A big finish to a season that brought hope to the Miami fan base. The club now carries on without one of its identity guys, Jay Bouwmeester, who signed with Calgary after a late June trade which yielded the Panthers 29 year-old defenseman Jordan Leopold.

With Bouwmeester, the team fielded a defense that was a very good 10th overall last year.

Bouwmeester was drafted third overall in 2002. Now, 26 year-old Keith Ballard will be called upon to fill Bouwmeester’s shoes. Ballard was the eleventh overall pick in that same 2002 draft (Buffalo). Ballard, who finished a respectable +14 in a breakthrough 08/09 campaign, will have every opportunity to reach his potential. The Panthers represent Ballard’s fourth club in his short career.

Bryan Allen returns after missing all but two games in 08/09. Bryan McCabe has two years left on his $5.75M (but only $4.1M cap hit) contract, and with a strong first season in Florida behind him (15 goals), figures to continue to be a wise investment. Leopold arrives from Calgary and also offers support in Bouwmeester’s absence. Overall, the transition to the post-Bouwmeester era in Florida should be a smooth one, and there is no reason to believe that the Panthers won’t be able to field a defense in the top third of the league once again.

On offense, Steve Reinprecht, a solid center who can also play the shutdown game, comes over from Phoenix and will likely land as the Panthers’ second center (Reinprecht was once traded from Calgary to Buffalo for Ballard). The club bid farewell to Anthony Stewart, a former number one pick who never panned out. David Booth led the club with 31 goals and will be on the top line with Stephen Weiss and Nathan Horton. Michal Frolik enters his sophomore year looking to build on the 21 goals he scored as a rookie.

32-year-old Scott Clemmensen, well-preserved backup to Martin Brodeur in Jersey for so long, has appeared in 68 NHL games with the Devils and Leafs since being drafted by New Jersey in 1997, his NHL debut in 2001-02. Clemmensen availed himself well while Brodeur was shelved by injury last season, winning 25 of 40 games. Tomas Vokoun finally fills the shoes vacated by Roberto Luongo, and the club took a step up with the addition of Clemmensen.

GM Jacques Martin is gone, replaced by interim GM Randy Sexton as the position is officially “To Be Determined.”

While Frolik gives the Panthers good depth, it’s hard to see the secondary scoring getting much better unless rookie left wing prospects Miahal Repik or Kennal McArdle can jump from the AHL. Repik scored two goals in his five-game debut last season.

Evgeny Dadonov jumped to the Panthers from Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL. He’s 20 years old and made the most of his limited ice time in Russia, scoring 11 goals in 08-09. He will be given a serious look as Florida seeks more offensive help, and could use a diamond in the rough.