# 2008–09 Florida Panthers season

The 2008–09 Florida Panthers season was the 15th season for the franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL). The 2008–09 season was also the eighth consecutive season in which the Panthers did not make the Stanley Cup playoffs, finishing level on points with the qualifying Montreal Canadiens, but suffering from an inferior head-to-head record (1–3), the decisive tiebreaker.
On June 14, 2008, the Panthers named Peter DeBoer head coach and signed him to a multi-year contract. Former head coach Jacques Martin had resigned from the position but retained his position as general manager.

## Preseason

The Florida Panthers played seven preseason exhibition games before the start of the regular season. The team went on a road trip across North America to play six games on six consecutive nights, winning only the first two games. The trip included the first-ever NHL game played on Prince Edward Island, against the New York Islanders. After one final preseason game at home, the Panthers finished the preseason with a 3–2–2 record.

## Regular season
### Divisional standings

Southeast Division :
| | | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | y – Washington Capitals | 82 | 50 | 24 | 8 | 272 | 245 | 108 |
| 2 | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 239 | 226 | 97 |
| 3 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 234 | 231 | 93 |
| 4 | Atlanta Thrashers | 82 | 35 | 41 | 6 | 257 | 280 | 76 |
| 5 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 24 | 40 | 18 | 210 | 279 | 66 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | z – Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 53 | 19 | 10 | 274 | 196 | 116 |
| 2 | y – Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 50 | 24 | 8 | 272 | 245 | 108 |
| 3 | y – New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 51 | 27 | 4 | 244 | 209 | 106 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 45 | 28 | 9 | 264 | 239 | 99 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 44 | 27 | 11 | 264 | 238 | 99 |
| 6 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 239 | 226 | 97 |
| 7 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 210 | 218 | 95 |
| 8 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 249 | 247 | 93 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 234 | 231 | 93 |
| 10 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 250 | 234 | 91 |
| 11 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 36 | 35 | 11 | 217 | 237 | 83 |
| 12 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 34 | 35 | 13 | 250 | 293 | 81 |
| 13 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 35 | 41 | 6 | 257 | 280 | 76 |
| 14 | Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 24 | 40 | 18 | 210 | 279 | 66 |
| 15 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 26 | 47 | 9 | 201 | 279 | 61 |
bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)
AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

## Schedule and results

2008–09 Game Log :

## Playoffs

The Panthers failed to make the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season. They last made the playoffs in 2000.

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Stephen Weiss | 78 | 14 | 47 | 61 | +18 | 22 |
| David Booth | 72 | 31 | 29 | 60 | +10 | 38 |
| Cory Stillman | 63 | 17 | 32 | 49 | +1 | 37 |
| Nathan Horton | 67 | 22 | 23 | 45 | -5 | 48 |
| Michael Frolik | 79 | 21 | 24 | 45 | +9 | 22 |
| Jay Bouwmeester | 82 | 15 | 27 | 42 | -2 | 68 |
| Bryan McCabe | 69 | 15 | 24 | 39 | -1 | 41 |
| Radek Dvorak | 81 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 0 | 42 |
| Keith Ballard | 82 | 6 | 28 | 34 | +14 | 72 |
| Richard Zednik | 70 | 17 | 16 | 33 | +2 | 46 |
| Gregory Campbell | 77 | 13 | 19 | 32 | 0 | 76 |
| Ville Peltonen | 79 | 12 | 19 | 31 | +6 | 31 |
| Nick Boynton | 68 | 5 | 16 | 21 | +7 | 91 |
| Brett McLean | 80 | 7 | 12 | 19 | -11 | 29 |
| Kamil Kreps | 66 | 4 | 15 | 19 | +3 | 18 |
| Karlis Skrastins | 80 | 4 | 14 | 18 | +9 | 30 |
| Jassen Cullimore | 68 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -10 | 37 |
| Rostislav Olesz | 37 | 4 | 5 | 9 | -5 | 8 |
| Anthony Stewart | 59 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -6 | 34 |
| Nick Tarnasky$^†$ | 34 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -2 | 33 |
| Noah Welch$^‡$ | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -5 | 11 |
| Shawn Matthias | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 2 |
| Michal Repik | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 2 |
| Bryan Allen | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 0 |
| Steve Eminger$^†$ | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 6 |
| Cory Murphy$^‡$ | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 2 |
| Wade Belak$^‡$ | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Janis Sprukts | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kenndal McArdle | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 |
| Tanner Glass | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Jason Garrison | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV | Sv% | SO |
| Tomas Vokoun | 59 | 3324 | 26 | 23 | 6 | 138 | 2.49 | 1855 | 1717 | .926 | 6 |
| Craig Anderson | 31 | 1635 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 74 | 2.71 | 977 | 903 | .924 | 3 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Panthers. Stats reflect time with Panthers only. $^‡$Traded mid-season Bold/italics denotes franchise record
    Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
    Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

## Awards and records
### Milestones

Regular Season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Jason Garrison | 1st NHL Game | October 25, 2008 |
| Jay Bouwmeester | 400th NHL Game | November 2, 2008 |
| Kamil Kreps | 100th NHL Game | November 2, 2008 |
| Tomas Vokoun | 500th NHL Game | March 7, 2009 |

## Transactions
### Trades

| June 20, 2008 | To Florida Panthers Nick Boynton Keith Ballard 2nd-round pick in 2008 – Jared Staal | To Phoenix Coyotes Olli Jokinen |
| September 2, 2008 | To Florida Panthers Bryan McCabe 4th round pick in 2009 | To Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Van Ryn |
| November 27, 2008 | To Florida Panthers Nick Tarnasky | To Nashville Predators Wade Belak |
| March 4, 2009 | To Florida Panthers Steve Eminger | To Tampa Bay Lightning Noah Welch 3rd-round pick in 2009 – Andrej Nestrasil |

### Free agents

| Player | Former team | Contract Terms |
| Player | New team |

### Claimed from waivers

| Player | Former team | Date claimed off waivers |

## Draft picks

Florida's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa • Ontario.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 2 | 31 (from Tampa Bay) | Jacob Markstrom | (G) | Sweden | Brynäs IF (Sweden Jr.) |
| 2 | 46 (Nashville via Phoenix) | Colby Robak | (D) | Canada | Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) |
| 3 | 80 (from Colorado) | Adam Comrie | (D) | Canada | Saginaw Spirit (OHL) |
| 4 | 100 | AJ Jenks | (LW) | United States | Plymouth Whalers (OHL) |
| 7 | 190 | Matthew Bartkowski | (D) | United States | Lincoln Stars (USHL) |