Nieuwendyk to be Named Stars GM

Former Panther Joe Nieuwendyk will be named general manager of the Dallas Stars during a press conference tomorrow.

From TSN --

The 42-year-old Nieuwendyk returns to the city of Dallas from the Toronto Maple Leafs' organization, where he had been serving as Special Assistant to the General Manager.

"I am very excited about returning to the Dallas Stars as General Manager," said Nieuwendyk. "I am ready for this opportunity. The Dallas Stars have built a winning tradition over the years and I want to help continue that legacy. My family is very excited about returning to Dallas. I have great memories from my playing days with the Stars and look forward to helping this team win as General Manager."

As part of the reshuffling process, co-GMs Brett Hull and Les Jackson have both been reassigned within the organization. Hull will be moving to the roles of Executive Vice President and Alternative Governor, while Jackson is returning to his role as Director of Scouting and Player Development. Hicks said it was in the team's best interest to return the pair to their "respective strengths".

"We are very excited to secure Joe Nieuwendyk as the General Manager," said Hicks. "These moves are all about helping this club take the proverbial 'next step.' Joe is a leader and has been a winner in everything he has done. He is ready for this opportunity and has a bright future as an NHL General Manager. We want that future to be with the Dallas Stars."

Niewendyk has become familiar with management roles recently. Prior to spending last season with the Leafs' club, he worked as a Special Consultant to the GM with the Florida Panthers and as Assistant GM with the silver medal-winning Canadian team at the 2009 IIHF World Hockey Championship.

Panthers Development Camp Roster

The Panthers are set to kick off their development camp on Monday, which will run through the following week, in Ontario.

Most of the Amerks' players will be there, with a couple of exceptions: Tanner Glass and Chris Beckford-Tseu don't appear to have been invited.

Glass is a restricted free agent, but the lack of an invite doesn't necessarily mean the Panthers are going to pass on tendering a qualifying offer and retaining the forward. Beckford-Tseu, on the other hand, has a year remaining on his contract - one that the Panthers are not too excited to carry around for another season, I'm sure.

But more importantly than who won't be there would be who will be there:

Forwards
Brady Calla
Dan Collins
Evgeni Dadonov
James DeLory*
Mike Duco
Michael Frolik
A.J. Jenks
Shawn Matthias
Kenndal McArdle
Michal Repik
Eric Selleck**
Andrew Sweetland
Ryan Watson

Defensemen
Peter Aston
Luke Beaverson
Michael Caruso
Adam Comrie
Roman Derlyuk
Matt Duffy
Keaton Ellerby
Jason Garrison
Jordan Henry
John Lee
Colby Robak

Goaltenders
Marc Cheverie
Brian Foster
Jacob Markström
Tyler Plante
Alexander Salak***

* The roster released by the Panthers (.pdf link) has DeLory listed as a defenseman, so that may be the position on which he works, but they wanted him to try playing as a winger this past season and he played as a right wing in Oshawa. So, he could be either position in camp.

** Eric Selleck will be attending on a tryout. He had 26 points in 26 games in his freshman season with the Oswego State Lakers, a Division-III school. Last year, Selleck played junior A with the CJHL's Pembroke Lumberkings, scoring 81 points (43 goals) in 49 games.

*** Salak signed with the Panthers today.

Panthers Sign Alexander Salák

The Panthers have made their first move of the off-season today by signing 22 year-old goalie Alexander Salák.

Salák was born in the Czech Republic, but has played in Finland since 2006. After a season in second-tier Finnish hockey, Salák signed with TPS Turku in 2007.

He played in 52 games this season with TPS, posting a 20-20-9 record, but a 2.4 GAA and a save percentage of .923%. Salák's performance seems to have most who have talked about him calling him the TPS MVP this season.

Prior to moving to Finland, Salák played for Ceské Budejovice in the Czech Republic, and during the 2004-2005 season, Salák was named the backup for the Czech U18 team, though he played in only one game. Also on that U18 team: Panthers winger Michael Frolik.

Gayduchenko Staying in Russia

At least for now.

The young goalie signed a contract extension with Lokomotiv, and though the details aren't out yet, there's a good chance he can be the backup goaltender this season.

I started a new job, so I've been busy. Sorry about that.

