# 2018–19 Florida Panthers season

The 2018–19 Florida Panthers season was the 25th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 14, 1993. The Panthers were eliminated from playoff contention on March 26, 2019, after losing 6–1 to the Montreal Canadiens. This was also the final season for Roberto Luongo, who announced his retirement on June 26, 2019, after playing 19 seasons in the NHL. As of 2024, this is the most recent season in which the Panthers did not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

## Standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | p – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 62 | 16 | 4 | 56 | 325 | 222 | +103 | 128 |
| 2 | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 49 | 24 | 9 | 47 | 259 | 215 | +44 | 107 |
| 3 | x – Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 46 | 28 | 8 | 46 | 286 | 251 | +35 | 100 |
| 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 44 | 30 | 8 | 41 | 249 | 236 | +13 | 96 |
| 5 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 36 | 32 | 14 | 33 | 267 | 280 | −13 | 86 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 33 | 39 | 10 | 28 | 226 | 271 | −45 | 76 |
| 7 | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 29 | 227 | 277 | −50 | 74 |
| 8 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 29 | 47 | 6 | 29 | 242 | 302 | −60 | 64 |
Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | ME | x – Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 44 | 245 | 223 | +22 | 99 |
| 2 | ME | x – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 47 | 31 | 4 | 45 | 258 | 232 | +26 | 98 |
| 3 | AT | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 44 | 30 | 8 | 41 | 249 | 236 | +13 | 96 |
| 4 | AT | Florida Panthers | 82 | 36 | 32 | 14 | 33 | 267 | 280 | −13 | 86 |
| 5 | ME | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 37 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 244 | 281 | −37 | 82 |
| 6 | ME | New York Rangers | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 26 | 227 | 272 | −45 | 78 |
| 7 | AT | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 33 | 39 | 10 | 28 | 226 | 271 | −45 | 76 |
| 8 | AT | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 29 | 227 | 277 | −50 | 74 |
| 9 | ME | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 31 | 41 | 10 | 28 | 222 | 275 | −53 | 72 |
| 10 | AT | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 29 | 47 | 6 | 29 | 242 | 302 | −60 | 64 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 14, 2018.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.
2018–19 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)
Note:
$^a$ Game was played at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. :

## Player statistics

As of April 6, 2019

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Aleksander Barkov | 82 | 35 | 61 | 96 | −3 | 8 |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | 82 | 30 | 62 | 92 | −14 | 40 |
| Mike Hoffman | 82 | 36 | 34 | 70 | −24 | 30 |
| Evgenii Dadonov | 82 | 28 | 42 | 70 | −6 | 8 |
| Keith Yandle | 82 | 9 | 53 | 62 | −17 | 50 |
| Frank Vatrano | 81 | 24 | 15 | 39 | −10 | 38 |
| Aaron Ekblad | 82 | 13 | 24 | 37 | 1 | 47 |
| Vincent Trocheck | 55 | 10 | 24 | 34 | −9 | 54 |
| Mike Matheson | 75 | 8 | 19 | 27 | −24 | 44 |
| Troy Brouwer | 75 | 12 | 9 | 21 | −6 | 47 |
| Jared McCann$^‡$ | 46 | 8 | 10 | 18 | −9 | 18 |
| Henrik Borgstrom | 50 | 8 | 10 | 18 | −14 | 4 |
| Denis Malgin | 50 | 7 | 9 | 16 | −10 | 14 |
| Colton Sceviour | 59 | 5 | 10 | 15 | −2 | 15 |
| MacKenzie Weegar | 64 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −3 | 64 |
| Jayce Hawryluk | 42 | 7 | 5 | 12 | −8 | 16 |
| Nick Bjugstad$^‡$ | 32 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 16 |
| Mark Pysyk | 70 | 1 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 26 |
| Dryden Hunt | 31 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
| Riley Sheahan$^†$ | 33 | 2 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 4 |
| Bogdan Kiselevich$^‡$ | 32 | 0 | 8 | 8 | −3 | 12 |
| Jamie McGinn | 19 | 4 | 3 | 7 | −5 | 6 |
| Juho Lammikko | 40 | 0 | 6 | 6 | −7 | 6 |
| Derick Brassard$^{†‡}$ | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −6 | 2 |
| Micheal Haley$^‡$ | 24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −2 | 30 |
| Ian McCoshen | 19 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −2 | 8 |
| Josh Brown | 37 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3 | 28 |
| Jacob MacDonald | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alex Petrovic$^‡$ | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −8 | 24 |
| Chris Wideman$^{†‡}$ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Maxim Mamin | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 5 |
| Derek MacKenzie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anthony Greco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 0 |
| Riley Stillman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Brady Keeper | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Roberto Luongo | 43 | 40 | 2,346:38 | 18 | 16 | 5 | 122 | 3.12 | 1,205 | .899 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| James Reimer | 36 | 29 | 1,805:11 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 93 | 3.09 | 929 | .900 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Montembeault | 11 | 10 | 591:24 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 30 | 3.04 | 282 | .894 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Michael Hutchinson$^‡$ | 4 | 3 | 201:14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 4.17 | 87 | .839 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$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.

