1993–94 Florida Panthers season

The 1993–94 Florida Panthers season was the Panthers' first season. Blockbuster Video magnate H. Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL franchise for his native Miami in 1992. The team played at the Miami Arena, and its first major stars were New York Rangers goaltender castoff John Vanbiesbrouck, rookie Rob Niedermayer, and Scott Mellanby, who scored 30 goals during the regular season.

1993–94 Florida Panthers
Division	5th Atlantic
Conference	9th Eastern
1993–94 record	33–34–17
Home record	15–18–9
Road record	18–16–8
Goals for	233
Goals against	233
Team information
General manager	Bob Clarke
Coach	Roger Neilson
Captain	Brian Skrudland
Alternate captains	Joe Cirella Scott Mellanby
Arena	Miami Arena
Average attendance	14,190
Minor league affiliate(s)	Cincinnati Cyclones Birmingham Bulls
Team leaders
Goals	Scott Mellanby (30)
Assists	Scott Mellanby (30)
Points	Scott Mellanby (60)
Penalty minutes	Brent Severyn (156)
Plus/minus	Brian Skrudland (+13)
Wins	John Vanbiesbrouck (21)
Goals against average	John Vanbiesbrouck (2.53)
1994–95 →

The Panthers were surprisingly competitive for a first-year expansion team, and ultimately finished just one game below .500 and two^[a] points short of qualifying for the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Regular season

October

The Panthers played their first ever regular season game on October 6, as they recorded a 4-4 tie on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks. Scott Mellanby scored the first ever Panthers goal, against Ed Belfour. On October 9, in their third game, the club earned their first victory and shutout, as John Vanbiesbrouck made 36 saves in a 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. On October 12, Florida played their first home game, losing 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins, as Mellanby scored the first goal on home ice. The Panthers first win at home came on October 14, as they defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-4, as Rob Niedermayer scored the winning goal midway through the third period. In a game against the Los Angeles Kings on October 19, the Panthers fired 52 shots at Kings goaltender Kelly Hrudey, however, the club had to settle for a 2-2 tie.

After a five-game winless streak, in which Florida posted a 0-3-2 record, the team finished October with two consecutive wins, defeating the New York Islanders 5-2 and the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1. Florida finished the month with a 4-5-3 record, good for fifth in the Atlantic Division, and tied for eighth in the Eastern Conference.

November

Florida opened November with two consecutive losses, before heading out for a three-game road trip. Florida went a perfect 3-0-0 on the road, highlighted by a 3-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Montreal Canadiens, as John Vanbiesbrouck led the way with 37 saves. The Panthers struggled on their five-game homestand, as they went 1-4-0, only earning a victory against the Washington Capitals. Florida ended the month on a quick two game road trip, losing to the Boston Bruins, then suffered their first ever shutout loss, as they were defeated 4-0 by the Hartford Whalers.

At the end of November, the Panthers had a record of 8-13-3, earning 19 points, and sat in sixth in the Atlantic Division, and 11th in the Eastern Conference.

December

Florida started December with a solid 2-1 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres, as Jesse Belanger scored the overtime winner, and John Vanbiesbrouck was solid with 33 saves. The Panthers then went on a five-game road trip, beginning with a 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on December 5. On December 7, Florida faced their expansion cousins, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, winning the game 3-2. The next night, the Panthers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 6-5. They finished their road swing with a 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets and a 4-4 tie with the Dallas Stars, going 3-1-1. Florida finished the month continuing to play good hockey, going 3-1-2 in their remaining six games in December.

By the end of the month, Florida had an overall record of 15-15-6, getting 36 points, sitting in fifth place in the Atlantic Division, and 10th in the Eastern Conference, only one point out of eighth place for the final playoff position.

January

The Panthers began January where they left off in December, earning a 4-2 win over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on New Years Day, to move over the .500 level, and into eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The club then began a six-game road trip, which began with two losses, 3-2 to the New York Rangers, and 4-1 to the New Jersey Devils. Florida rebounded in the next two games, earning ties against the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins. The team finished the road trip with two wins, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 5-2, and the New York Islanders 2-1, to earn a respectable 2-2-2 record. Florida continued winning when the returned home, beating the Washington Capitals 5-1 on January 19, followed by an 8-3 blowout victory against the Montreal Canadiens to push their record to 20-17-8. The club finished January going 1-0-2 in their last three games, as they extended their overall unbeaten streak to nine games.