2009-10 Training Camp: Nova Scotia

The Panthers announced today that training camp will be held in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia this September, leading up to the first preseason game of the year on September 15th against the Ottawa Senators at the Halifax Metro Center.

Halfiax Metro Center is home to the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads and seats 10,595 for hockey.

Florida's entire preseason schedule is still a couple weeks away, but the Panthers leave for Finland at the end of September to take on the Blackhawks in the 2009 NHL Premiere, so there won't be any October preseason games like this past season.

For the past three seasons, camp has been held in Vail, Colorado. So this should be a nice way to mix it up.

Jody Gage Out as Amerks GM

Jody Gage is now the former general manager of the Rochester Americans, having been removed from his position after thirteen years in the Amerks' front office.

Beyond that, Gage played for the Amerks for eleven years, racking up 728 points in 653 games.

According to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Gage, who has been with the team in some capacity or another, for the last 24 years, may still remain with the club in a lesser role, but at the moment, the D&C reports that neither Curt Styres nor Lewis Staats could be reached for comment to explain the decision.

When Gage retired from playing in the mid-90s, he became an assistant general manager with the Amerks. The team won the Calder Cup and after that, Gage became Rochester's general manager. Since then, Rochester has won five division titles, advanced to the Calder Cup final twice and finished with the best record in the league in 2004-05, setting a franchise record with 51 wins.

I'm very anxious to hear why this move was made, because it definitely caught me by surprise. I don't really think you can attribute Rochester's poor seasons these last two years to Gage. Buffalo was a terrible parent club at the end of their affiliation and Florida gave the Amerks an extremely inexperienced team in their first full season as sole parent. Money could be the driving factor behind the decision, as most of the roster is stocked by the Panthers.

Sports Illustrated's Best and Worst NHL Owners

Sports Illustrated put out their list of the top five owners in the NHL, and with it, the five worst. It shouldn't come with much surprise that Florida Panthers owner Alan Cohen made the bottom five.

The Panthers have been the epitome of mediocrity for nearly a decade, lagging behind the rest of the league most seasons only to come on late and get themselves away from a top pick and away from the playoffs.

A revolving door of coaches and general managers under Cohen's watch should put him on the list. Although, I don't think he should be the second worst owner in the league. Third or fourth? Probably, unfortunately.

The actual list reads like this:

5: Predator Holdings LLC (Nashville Predators)
4: Atlanta Spirit (Atlanta Thrashers)
3: Charles Wang (New York Islanders)
2: Alan Cohen (Florida Panthers)
1: MLSE (Toronto Maple Leafs)

After the start that the Tampa Bay Lightning have had since Oren Koules and Len Barrie took over, I'm not sure how they're not even in the top five. Realistically, they should be either #1 or #2. According to SI, MLSE's problem is that, despite being a nearly $2B entity, their most valuable asset (the Maple Leafs) hasn't won the Stanley Cup in 42 years. Fair enough. But, I think Brian Burke will do well for the Leafs, even if he has to blow up the franchise to do it. So right now, if you're looking for the most spectacularly unsuccessful owners, maybe Koules and Barrie should be #1.

Yes, they might turn out to be decent as they get some more experience, but their start this past season was an abomination. I've tried to destroy my teams in Eastside Hockey Manager and had less success than the Lightning did this past season:

Take for instance, Dan Boyle. Supposedly, the owners threatened to waive Boyle, who would likely be claimed by the Atlanta Thrashers if he didn't agree to waive his no-trade clause. You'd think the first kicker here would be that Boyle signed a contract extension a week earlier, but when Tampa traded him to San Jose, they got Matt Carle, Ty Wishart and a late first in return. Koules then said that acquiring Matt Carle "ensures that our team is better in October and for the next ten years." After 12 games, Matt Carle was traded to Philadelphia for Steve Eminger and Steve Downie. Downie has since been hit with a 20 game AHL suspension for abuse of an official and Steve Eminger is now a Panther. Dan Boyle, it should be noted, put up 57 points this season.

After 16 games, recent hire Barry Melrose became recent fire Barry Melrose.

When they realized the defense was a problem, they decided to just give every defenseman in the league an opportunity - 22 different defensemen played at least one game with the Lightning at some point during the season. Most of the defensemen were AHLers or cast-aways from other clubs, as was the case with Cory Murphy and Noah Welch from Florida. Welch and Murphy played on the top pairing in Tampa at one point, together. Good guys, but top pairing defensemen? Not so fast. And now, with rumblings about a Vincent Lecavalier trade that would get them out of the huge extension he just signed, Koules and Barrie are looking for new investors to help reduce debt.

