The 2014–15

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

was the 21st season for the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) franchise that was established on June 14, 1993.

Off-season

On April 29, 2014, General Manager

Dale Tallon Michael "Dale" Tallon (born October 19, 1950) is a Canadian ice hockey executive and former player. He played in the NHL for ten years as a defenceman for the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Black Hawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Following his ret ...

relieved Interim Head Coach

Peter Horachek Peter Horachek (born January 26, 1960) is currently a pro scout for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). Horachek was previously a long-time assistant coach for the Nashville Predators, as well as the interim head coach of the ...

of his duties, and announced that the Panthers were looking to hire a new head coach with NHL experience prior to June 27, 2014, when the 2014 NHL entry draft will be held.

Training camp

The Panthers will play in six pre-season exhibition games before the start of the 2014–15 regular season.

Memorable events

On March 3, 2015, in a game against the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

goaltender

Roberto Luongo Roberto Luongo (, , ; born April 4, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, and Vancouver Canucks. In 2022, Luongo was ...

suffered an injury and was forced to leave the game; he was replaced by backup

Al Montoya Álvaro Silva Montoya (born February 13, 1985) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who played a total of nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Arizona Coyotes, New York Islanders, Winnipeg Jets, Florida P ...

. Later in the same game, however, Montoya also suffered an injury. Without another available goaltender (NHL teams seldom have a third goaltender on the roster), Montoya attempted to continue playing with the injury while the team debated their options, reportedly considered between either having forward

Derek MacKenzie Derek MacKenzie (born June 11, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who most notably played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently an ass ...

play the position or calling on a "local" goaltender. Forty-one-year-old Goaltending Coach

Rob Tallas Robert Wayne "Robbie" Tallas (born March 20, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks between 1996 and 2001. Playing career Tallas p ...

subsequently dressed in goaltending gear, registered with the team's roster and began warming up in the dressing room tunnel in preparation to enter the game as an emergency backup, but before entering the game, however, Luongo was able to return and finish the remainder of the game. Allegedly, Luongo was at the hospital when Montoya was injured and was rushed back to the arena. This marked the second such instance for Tallas being called in as an emergency backup, with the other occurrence happening the previous season and also preventing him from officially entering the game as the original goaltender returned. Had he played, it would have been his first appearance in an NHL game in 14 years. The incident has reportedly lead the NHL to consider reviewing its rules for "emergency" players and led the Panthers to hold open tryouts for a "fill-in" goaltender.

Standings

Suspensions/fines

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Regular season

Playoffs

Despite having 91 points, the Panthers failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Player stats

Final stats ;Skaters ;Goaltenders ^†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.

Notable achievements

Awards

Milestones

Transactions

The Panthers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2014–15 season:

Trades

Free agents acquired

Free agents lost

Claimed via waivers

Lost via waivers

Lost via retirement

Players released

Player signings

Draft picks

The 2014 NHL entry draft was held on June 27–28, 2014 at the

Wells Fargo Center Wells Fargo Center may refer to: * Wells Fargo Center (Los Angeles), California * Wells Fargo Center (Sacramento), California * Wells Fargo Center (San Francisco), California * Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, California * Wells Fargo C ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. On April 15, 2014, the Panthers won the draft lottery to jump ahead of the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

and secure the first selection in the draft. ;Draft notes * The

' third-round pick went to the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

as the result of a trade on June 28, 2014, that sent a third and fourth-round pick (72nd and 102nd overall) both in 2014 to San Jose in exchange for this pick.
San Jose previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 27, 2014, that sent a first-round pick and the Rangers sixth-round pick both in 2014 (20th and 179th overall) to Chicago in exchange for a first-round pick in 2014 (27th overall) and this pick.
Chicago previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on March 2, 2014, that sent

Brandon Pirri Brandon Pirri (born April 10, 1991) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round (59th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Pirri also played for the Florida Panthers, Anahe ...

to Florida in exchange for a fifth-round pick in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and this pick. * The

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

' third-round pick went to the

as the result of a trade on June 28, 2014, that sent a third-round pick in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

to New York in exchange for this pick. * Florida's fifth-round pick went to the New York Rangers, as the result of a trade on July 20, 2012, that sent Casey Wellman to Florida, in exchange for this pick. * The

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

' fifth-round pick went to the

as the result of a trade on March 5, 2014, that sent

Marcel Goc Marcel Goc (; born 24 August 1983) is a German former professional ice hockey player. Goc's father Josef played hockey in his native Czechoslovakia, he has two brothers who also play professional hockey. His older brother Sascha has played for ...

to Pittsburgh in exchange for a third-round pick in

and this pick. *Florida's sixth-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils, as the result of a trade on September 28, 2013, that sent Krys Barch and St. Louis' seventh-round pick in

to Florida, in exchange for Scott Timmins and this pick. * The

' seventh-round pick was re-acquired as the result of a trade on July 5, 2013, that sent

George Parros George James Parros (born December 29, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), who currently serves as the head of the NHL's Department of Player Safety, with the tit ...

to Montreal in exchange for Philippe Lefebvre and this pick.
Montreal previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 30, 2013, that sent a seventh-round pick in 2013 to Florida in exchange for this pick.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2014-15 Florida Panthers Season Florida Panthers seasons

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...