At the end of January, the Panthers had a 21-17-10 record, earning 52 points, and were in third place in the Atlantic Division, and sixth in the Eastern Conference.

February

The team opened February with two games on the road, and in the first game on February 1, the Panthers unbeaten streak came to an end, as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated Florida 2-1. The Panthers rebounded the next night, defeating the Ottawa Senators 4-1, as Rob Niedermayer had two goals, and Mark Fitzpatrick made 32 saves for the win. The team returned home for two games, as they were blown out 7-2 against the Buffalo Sabres on February 4, however, Florida won their next game, shutting out the Boston Bruins 3-0, with Mark Fitzpatrick making 19 saves. The Panthers lost their next game in overtime, 4-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers, as Eric Lindros scored the winning goal, however, the team followed up the heart breaking loss with a solid 4-3 win over the New York Islanders. On February 13, the Panthers defeated the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 to improve to 25-20-10 on the season.

The club then went on another quick two game road trip, where they lost both games, including a 7-3 blowout loss to the Detroit Red Wings. When returning home, the Red Wings defeated Florida again, this time by a 4-1 score, as the club was on a three-game losing streak. Florida snapped the losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, however, the team would lose their last three games of the month to fall back to the .500 level.

At the end of February, Florida had a 26-26-10 record, earning 62 points, which had them in fourth place in the Atlantic Division, and eighth in the Eastern Conference, tied with the Philadelphia Flyers in points, however, Florida had two games in hand.

March

Florida continued to struggle into March, losing their first two games, 3-2 to the New Jersey Devils, and 4-1 to the Hartford Whalers, to push their losing streak to four games, and seven of their last eight games. On March 7, the team began a three-game road trip to Western Canada, and they put an end to their losing streak as Mark Fitzpatrick made 34 saves in a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. In their next game against the Edmonton Oilers, the Panthers won 5-3 to go back to the .500 level. The club finished the trip with a loss to the Calgary Flames by a 4-2 score.

Florida returned home for a six-game home stand, in which the Panthers went unbeaten, going 3-0-3, which included wins over the New York Rangers, Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers, making their overall season record at 31-29-13. On March 24, the Panthers nearly overcame a 4-0 deficit, losing 4-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers, to end their unbeaten streak. The club rebounded in their next game, defeating the New York Islanders 3-1. The team ended March with two more losses though, losing to the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues.

By the end of March, the Panthers had a 32-32-13 record, earning 77 points, which had the club in fourth place in the Atlantic Division, and clinging to eighth in the Eastern Conference for the final playoff position, four points of the ninth place Philadelphia Flyers, and five ahead of the 10th place New York Islanders.

April

The club opened April with a disappointing 2-2 tie against the lowly Ottawa Senators at home before heading out on a three-game road trip. The Panthers continued to struggle, dropping a 3-2 decision to the New York Rangers. On April 5, the Panthers blew a 3-1 third period lead against the Quebec Nordiques, and settled for a 3-3 tie, extending their winless streak to five games. On April 7, Florida overcame a 3-1 deficit, earning a 3-3 tie against the Philadelphia Flyers. The club returned home for their final three games, and the winless streak continued, as the Panthers tied the New Jersey Devils 2-2, followed by a 5-2 loss to the Quebec Nordiques, pushing their winless streak to eight games, as Florida slipped into ninth place, behind the New York Islanders. On April 13, the Panthers were officially eliminated from the post-season, as the Islanders defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning to clinch the eighth and final playoff position. The Panthers played their final game of the season on April 14, defeating the Islanders 4-1.

The Panthers finished the 1993-94 season with a 33-34-17 record, earning 83 points, which was an NHL record for points by an expansion team until the Vegas Golden Knights surpassed it in their first season. Florida finished the season in fifth place in the Atlantic Division, and ninth in the Eastern Conference, just one point of a playoff position.