For Tampa, the way these guys ran their first year would be like taking the Panthers' last eight years and bunching them up in to one huge, collective fail. Maybe it just hasn't been enough time to pass fair judgement, so they didn't make the list. But the fact remains, no matter how they turn out, this was a rough start.

As for Wang in New York, on one hand, he saved the franchise. If you want to call it that. The Islanders haven't done much lately, but he sank a fortune to keep the team on Long Island and they've been unable to get support for a new arena. On the other hand, not more than a week ago, Wang came out and said he regrets buying the team and, "If I had the chance, I wouldn't do it again."

The Thrashers are in the same boat as the Panthers, sort of. Atlanta has a superstar in Ilya Kovalchuk and a promising center in Bryan Little, but like the Cats, there's absolutely no fixed direction and the only thing that the Thrashers are thrashing right now is the checkbook. Nashville's problems have been buried by the drama and financial woes that now have Phoenix on the hot seat.

Phoenix and Tampa Bay should have strong cases to be in that list, but who you bump to get them there is probably where it gets tricky, and I guess Tampa can get a pass since this year can be attributed to their first experiences owning a pro hockey team.

But looking at Alan Cohen's tenure as owner, it's like I said before. The Panthers have had a dozen coaches and general managers, or interim fillers at the position since he took over. That's terrible and it's no wonder we haven't seen playoff hockey here in nearly a decade. You have to commit to something, and I can only hope that it's a lesson finally learned, because we need it. Given the consistent, though gradual, improvements we've been seeing the last couple of years, I hope he's going to be off of those lists very soon.

Do the Flyers Want to Trade?

Today, South Jersey's Courier-Post took a look at some of the options the Philadelphia Flyers may have in goal moving forward and the possibilities are all over the board. Both of the Flyers' goalies are unrestricted free agents this summer, so it's no surprise that one option is to acquire Panthers' goaltender Craig Anderson.

Philly already has one option in simply re-signing Martin Biron, but so far, they haven't gotten around to it. Maybe they won't.

Biron's regular season numbers were nothing special: a 2.76 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage aren't top-15 in either category and big saves weren't always made when the Flyers needed to get them. Marty Biron's salary isn't bad compared to some around the league, but for a team pressed up against the cap, that shouldn't cost them $3.5M.

The Flyers have had to work hard to stay below the upper limit this year, and if the cap were to go down in a year or two - Biron being middle-of-the-pack at $3.5M just isn't ideal for Philadelphia moving forward. And as the article writes, even if you offer Biron a lesser salary, it's probably not a deal that gets accepted unless it's a multi-year deal. Teams always have to be mindful of the future, and two years from now, that might not be in the Flyers' best interest.

So, it's no surprise that rumors are abound over Philadelphia's potential interest in the UFA goalie market.

Last week, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said that the team is even throwing some consideration Ray Emery's way. Whether it's true or not, statements like that generally aren't made when a team has already got a goaltender for the following season.

But beyond Biron and Antero Niittymäki and a plethora of generally run-of-the-mill free agents, the Flyers can always look at the options they have via trade. With a potential cap hit to dump, the Flyers can probably offer the Panthers more for a UFA's rights than any other team would be comfortable, or willing. It doesn't hurt that Philadelphia's large cap hits come from their offense.

The Courier-Post article suggests trading any combination of forwards Joffrey Lupul, Danny Briere and James van Riemsdyk, defenseman Ryan Parent and a first-round draft pick, for the rights to Jay Bouwmeester and Craig Anderson.

Briere's salary next season would be second only to Pavel Bure in the Panthers' history, though, and based on the layoffs and moves within Sunrise Sports & Entertainment this past season, I don't think the Panthers would be willing to take on a player who struggled with injuries all year - and will make $8M next year. No matter what, someone is going to want an advance on negotiations with Jay Bouwmeester, and the Cats just may be able to come away with a nice return for a player that they would otherwise lose for nothing.

