 2015
V. Trocheck	100th Career NHL Game	December 12, 2015

Transactions

The Panthers were involved in the following transactions during the 2015–16 season:

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 27, 2015 (2015-06-27)	To New York Islanders MTL's 5th-round pick in 2015	To Florida Panthers 5th-round pick in 2016
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	To Boston Bruins Jimmy Hayes (rights)	To Florida Panthers Reilly Smith Marc Savard
February 27, 2016 (2016-02-27)	To Calgary Flames 2nd-round pick in 2016 4th-round pick in 2018	To Florida Panthers Jiri Hudler
February 27, 2016 (2016-02-27)	To Edmonton Oilers conditional 3rd-round pick in 2016	To Florida Panthers Teddy Purcell
February 27, 2016 (2016-02-27)	To Detroit Red Wings 6th-round pick in 2017	To Florida Panthers Jakub KindlNote 1
February 29, 2016 (2016-02-29)	To Anaheim Ducks Brandon Pirri	To Florida Panthers 6th-round pick in 2016
May 25, 2016 (2016-05-25)	To Vancouver Canucks Erik Gudbranson NYI's 5th-round pick in 2016	To Florida Panthers Jared McCann 2nd-round pick in 2016 4th-round pick in 2016
June 10, 2016 (2016-06-10)	To New Jersey Devils Marc Savard 2nd-round pick in 2018	To Florida Panthers Paul Thompson Graham Black
June 20, 2016 (2016-06-20)	To New York Rangers 6th-round pick in 2016 Conditional 4th-round pick in 2017Note 2	To Florida Panthers Keith Yandle (negotiating rights)
June 23, 2016 (2016-06-23)	To Colorado Avalanche Rocco Grimaldi	To Florida Panthers Reto Berra

Notes

• ^{Note 1} Detroit to retain 15% ($720,000) of salary as part of trade.
• ^{Note 2} Conditional on Yandle signing with Panthers.

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Mike McKenna	Arizona Coyotes	2 years, $1.15 million
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Shane Harper	Chicago Wolves	1 year, $575,000
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Sena Acolatse	Adirondack Flames	1 year, $575,000
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Cameron Gaunce	Texas Stars	1 year, $575,000
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Brent Regner	Chicago Wolves	2 years, $1.2 million
July 2, 2015 (2015-07-02)	Rob Flick	Providence Bruins	1 year, $575,000
March 2, 2016 (2016-03-02)	Dryden Hunt	Moose Jaw Warriors	entry-level contract
May 3, 2016 (2016-05-03)	Linus Hultstrom	Djurgardens IF	entry-level contract

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 4, 2015 (2015-07-04)	Dan Ellis	Washington Capitals	1 year, $650,000
July 16, 2015 (2015-07-16)	Shane O'Brien	Anaheim Ducks	1 year, $600,000
October 5, 2015 (2015-10-05)	Scottie Upshall	St. Louis Blues	1 year, $700,000
September 27, 2015 (2015-09-27)	Brad Boyes	Toronto Maple Leafs	1 year, $700,000

Claimed via waivers

Player	Former team	Date claimed off waivers	Ref

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date claimed off waivers	Ref

Lost via retirement

Player	Ref

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 8, 2015 (2015-07-08)	Corban Knight	1 year, $750,000
July 8, 2015 (2015-07-08)	Garrett Wilson	1 year, $675,000
July 8, 2015 (2015-07-08)	Greg McKegg	1 year, $700,000
July 15, 2015 (2015-07-15)	Lawson Crouse	3 years, entry-level contract
July 15, 2015 (2015-07-15)	Alex Petrovic	2 years, $2.1 million
July 15, 2015 (2015-07-15)	Quinton Howden	1 year, $850,500
July 15, 2015 (2015-07-15)	John McFarland	1 year, $850,500
September 17, 2015 (2015-09-17)	Jonathan Huberdeau	2 years, $6.5 million
January 26, 2016 (2016-01-26)	Aleksander Barkov	6 years, $35.4 million contract extension
February 25, 2016 (2016-02-25)	Shawn Thornton	1 year, contract extension
March 1, 2016 (2016-03-01)	Jayce Hawryluk	entry-level contract
March 29, 2016 (2016-03-29)	Michael Downing	entry-level contract
April 15, 2016 (2016-04-15)	Juho Lammikko	3 years, entry-level contract
May 5, 2016 (2016-05-05)	Jaromir Jagr	1 year, $4 million
May 9, 2016 (2016-05-09)	Erik Gudbranson	1 year, $3.5 million
May 10, 2016 (2016-05-10)	Sam Montembeault	3 years, entry-level contract
May 11, 2016 (2016-05-11)	Shane Harper	1 year

Draft picks

See also: List of Florida Panthers draft picks

Below are the Florida Panthers' selections at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 26–27, 2015 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	11	Lawson Crouse	LW	Canada	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
3	77	Sam Montembault	G	Canada	Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)
3	88	Thomas Schemitsch	D	Canada	Owen Sound Attack (OHL)
4	102	Denis Malgin	C	Switzerland	ZSC Lions (NLA)
5	132	Karch Bachman	LW	United States	Culver Academy (HS-Indiana)
6	162	Christopher Wilkie	RW	United States	Tri-City Storm (USHL)
7	192	Patrick Shea	C	United States	Kimball Union Academy Wildcats (HS-New Hampshire)
7	206	Ryan Bednard	G	United States	Johnstown Tomahawks (NAHL)

Draft notes

• The Florida Panthers' second-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on June 27, 2015 that sent Carl Hagelin and a second and sixth-round pick in 2015 (59th and 179th overall) to Anaheim in exchange for Emerson Etem and this pick.

  Anaheim previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 26, 2015 that sent Kyle Palmieri to New Jersey in exchange for a third-round pick in 2016 and this pick.

  New Jersey previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on February 26, 2015 that sent Jaromir Jagr to Florida in exchange for a conditional third-round pick in 2016 and this pick.

• The Florida Panthers' third-round pick went to the Tampa Bay Lightning as the result of a trade on June 26, 2015 that sent the Rangers' first-round pick in 2015 (28th overall) to the New York Islanders in exchange for Edmonton's second-round pick in 2015 (33rd overall) and this pick.

  The Islanders previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 28, 2014 that sent a third-round pick in 2014 to Florida in exchange for this pick.

• ^a The Pittsburgh Penguins' third-round pick went to the Florida Panthers as the result of a trade on March 5, 2014 that sent Marcel Goc to Pittsburgh in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and this pick.
• ^b The Anaheim Ducks' third-round pick went to the Florida Panthers as the result of a trade on February 28, 2015 that sent Tomas Fleischmann to Anaheim in exchange for Dany Heatley and this pick.
• ^c The St. Louis Blues' seventh-round pick went to the Florida Panthers as the result of a trade on September 28, 2013 that sent Scott Timmins and a sixth-round pick in 2014 to New Jersey in exchange for Krys Barch and this pick.

  New Jersey previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on March 22, 2013 that sent a conditional fourth-round pick to St. Louis in exchange for Matt D'Agostini and this pick.