Season standings

Atlantic Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	New York Rangers	84	52	24	8	299	231	112
2	3	New Jersey Devils	84	47	25	12	306	220	106
3	7	Washington Capitals	84	39	35	10	277	263	88
4	8	New York Islanders	84	36	36	12	282	264	84
5	9	Florida Panthers	84	33	34	17	233	233	83
6	10	Philadelphia Flyers	84	35	39	10	294	314	80
7	12	Tampa Bay Lightning	84	30	43	11	224	251	71

^[1] Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Eastern Conference^[2]

R		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p-New York Rangers *	84	52	24	8	299	231	112
2	x-Pittsburgh Penguins *	84	44	27	13	299	285	101
3	New Jersey Devils	84	47	25	12	306	220	106
4	Boston Bruins	84	42	29	13	289	252	97
5	Montreal Canadiens	84	41	29	14	283	248	96
6	Buffalo Sabres	84	43	32	9	282	218	95
7	Washington Capitals	84	39	35	10	277	263	88
8	New York Islanders	84	36	36	12	282	264	84
9	Florida Panthers	84	33	34	17	233	233	83
10	Philadelphia Flyers	84	35	39	10	294	314	80
11	Quebec Nordiques	84	34	42	8	277	292	76
12	Tampa Bay Lightning	84	30	43	11	224	251	71
13	Hartford Whalers	84	27	48	9	227	288	63
14	Ottawa Senators	84	14	61	9	201	397	37

Final standings

bold – Qualified for playoffs; x – Won division; p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and division); * – Division leader

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 6, 1993	4–4 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94)	0–0–1
2	L	October 7, 1993	3–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	0–1–1
3	W	October 9, 1993	2–0	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	1–1–1
4	L	October 12, 1993	1–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	1–2–1
5	W	October 14, 1993	5–4	Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	2–2–1
6	T	October 17, 1993	3–3 OT	Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	2–2–2
7	T	October 19, 1993	2–2 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	2–2–3
8	L	October 21, 1993	3–4 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	2–3–3
9	L	October 23, 1993	1–2	@ New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	2–4–3
10	L	October 26, 1993	2–5	Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	2–5–3
11	W	October 28, 1993	5–2	New York Islanders (1993–94)	3–5–3
12	W	October 30, 1993	2–1 OT	Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	4–5–3
13	L	November 2, 1993	3–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	4–6–3
14	L	November 3, 1993	3–6	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	4–7–3
15	W	November 7, 1993	3–1	@ Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	5–7–3
16	W	November 10, 1993	3–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	6–7–3
17	W	November 11, 1993	5–4	@ Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	7–7–3
18	L	November 14, 1993	2–5	Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	7–8–3
19	L	November 16, 1993	2–4	New York Rangers (1993–94)	7–9–3
20	L	November 18, 1993	2–3	Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94)	7–10–3
21	W	November 20, 1993	4–3	Washington Capitals (1993–94)	8–10–3
22	L	November 23, 1993	1–2 OT	Hartford Whalers (1993–94)	8–11–3
23	L	November 26, 1993	2–3	@ Boston Bruins (1993–94)	8–12–3
24	L	November 27, 1993	0–4	@ Hartford Whalers (1993–94)	8–13–3
25	W	December 2, 1993	2–1 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	9–13–3
26	L	December 5, 1993	1–2	@ San Jose Sharks (1993–94)	9–14–3
27	W	December 7, 1993	3–2	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	10–14–3
28	W	December 8, 1993	6–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	11–14–3
29	W	December 10, 1993	5–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	12–14–3
30	T	December 12, 1993	4–4 OT	@ Dallas Stars (1993–94)	12–14–4
31	T	December 15, 1993	3–3 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	12–14–5
32	L	December 19, 1993	1–2 OT	Boston Bruins (1993–94)	12–15–5
33	W	December 22, 1993	3–2	New York Rangers (1993–94)	13–15–5
34	W	December 26, 1993	3–1	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	14–15–5
35	T	December 28, 1993	3–3 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1993–94)	14–15–6
36	W	December 29, 1993	5–3	@ Hartford Whalers (1993–94)	15–15–6
37	W	January 1, 1994	4–2	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	16–15–6
38	L	January 3, 1994	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1993–94)	16–16–6
39	L	January 7, 1994	1–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	16–17–6
40	T	January 8, 1994	2–2 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1993–94)	16–17–7
41	T	January 13, 1994	2–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	16–17–8
42	W	January 15, 1994	5–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	17–17–8
43	W	January 17, 1994	2–1	@ New York Islanders (1993–94)	18–17–8
44	W	January 19, 1994	5–1	Washington Capitals (1993–94)	19–17–8
45	W	January 24, 1994	8–3	Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	20–17–8
46	T	January 26, 1994	1–1 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	20–17–9
47	T	January 28, 1994	3–3 OT	San Jose Sharks (1993–94)	20–17–10
48	W	January 30, 1994	3–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	21–17–10
49	L	February 1, 1994	1–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	21–18–10
50	W	February 2, 1994	4–1	@ Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	22–18–10
51	L	February 4, 1994	2–7	Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	22–19–10
52	W	February 6, 1994	3–0	Boston Bruins (1993–94)	23–19–10
53	L	February 10, 1994	3–4 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	23–20–10
54	W	February 12, 1994	4–3	@ New York Islanders (1993–94)	24–20–10
55	W	February 13, 1994	2–1	Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	25–20–10
56	L	February 16, 1994	3–7	@ Detroit Red Wings (1993–94)	25–21–10
57	L	February 18, 1994	1–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	25–22–10
58	L	February 20, 1994	3–4 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1993–94)	25–23–10
59	W	February 22, 1994	3–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	26–23–10
60	L	February 24, 1994	1–2	Washington Capitals (1993–94)	26–24–10
61	L	February 26, 1994	2–4	@ Washington Capitals (1993–94)	26–25–10
62	L	February 28, 1994	3–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	26–26–10
63	L	March 2, 1994	2–3	New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	26–27–10
64	L	March 4, 1994	1–2	Hartford Whalers (1993–94)	26–28–10
65	W	March 7, 1994	2–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	27–28–10
66	W	March 9, 1994	5–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	28–28–10
67	L	March 11, 1994	2–4	@ Calgary Flames (1993–94)	28–29–10
68	W	March 14, 1994	2–1	New York Rangers (1993–94)	29–29–10
69	W	March 16, 1994	2–1	Calgary Flames (1993–94)	30–29–10
70	T	March 18, 1994	4–4 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	30–29–11
71	W	March 20, 1994	5–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	31–29–11
72	T	March 21, 1994	3–3 OT	New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	31–29–12
73	T	March 23, 1994	1–1 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	31–29–13
74	L	March 24, 1994	3–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	31–30–13
75	W	March 26, 1994	3–1	@ New York Islanders (1993–94)	32–30–13
76	L	March 28, 1994	4–5	Dallas Stars (1993–94)	32–31–13
77	L	March 30, 1994	1–3	St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	32–32–13
78	T	April 2, 1994	2–2 OT	Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	32–32–14
79	L	April 4, 1994	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1993–94)	32–33–14
80	T	April 5, 1994	3–3 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	32–33–15
81	T	April 7, 1994	3–3 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	32–33–16
82	T	April 10, 1994	2–2 OT	New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	32–33–17
83	L	April 12, 1994	2–5	Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	32–34–17
84	W	April 14, 1994	4–1	New York Islanders (1993–94)	33–34–17