Still, Philadelphia seems like a realistic trade partner and all things considered, a deal between the two clubs seems like it could work well for both teams. The Flyers have made no secret of their interest in Jay Bouwmeester and more recently, Craig Anderson - and Cats GM Jacques Martin stopped in at the Wachovia Center in February to catch a pair of Flyers games just prior to the trade deadline. Then, when the Flyers reportedly made an offer for the defenseman on deadline day, Jacques Martin passed on the deal - presumably because the offer helped the Panthers "in the future" but only at the expense of their playoff push (which didn't end well).

So we know there's already something there, and it's been there for months. If Florida's willing to take a big salary, Philadelphia has the offensive depth to help the Panthers, and if a prospect with the potential that James van Riemsdyk has were to come to the Panthers, it'd be hard not to get excited for his development.

Of course, they could just be cool and give us Jeff Carter. I wouldn't mind.

2009 IIHF World Championship Finished

The World Championship has ended, with Russia defeating the Canadians to win gold. Florida's four representatives came away without medals, although the United States did make it to the medal round.

Probably the best overall performance can be attributed to Karlis Skrastins. The Panthers' defenseman (and looming UFA) served as Latvia's captain, had a goal and an assist and was chosen by the coaches as one of his country's three best players.

Skrastins' fellow countryman Janis Sprukts, while named Latvia's player of the game when they took on Sweden, didn't crack the list for Latvia and neither Rostislav Olesz (Czech) nor Keith Ballard (USA) made those lists for their respective countries.

Nevertheless, it was good to see these guys playing a little more after the season here in Florida came to an end.

So, with that, I'll move the table to a post where it might look slightly less tacky.

NAME	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	+/-
Keith Ballard (USA)	9	1	2	3	2	+3
Karlis Skrastins (LAT)	7	1	1	2	0	+2
Rostislav Olesz (CZE)	7	0	1	1	2	+1
Janis Sprukts (LAT)	7	0	1	1	0	0

Game Results (IIHF)

Panthers Talking to Lemaire

(Jacques Lemaire drinks from the Stanley Cup for the first time - in 1968)

According to the Boston Globe, former Minnesota Wild head coach and Palmetto, Florida (south of Tampa) resident Jacques Lemaire is talking with both the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning about a position as a consultant (near the bottom). The Globe speculates that the role could be comparable to that of Scotty Bowman in Chicago, and before that, Detroit.

As a player, Lemaire won the Stanley Cup eight times - all with the Montreal Canadiens, and twice he scored Stanley Cup winning goals. Only five other players have can say they have done the same: Toe Blake, Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard, Bobby Orr and Mike Bossy.

After retiring, Lemaire won the Cup twice more with Montreal as an assistant general manager, and when the Devils won the Cup in 1995, it was Jacques Lemaire behind the bench earning his eleventh Cup win. There aren't many in hockey who have been around success near as often as Lemaire.

Lemaire's coaching strategy was defense oriented and that was evident with Minnesota, of course. Before that, all that talk about the Devils playing the trap in the '90s? Lemaire was there. So I think we can all see where Jacques Martin takes an interest.

When he started in Minnesota, the Wild traded for Lemaire's nephew, goaltender Manny Fernandez. Splitting time with Jamie McLennan, Fernandez took advantage of the opportunity and went from being a backup to a legitimate starter in the NHL. Incidentally, Fernandez is an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Lemaire has had incredible success as a player, and he's had success both in management and as a head coach. He's won the Stanley Cup eleven times. That's almost as many full seasons (not counting the 2004-05 lockout or the shortened season in 1994-95) as the Panthers have in their history as a franchise, and it's nearly three times as many Cups as the Hall of Famer Denis Potvin won. Denis' history was impressive enough to have in the organization.

Lemaire also boasts a pair of Jack Adams Awards, winning it first in 1994 with the Devils and then again in 2003 with Minnesota.

Success like that doesn't chance itself upon an individual. Lemaire's an incredible hockey mind and if he were to join the Panthers in any capacity, the Cats would be better for it. Much better.

Marc Cheverie Named DU's '08-09 MVP

Last night, Denver University gave out it's end-of-the-year awards for hockey and for goaltender Marc Cheverie, you'd have to think it was a pretty good night.

The Panthers' final draft selection from the 2006 entry draft led the Pioneers to a 23-12-5 record and second place overall in the WCHA, in the process helping guide the team in to their 20th NCAA Tournament.

