The thirteenth installment of my thots include The Florida Panthers (Tyler Bell) are a wannabe playoff-caliber team sitting 5th in the Atlantic with a 41-25-6 record, but there are some major red flags in their performance profile.

• Powerplay (PP): 19.82% (14th) – Middle of the pack; respectable but not scary.
• Penalty Kill (PK): 73.91% (32nd) – Dead last in the league, and a massive liability.
• Goals For (GF): 3.24 (14th) – Offense is solid and productive, hovering around league average.
• Goals Against (GA): 2.97 (18th) – A bit leaky defensively, especially when combined with the terrible PK.

Forwards: C+
Your NHL-caliber forwards include Cole Caufield, Wyatt Johnston, Brandon Saad, Jordan Eberle, and Marcus Foligno.

• Wyatt Johnston is the best piece here — young, productive, and growing.
• Caufield has elite scoring upside but hasn’t broken out fully in BRHL terms.
• Others like Saad, Eberle, and Foligno are declining vets.
• C depth is heavy (Lowry, Wennberg, Couture, Kuraly, Poehling, Blackwell), but mostly bottom-six producers.

You have quantity but not enough top-6 game-breaking talent. Depth roles are fine for now, but scoring is your biggest issue.

Defense: C

• Shea Theodore is your clear #1 D.
• Fehervary, Nick Jensen, Tanev, Sean Walker, and Dylan Samberg are all solid mid-pair or defensive D.

There’s depth here and it’s an NHL-viable group, but you’re missing powerplay-producing blueliners outside of Theodore. There’s also no young elite defender to take over in a few years unless someone like Samberg surprises.

Goalies: B-
You’re running with Marc-Andre Fleury, Frederik Andersen, and Clay Stevenson, with Scott Wedgewood also in the mix.

• This is fine for now, but Fleury is likely done soon, Andersen is injury-prone, and Wedgewood is a backup.
• Stevenson has some AHL promise, but it’s unclear if he’ll be a real NHL starter.

You need to prioritize a long-term goalie solution—this group won’t hold up for more than another season or two.

Prospect Pool: A-
This is your strength. You have a massive farm system loaded with names. Notables include:

• Matthew Savoie, Ilya Nabokov (goalie), Oliver Kapanen, Elias Pettersson (D), Hudson Malinoski, Scott Ratzlaff (G), Rodwin Dionicio, Andrew Gibson, and Denton Mateychuk.
• Quantity AND quality. You have enough prospects to build a future contender if development pans out.

This pool is long, deep, and features upside in net, defense, and offense. You just need patience.

Draft Capital: B
You own:

• Your 2025 1st round pick,
• All 7 of your 2026 picks,
• Full sets of picks through 2029,
• Plus extra 2025 mid-late picks (PHI 5, LAK 6, etc).

You’re loaded and have a future war chest to either rebuild or trade aggressively.

Future Outlook: B+
Despite weak on-ice results, you’re well set up long-term.

• A few elite young forwards (Wyatt Johnston, Caufield),
• A top-end D in Theodore with serviceable depth,
• One of the deepest farm systems in the league,

Final Grade: B- now, A potential later
This is a “lose now, win later” roster. You’re sitting on a goldmine—just need time and smart roster maneuvering. With that said, you get an F at the trade deadline as you did not land the big fish your team so desperately needed. You have many pieces and a surplus of assets to make a move that could make you a contender very soon. It may be time for Sober Tyler to Evolve into The Ultimate Sober Tyler and become a force to be reckoned with, one that has not been seen since Tyler R hit up Taco Bell and ordered a Crunch wrap Supreme before Free agency last year.