Dale Tallon is certainly one of the more interesting hockey minds currently working for an NHL team. The work he’s done rebuilding the Panthers franchise is nothing short of commendable; when he took over back in 2010, the team had missed the playoffs in nine straight seasons and had just finished in 28th place with a 32-37-13 record. The prospect cupboard was relatively bare, and the best players on the roster were Stephen Weiss and Nathan Horton.
Under Tallon, the Panthers have built themselves into a competitive team, one that made the playoffs in two of the past seven seasons and missed out on the postseason by just one point last year.