Panthers Notes: Tippett, Tallon

Breathe easy, Panthers fans. Tenth overall pick Owen Tippett was hit hard (gif via Twitter) during today’s game against the United States during the World Junior Summer Showcase. NHL.com’s Mike Morreale tweeted that it didn’t look good after the hit, but Tippett was able to leave the ice under his own power. Morreale tweeted later that he observed Tippett with his teammates, going through exercises and appearing just fine.  An injury scare for the high scoring winger would have been a difficult blow for Florida. Tippett has a chance to make the roster right out of training camp, and if the skills transfer over, can be a major contributor in the scoring column. The Sun-Sentinel’s Harvey Fialkov wrote about how general manager Dale Tallon believes Tippett to have the makeup of a player who is mature beyond his years. Today’s hit appears to be just a minor incident, and one that shouldn’t stunt Tippett’s chance at making the NHL roster.

• Tallon was featured in an Athletic article by Scott Powers, who wrote how Tallon holds a special place in his heart for Chicago. Tallon was responsible for the bulk of the drafting and free agent signings that turned the Blackhawks into a model franchise after being a league doormat for nearly a decade. Powers asked Tallon about his thoughts on the Panthers offseason, and he responded as such:
  

  We had to rework it a little bit. We’re going younger, we’re going faster. We like what we’ve done. We’ve gotten quicker and faster, a little more depth. We added some grit, we added some speed and we added some skill. We got a lot of good young players that we still have coming in our organization that we really like, and we have a real strong core of young players that were injured last year. I think our team is going to be faster and younger and play with a little more energy than we did last year. The new coaches to our coaching staff are really good. I’m excited to work with them and get rolling here.

Tallon admitted that he wasn’t happy about last season and that it was a difficult decision not bringing Jaromir Jagr back, noting that he was great for leadership and exemplifying a strong work ethic. But like many executives in the NHL, Tallon felt it was time to get younger and faster.