How the Florida Panthers align their bottom six may be one of the bigger things to watch in training camp this year. One of the others will be how Gerard Gallant will handle having four right handed NHL caliber defensemen on his roster.
It isn’t a necessity, but most teams like to have each of their defensive pairings to have one left-handed, and one right-handed player – one to play each side. Keeping the puck in at the blue line in the offensive zone along the boards, as well as clearing the puck in their own end become much easier having a player that shoots with both hands.