While the Pioneers were eliminated in the first round by the eventual runner-up Miami Redhawks (Miami of Ohio), it was unquestionably another strong season for the university's hockey program.

Cheverie, a sophomore, became the team's starter after Peter Mannino graduated last spring and went on to sign with the Islanders. For Cheverie, the change would move him from appearing in 5 games as a freshman to starting all 40 as a sophomore this season - and he thrived on the opportunity.

Nicknamed 'Chevy' (Cheverie.. clever!), Marc finished the season with a record of 23-12-5, a 2.21 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and four shutouts in forty games.

His performance on the ice earned him the team's Bill Masterton Memorial Award (MVP) and their Star of the Year Award (for picking up the most star-of-the-game points). On a league-wide level, Cheverie received All-WCHA Second Team honors, was one of DU's 18 All-WCHA Academic honorees and was recognized as one of the school's seven WCHA Scholar-Athletes (GPA of 3.5 or better).

Back in April, New Hampshire Wildcats goalie Brian Foster was named the team's MVP (Roger A. LeClerg Trophy). He also picked up the team's "SCO Nate Hardy Ironman Award", awarded to the player whom "excels in the weight room through a 15-event competition during fall dry-land training".

Out of Ohio State, defenseman Matt Bartkowski received two awards: 'George Burke Most Valuable Freshman' and the 'Joseph W. Smith Best Defensive Player' award, as voted by his teammates. He was also voted to the CCHA All-Rookie Team.

LaPoint's Recovery: "Way Ahead of Schedule"

There's good news out of North Dakota today on sophomore defenseman Derrick LaPoint. LaPoint, if you recall, suffered a serious leg injury during a game against Minnesota State-Mankato back in February. Both his tibia and fibula were broken when his skate caught the boards awkwardly after being bumped from behind.

The Fighting Sioux website has a Q&A with LaPoint today in which the 20-year-old says, "Things have been going really good. I’m way ahead of schedule."

LaPoint underwent surgery after the injury and has been wearing a protective boot ever since. But the injury, which his doctor said could keep some people in a boot for seven months, hasn't changed much about LaPoint. Instead, his commitment and work ethic are shining through. He resumed riding a bike a month ago, and by four months (June), he says that he may be fully out of the boot and getting back in shape for the new season.

You just come to a realization that it happened and you can’t really do much about it. You just have to move forward and hopefully just get back as fast as you can.

The full interview can be found at the UND website.

Potvin Out, Lindsay In

In an unfortunate move, the Florida Panthers and TV color man Denis Potvin have parted ways.

The official release at the Panthers' site thanks Potvin for his time with the organization as Denis had been, until now, the only color commentator in the franchise's history.

Steve Goldstein retains his role as play-by-play, while former Panther Bill Lindsay will move from the radio booth and replace Potvin on FSN. Randy Moller will stay on to call the games on the radio.

In reality, while Lindsay might grow in to the role and eventually make it his own, filling Potvin's shoes is going to be difficult. Denis spoke his mind, and it wasn't always to defend the Panthers as the "brutal homer" he was often times made out to be on various internet forums.

Further still, it's a move that will undoubtedly upset a good amount of Cats fans (no, I'm sure not everyone appreciated the occasional story of Potvin's hockey days with the Islanders). That it's, in all likelihood, financially motivated makes it more of a disappointment.

Potvin told Steve Gorten of the Sun-Sentinel: "It's tough. It's very tough. You come to a point where you figure you're a lifer with a company or a group. That's not the case anymore. I was surprised. I was not expecting it."

Sunrise Sports and Entertainment has been in talks of a merger recently, they've had to lay off employees and now Denis Potvin is a former member of the broadcast team. With Phoenix's recent woes serving as a reminder that nothing lasts forever, it will undoubtedly raise questions about the Panthers' financial standing.

But for the time being, there is no reason to believe the Panthers are in danger. Struggling, quite possibly. But in danger? I doubt it.

As for the organization's take on the ordeal, Michael Yormark spoke to George Richards and defended the move as one with no financial motivation whatsoever. Rather, that they were simply seeking a new direction and that their financial relationship with FSN meant that it made no difference the number of broadcasters on board.

So if it didn't matter, why exactly has Denis been shown the door? We'll probably be hearing a little more about this as time goes by.

