The Florida Panthers continued their offseason purge and reshuffling of the front office when recently promoted general manager Tom Rowe confirmed on Monday that they have fired Scott Luce, the organization’s director of player personnel.
Luce had played a major role in the Panthers’ drafting process since 2002 and was largely responsible for selecting notable players such as Dmitry Kulikov, Erik Gudbranson and Jonathan Huberdeau.
Rowe praised Luce’s loyalty and work ethic, but said that he, the owners and Dale Tallon, who recently changed titles from general manager to president of hockey operations, felt it was time for a “different voice at the top,” of the scouting department.
“Scott’s a good man and obviously brought in some players who have helped us over the years, but I felt we wanted to expand the roles of [scouts] Jason Bakula, Peter Mahovlich and our guy in Minnesota, Fred Bandel,” Rowe said via phone from Red Deer, Alberta where he’s scouting Panthers prospect Jayce Hawryluk in the CHL Memorial Cup.
“It’s more of a collaborative effort and it’s not that Scott didn’t agree with it, I just wanted to get a different voice at the top. We’re going through a process of bringing in new people, changing things up a little.
“It’s not an indictment of Scott, it’s just when one person is in the same location for a lot of years it’s always a good opportunity to bring in a voice from the outside to get a different perspective on things, do things a little differently. We’re always looking for new ideas.”
Rowe said that he and Tallon will head the scouting and personnel department until they find a replacement, but re-emphasized that Tallon will have the final say at next month’s draft in Buffalo. He also said that recently named co-assistant general managers (and analytic proponents) Eric Joyce and Steve Werier will have important seats at the draft table.
Rowe confirmed that the Panthers hired hockey analytics specialists Cam Lawrence and Josh Weissbock on a part-time basis to add their input into the drafting process. They created a drafting model called Prospect Cohort Success, which rates prospects on a combination of size, point production and age, as well as what league he plays in.
“They’ll have input, but not 100 percent input,” Rowe said. “It’s a piece of the equation and helps us make good decisions. We’re not going to make every decision perfectly by any stretch, we’ll make our mistakes, but in today’s world you need to look at that part of the business. You also take live viewing and character assessment of the players you draft and you put together the package with video and make better decisions as a group.”
Brian MacDonald remains the Panthers director of hockey analytics. Still, Rowe stressed that statistics and numbers give the drafting team more tools to work with, but that it’s conversations with respected talent evaluators and cross-checkers such as Mahovlich, Bukala, Bandel and Tallon that will ultimately determine who the Panthers draft and trade for.
Other recent moves included mutually parting ways with defensive coach John Madden and the firing of director of hockey operations Mike Dixon. Earlier this season, the Panthers also promoted Matt Caldwell to president and chief operating officer of the team.
Rowe said that he hopes to expand the role of former NHL defenseman Bryan McCabe, the manager of player development, and possibly groom him as a future general manager because of his, “keen eye,” for talent.
Rowe said while he’s happy about the team’s success this season in setting franchise records with 47 wins and 103 points, that there is no satisfaction in a first-round playoff ouster by the New York Islanders.
“It’s a great game, but a tough business sometimes,” Rowe said of the firings. “The fans came out in big numbers and it was awesome. We made the playoffs and that’s good. But at the end of the day, I didn’t think we had enough punch in the playoffs and I don’t think we gave [coach Gerard Gallant] enough options to get past the Islanders on our third and fourth lines.”
Rowe clarified that center Derek MacKenzie needed more help from his wings.
“I thought we got good contributions from guys [like fourth-line forward Garrett Wilson],” Rowe added. “But we couldn’t finish off the Islanders, so we got to get better. Fans aren’t going to be happy next year if we get pushed out in the first round.
“I’m not going to hide from it. I know we’re being questioned, but we want excellence and need to make changes. I think from the people we’re bringing in here, we’re going to be better.
“Our fans pay too much money for tickets and parking for us not to have the best product possible that we put on the ice. It’s my job to find the talent off the ice and put it in place and get everyone working on the same page. Then Dale and I will work together to get the best possible players.”
New AHL affiliate
Tallon announced Monday that Florida signed a multi-year affiliation agreement with Springfield Hockey, LLC of the American Hockey League to serve as the Panthers AHL affiliate.
The Panthers previous affiliate, the Portland Pirates, was bought last month by the former owners of the Springfield Falcons, who relocated to Tucson, Ariz., to be the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate.
Joyce will serve as general manager in Springfield.
