Rats Roundup: On the Farm, Schütz's Blog

Good morning and welcome to the latest addition of Rats Roundup!
The Panthers farm system was analyzed by the Sporting News, Justin Schütz shared his diary from Florida and more! Sit back, relax and catch up on all the latest Panthers news!

In the Pipeline

After having already padded their report card with good offseason grades from various media outlets following the draft and free agency, the Panthers received yet another accolade this past week as the Sporting News ranked Florida's farm system as the eighth-best in the NHL.
With players such as Henrik Borgstrom, Owen Tippett and Aleksi Heponiemi waiting in the wings, the Cats farm system was ranked eighth among all 31 NHL clubs.
"There's no rest for the weary, as teams that already hate playing against the talent-heavy Panthers have to face the reality that the Cats have even more skill on the way, mostly in the form of forwards," Kournianos writes. "Center Henrik Borgstrom leads Florida's crew of playmaking neophytes, and speedy winger Owen Tippett is good enough to make the club out of camp for the second year in a row."
Read more on the Panthers analysis, check out the full article HERE and head to
FloridaPanthers.com for Jameson Olive's take on the Panthers prospects.

Prospect Camp Thoughts

Justin Schütz, who the Cats drafted in the 6th round, 170th overall at the 2018 NHL Draft, took part in the Panthers prospect camp held at the end on June.
As it turns out, Schütz kept a diary of his experiences during the camp, from touring the BB&T Center to learning what Topgolf is all about.
Between early wake up calls, bonding with new guys and some jet lag it was never a dull moment for Schütz.
Click HERE to read the full diary.

Dale Tallon Shares His Memories

On Wednesday, NHL Hall-of-Famer and Chicago Blackhawks legend Stan Mikita passed away at the age of 78.
Panthers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Dale Tallon joined NHL Network to discuss the passing of Mikita, with whom Tallon was a teammate with on the Blackhawks from 1973-78.
Click HERE to hear Tallon's thoughts and memories of his friend and teammate.

Panthers On the Rise

NHL Network ranked the top 20 centers in the NHL, with Aleksander Barkov coming in at No. 13. Check out their analysis HERE.
Aaron Ekblad was on the cusp of being a part of NHL Network's Top 20 Defenseman list, but he is primed to take a big step this season and could very much be at the top of the list next season. Click HERE to check out the article.
Rounding out the Panthers on the rise is Vincent Trocheck, who was on the bubble of being named in NHL Network's Top 20 centers list. Trocheck increased his scoring in each of the past four seasons, including NHL career-highs in goals (31), assists (44) and points (75) last season.
Check out the other players who just missed the cut HERE.

Territory Talk

Doug Plagens and Jameson Olive were joined by a celebrity this week, as noted Emmy winner and Fox Sports Florida host Jessica Blaylock joined Territory Talk to talk about covering both the Panthers and the Marlins.
Blaylock discusses heading into her fourth season covering the Cats,and opens up about her journey from high school reporting to the big leagues.

Quick Hitters

-
South Florida Hockey Community Rallies Around 'Warrior' Bobby DeFriest.
- The Summer Reading Tour wrapped up this week, so check out some highlights below! Thanks to everyone who visited us at one of the many stops along the way.

• Koffee Kult became a part of Panthers Territory. Koffee Kult, a local coffee roaster located in Hollywood, Florida, that offers a special selection of specialty-grade arabica coffee beans direct to consumers. Founded in 2010, Koffee Kult is an environmentally-conscious coffee roaster that proudly delivers to 12 countries and 600,000 homes (and counting!) annually. For more information about our new friends, visit
  https://www.koffeekult.com
  .
  - Join Panthers Territory and visit BB&T Center on Saturday, August 25 from 10:30AM - 2:30PM! Get an exclusive opportunity to select your seats for our 25th Anniversary Season! RSVP HERE.