By Alex Hobson
It was Friday, October 10th, and the Leafs season was still young. They had just lost their first game of the season against the Montreal Canadiens, but no one was intimidated by it. Then, former GM Dave Nonis announced an interesting transaction. The Leafs had claimed forward Richard Panik off of waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning. The young Slovakian forward appeared in 50 games for the Lightning in the 2013-14 season, often playing alongside two members of the well-known triplets line in Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat (Nikita Kucherov now plays the role of the third member of the line). Anyways, back to the topic of Panik.
Lightning GM Steve Yzerman did not have enough space on the team to keep Palat there, so he placed him on waivers, only to have him claimed by the Leafs. Panik appeared in 76 games in the 2014-15 season for the Leafs and posted 11 goals and 17 points. Panik found an offensive stride and displayed slick hands as well as a big body to use to his advantage on the ice. He's only 24 and only has two years of NHL experience under his belt, so there is still room for him to improve. And by a stroke of luck, Panik has two former teammates (and coincidentally, linemates) from the Guelph Storm in Peter Holland and Taylor Beck. It's obviously unknown whether Panik will play alongside these players next year, but given he already spent a considerable amount of time alongside of Holland in the past season, theres still a chance that these three could reunite themselves.
STATUS: SAFE
Like many other players, Panik doesn't have any reason to be traded, and likely won't be. That being said, he's not untouchable and if a deal comes along that the Leafs can not refuse, and it involves Panik, the Leafs won't have a problem with trading him.
2015-16 ROLE: MIDDLE SIX FORWARD
Panik spent most of last season on the third line alongside of Peter Holland, but given that the Leafs lost their star sniper in Phil Kessel, this leaves a gaping hole in the depth chart at right wing. The Leafs could feature a lineup in which new acquisition P.A Parenteau fills in the first line right wing spot and Panik takes the second, but someone else could break out and push Panik down to third. It's highly unknown at this point, but second or third line seems most suitable for him.
What do you think of Panik, Leafs fans? Weigh in below.
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