## Transactions

The Panthers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23) | To Nashville Predators3rd-round pick in 2019 | To Florida Panthers3rd-round pick in 2018 |
| December 29, 2018 (2018-12-29) | To Toronto Maple LeafsMichael Hutchinson | To Florida Panthers5th-round pick in 2020 |
| December 30, 2018 (2018-12-30) | To Edmonton OilersAlex Petrovic | To Florida PanthersChris Wideman Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2019 |
| February 1, 2019 (2019-02-01) | To Pittsburgh PenguinsNick Bjugstad Jared McCann | To Florida PanthersDerick Brassard Riley Sheahan 2nd-round pick in 2019 4th-round pick in 2019 MIN 4th-round pick in 2019 |
| February 22, 2019 (2019-02-22) | To San Jose SharksFuture considerations | To Florida PanthersVincent Praplan |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Carolina HurricanesFuture considerations | To Florida PanthersCliff Pu |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Colorado AvalancheDerick Brassard Conditional 6th-round pick in 2020 | To Florida Panthers3rd-round pick in 2020 |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Pittsburgh PenguinsChris Wideman | To Florida PanthersJean-Sebastien Dea |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Winnipeg JetsBogdan Kiselevich | To Florida Panthers7th-round pick in 2021 |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Connor Brickley | to Nashville Predators | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Alexandre Grenier | to Laval Rocket (AHL) | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Michael Hutchinson | from Winnipeg Jets | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Harri Sateri | to Detroit Red Wings | 1-year |
| July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) | Jacob MacDonald | from Binghamton Devils (AHL) | 2-year |
| July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) | Paul Thompson | from Vegas Golden Knights | 2-year |
| July 3, 2018 (2018-07-03) | Curtis Valk | to Barys Astana (KHL) | 1-year |
| July 3, 2018 (2018-07-03) | Ed Wittchow | to KooKoo (Liiga) | 1-year |
| July 13, 2018 (2018-07-13) | Julian Melchiori | from Winnipeg Jets | 1-year |
| August 27, 2018 (2018-08-27) | Troy Brouwer | from Calgary Flames | 1-year |
| August 30, 2018 (2018-08-30) | Gregory Chase | to Wichita Thunder (ECHL) | 1-year |
| February 24, 2019 (2019-02-24) | Chris Driedger | from Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) | 1-year |
| March 18, 2019 (2019-03-18) | Brady Keeper | from Maine Black Bears (Hockey East) | 2-year |
| May 16, 2019 (2019-05-16) | Ludvig Bystrom | to Oulun Kärpät (Liiga) | 2-year |
| May 17, 2019 (2019-05-17) | Henrik Haapala | to Jokerit (Liiga) | 2-year |
| May 17, 2019 (2019-05-17) | Vincent Praplan | to SC Bern (NL) | 4-year |
| May 28, 2019 (2019-05-28) | Rodrigo Abols | from Örebro HK (SHL) | 2-year |

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team | Ref |
| February 20, 2019 (2019-02-20) | Micheal Haley | to San Jose Sharks | |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| June 29, 2018 (2018-06-29) | Frank Vatrano | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Jared McCann | 2-year |
| July 6, 2018 (2018-07-06) | Alex Petrovic | 1-year |
| July 25, 2018 (2018-07-25) | MacKenzie Weegar | 1-year |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | Frank Vatrano | 3-year |
| March 8, 2019 (2019-03-08) | Serron Noel | 3-year |
| April 2, 2019 (2019-04-02) | Ryan Bednard | 2-year |
| April 30, 2019 (2019-04-30) | Chris Driedger | 2-year |
| May 15, 2019 (2019-05-15) | Aleksi Heponiemi | 3-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the Florida Panthers' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 15 | Grigori Denisenko | LW | Russia | Loko Yaroslavl (MHL) |
| 2 | 34$^1$ | Serron Noel | RW | Canada | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| 3 | 89$^2$ | Logan Hutsko | RW | United States | Boston College (Hockey East) |
| 6 | 170 | Justin Schutz | LW | Germany | Red Bull Hockey Akademie (Czech U18) |
| 7 | 201 | Cole Krygier | D | United States | Lincoln Stars (USHL) |
| 7 | 207$^3$ | Santtu Kinnunen | D | Finland | Pelicans U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) |
Notes:
* The Arizona Coyotes' second-round pick went to the Florida Panthers as the result of a trade on August 25, 2016, that sent Dave Bolland and Lawson Crouse to Arizona in exchange for a third-round pick in 2017 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).
* The Nashville Predators' third-round pick went to the Florida Panthers as the result of a trade on June 23, 2018, that sent a third-round pick in 2019 to Nashville in exchange for this pick.
* The San Jose Sharks' seventh-round pick went to the Florida Panthers as the result of a trade on June 19, 2018, that sent Vegas' fourth-round pick in 2018, a fifth-round pick in 2018 and a second-round pick in 2019 to San Jose in exchange for Mike Hoffman and this pick.