Post-Season Blues

With the playoffs upon us, the Panthers golfing, prospects' collegiate and junior seasons wrapped up and all but a select few NHLers still playing in the World Championship, there's not much to do.

The Panthers organization has been active this off-season with regard to keeping the site worth reading on a near daily basis, and that's something that in most off-seasons, we have been lacking.

They've kept tabs on the guys over in Switzerland for the World Championship and they've introduced a few new blogs on the site. First, we saw team president and chief operating officer Michael Yormark put out some entries under the name "Sunrise Edition". For the most part, it's a gigantic advertisement and that seems to have irked some people, but really, if reaching out and showing some loyalty to partners and potential advertisers can help solidify the sponsorship base, that's never a bad thing. Unfortunately, there's not much there that deals with the nitty-gritty details about the Cats that summertime makes everyone yearn to understand. If you look at the "Panthers News" section to the right of this page, his entries should be preceded by "Sunrise Edition" and this is the most recent entry.

The other blog that has popped up is written by Dave Joseph. As the description on the left of his entries state, he's the director of internet and publication content. There's a good deal more hockey talk in his first two entries and then some other random stuff. Looking to the right, anything that starts with "Two Minutes For:" is one of Dave's blogs. The most recent entry is right here.

There is an article on the upcoming draft, as well as the "Above the Glass" feature that keeps the TV & radio voices of the Panthers (minus Denis Potvin) busy talking about, at present, the playoffs. All told, the Panthers are doing enough to keep people coming back to the site and to make sure they can't just fade in to obscurity over the summer. Hopefully, they'll keep that up.

With George Richards (Miami Herald) and Steve Gorten (Sun-Sentinel) holding other responsibilities with their respective papers, the day-to-day updates we live by over the course of the regular season have slowed to a nearly interminable crawl.

So for now, while everyone searches for stories to run, features to air and for the best time slots to fill to make the most of what they've got, here are some direct links that have been active recently:

Florida Panthers @ Twitter: This has been great during the WC. Lots of updates and quick news on new content at the site.

South Florida Business Journal: If you care to monitor the potential merger that has been discussed, this link (I've pasted the URL to the sports section), should be a good place to check.

Florida Panthers: Of course. Hopefully they'll keep the new stuff coming in to the heart of the off-season. For the time being, they've stayed busy.

Miami Herald Hockey Section: It's mostly geared towards the playoffs at this point, but a condensed version of George Richards' blog is also in the top left corner, so you could strike off-season gold and find a story in the hockey section and a completely different entry from GR's 'On Frozen Pond' in one click. Or not. But, it's worth a shot.

Sun-Sentinel Panthers' Section: Similar to the Herald, only with the Panthers remaining the prime focus. Steve Gorten's blog is in the upper right corner, so like with the Herald, maybe you'll get good news (or not so good news) in one click. Or maybe not.

Florida Panthers' Official Message Boards: They're totally dead at this point in time. Sign up and talk about something. Please?

I'll try to come up with something worth reading this week because, quite frankly, I'm not in the mood to stop talking about the Panthers, either.

FS-Florida: Florida Panthers Post-Season Special

Fox Sports Florida is airing their Panthers' end-of-season wrap-up show at 5:30 this evening. It's a thirty-minute special that will feature plenty of highlights, interviews and other features to recap one of the better seasons in recent memory for the Panthers.

As always, Craig Minervini will host and Frank Forte will have a special feature on Stephen Weiss.

If you miss it tonight, the first replay will be on Monday, May 11th at 7:00 PM, and then it will replay three more times in the final half of the month.

Monday, May 11: 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 16: 6:30 PM
Thursday, May 28: 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 30: 6:30 PM

The only other programming listed at the FSF Panthers' schedule is a repeat of the "Where are They Now?" edition of Inside the Panthers. That repeat will precede the post-season special on Saturday, May 16th at 6 PM.

Dadonov Will Attend Development Camp in Florida

In a translated interview from RussianProspects.com, Panthers' prospect Evgeni Dadonov says that he will be coming to Florida this summer to attend a development camp. Specifically:

This summer I am going to attend a training camp in North America. Florida will host a development camp, in which it will be possible to meet professionals who give good advice to improve any single part of the game

It's the final paragraph in an article that focuses on Dadonov making his debut with the Russian national team this year.

Dadonov was drafted by the Panthers during the 2007 draft in the third round, 71st overall.