The Florida Panthers have now been in the NHL for 16 seasons after they were named an expansion franchise prior to the 1993-94 season, and over the last 16 seasons it would be difficult to find another franchise that has had such limited success. Yes, the Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996, where they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche, but that is only one of three playoff appearances for Florida; they failed to make it out of the first round in their only other appearances in 1997 and 2000. That 1996 team wasn?t a contender either, instead got hot at the right time of year with a hot goalie (John Vanbiesbrouck). In the regular season they were 41-31-10 with 254 goals for and 234 against, finishing third in their division. Their leading scorer had only 70 points (Scott Mellanby), and they didn?t feature any star players. That has been the norm for Florida their entire existence: no star players. They have had plenty of solid players over the years: Mellanby and Vanbiesbrouck in the early-to-mid-90?s; 1st overall pick Ed Jovanovski would go on to become a top defenseman in the league but not until he left Florida; Ray Whitney and Viktor Kozlov in the late-90?s; Olli Jokinen in the early-2000?s; Jokinen, Jay Bouwmeester, Stephen Weiss and Nathan Horton over the last few seasons. The lone exception was Pavel Bure, who played for Florida for four seasons from 1998-2002, winning back-to-back Rocket Richard Trophies with 58 and 59 goals in 2000 and 2001. Some may argue that Roberto Luongo was a star, but he only made one All-Star team in his five Florida seasons, and only once won more than 25 games. He didn?t really turn into a star until he was traded to Vancouver. Looking at past champions, which every franchise should strive to be, the team that wins it all usually has at least one star player with a good supporting cast of players that know their roles and contribute in the undervalued aspects of the game. Look at Pittsburgh (Crosby, Malkin), Detroit (Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom), Anaheim (Neidermayer, Pronger, Getzlaf, Selanne), Carolina (Staal), Tampa Bay (Lecavalier, St. Louis, Richards), New Jersey (Brodeur, Niedermayer), Detroit (Yzerman, Shanahan, Federov, Hull, Robitaille, Lidstrom) and Colorado (Sakic, Forsberg, Bourque): all had star players, deep rosters and capable goaltending. That is how champions, and at minimum perennial playoff teams, are structured. During their lone successful stretch, the Panthers? general manager was Bryan Murray, current GM of the Ottawa Senators. He was there from 1994-2000, and put together teams for all three of their playoff appearances. Since Murray, only one Florida GM has lasted three seasons, and that was current Montreal Canadiens? coach Jacques Martin from 2006-2009. Other notables that tried and failed were long time NHL coach Mike Keenan, and current Atlanta Thrashers? GM Rick Dudley (at the time he was mainly a failed coach and just began his executive career). After last year?s GM Randy Sexton ? formerly Martin?s assistant GM ? was not offered a new contract, Florida announced that Dale Tallon was hired to lead the team out of the bottom of the league and into respectability. Tallon brings with him a solid resume and an even better reputation from the players that he has worked with. In June of 2005 he was named GM of the Chicago Blackhawks, who were entrenched in one of their worst stretches as a franchise, but he is given a lot of credit for the Stanley Cup challenging team they are today. With Tallon at the helm, he was involved with the acquisitions of the following current ?Hawks: he drafted Jonathon Toews, Patrick Kane and Niklas Hjalmarsson; he traded for Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg, and Andrew Ladd; and he signed as free agents Brian Campbell, Marion Hossa, Antti Niemi, Crisotbal Huet, John Madden, Tomas Kopecky, and Brent Sopel. Quite frankly, if Chicago wins the Stanley Cup this season, Tallon deserves a ring. And it?s not just the assembling of the roster, but his relationship with the players on it that are noteworthy. After Florida hired Tallon, Chicago?s captain Toews said in an interview via ESPN?s Pierre LeBrun. ?He did a lot of great things for our organization, and we obviously all have good connections with him in our locker room, so we're all happy to see him get another chance somewhere else and we know he'll do a great job there as well.? And Sharp added: ?I owe a lot to Dale for bringing me back here to Chicago. A lot of the guys in here can probably say that. I wish him all the best and we'll see what he can do.? That reputation will undoubtedly help him with his new team. Florida hasn?t exactly been a franchise that attracts marquee players. Unfortunately for Tallon, he inherits a team with a lot of committed salary. He has 11 forwards and four defensemen from last year?s team already on the payroll along with both goalie spots filled, leaving him with around $10M in available cap room. One of those few available roster spots will likely go to this year?s 1st round selection; the Panthers pick third in the draft and will have their pick of a couple of highly touted defensemen (Eric Gudbranson, Cam Fowler, Brandon Gormley) or an injury riddled forward with a rising stock (Brett Connolly). For the record, this writer?s choice is Gudbranson at the moment (and look for an official mock up of the first round at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals). Don?t expect Tallon to trade this pick either, despite missing out on a top-2 pick and the two star-potential forwards locked into those two picks. Tallon said upon his hiring that he is ?committed to the blueprint that we developed in Chicago. I'm proud of that team and I'm proud of that organization and I'm especially proud of those kids. That's the type of team we're going to build here in Florida." That type of team was built through solid drafting and carefully constructed trades. On the trade front, there is much speculation that goalie Tomas Vokoun will find a new home this offseason. He will be 34 next season and in the final year of his contract, but he is coming off of a very strong season finishing with a .925 save percentage, 2.55 goals against average and 7 shutouts. Put him behind a better team and he can potentially get you 35-40 wins (especially in a contract year for a player who may be looking for his last long-term contract). If Tallon can find a way to deal him on an always busy draft day for a prospect/draft pick package, that may be the best option. Or, would Tallon dare try to package Vokoun with one of the four forwards signed for significant money with significant years remaining (David Booth, Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss, Rostislav Olesz)? Whether they are packaged, or sold off individually for draft picks/prospects, eliminating those contracts would go a long way toward creating flexibility under the cap to sign more significant pieces, or trade for them. If you are a Florida fan, look up the above trades for Sharp and Versteeg while in Chicago, and you should immediately feel better about your GM and his ability work his craft; he got back much more than he gave up. On the blue line, the Panthers have significant money tied up in captain Bryan McCabe and Keith Ballard. Ballard is a solid blue liner, better defensively than offensively, and is signed for six more years at a $4.2M cap hit. On a contending team, Ballard is more of a second line guy than a first liner, and it is up to Tallon to decide if he is comfortable with that amount of money owed to a second liner going forward. McCabe however, is entering the final year of his deal and surely isn?t in the long term plans of Florida. Tallon could explore the market on him at the draft and see about getting a couple more picks or wait until a contender comes knocking on his door midseason. In the minors, Florida doesn?t have any outstanding prospects to write home about. Undrafted free agent goalie Alexander Salak did have a solid first year in North America, though, with a 2.89 GAA and .910 save percentage, and he may get a crack at making the NHL team especially if Vokoun is dealt. One of Tallon?s tasks has to be addressing their farm system so that the team can develop from within, which is becoming increasingly important in the cap world. Another goalie may become a factor in 2011, Swedish goalie Jacob Markstrom, who is only 20 but is a former second round pick currently playing in the Swedish Elite League. At the time of the draft in 2008 he was one of the best goalie prospects in the world. So it is evident that Tallon has a lot of work to do to get this club where he wants it to be, a contender and model franchise. However he has the pedigree and resume that leaves no doubt he was the best man for the job, and a reason for Panther fans and players to have hope for a brighter future. Nick can be reached via email nickobergan@hotmail.com or on twitter.. http://twitter.com/nickobergan