Player statistics

Forwards

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Scott Mellanby	80	30	30	60	149
Jesse Belanger	70	17	33	50	16
Andrei Lomakin	76	19	28	47	26
Brian Skrudland	79	15	25	40	136
Stu Barnes	59	18	20	38	30
Dave Lowry	80	15	22	37	64
Tom Fitzgerald	83	18	14	32	54
Bob Kudelski	44	14	15	29	10
Mike Hough	78	6	23	29	62
Jody Hull	69	13	13	26	8
Rob Niedermayer	65	9	17	26	51
Bill Lindsay	84	6	6	12	97
Scott Levins	29	5	6	11	69
Mike Foligno	39	4	5	9	49
Randy Gilhen	20	4	4	8	16
Evgeny Davydov	21	2	6	8	8
Patrick Lebeau	4	1	1	2	4
Jamie Leach	2	1	0	1	0
Jeff Greenlaw	4	0	1	1	2
Doug Barrault	2	0	0	0	0
Len Barrie	2	0	0	0	0
Jeff Daniels	7	0	0	0	0

Defensemen

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Gord Murphy	84	14	29	43	71
Brian Benning	73	6	24	30	107
Greg Hawgood	33	2	14	16	9
Keith Brown	51	4	8	12	60
Brent Severyn	67	4	7	11	156
Alexander Godynyuk	26	0	10	10	35
Joe Cirella	63	1	9	10	99
Geoff Smith	56	1	5	6	38
Peter Andersson	8	1	1	2	0
Paul Laus	39	2	0	2	109
Stephane Richer	2	0	1	1	0
Greg Smyth	12	1	0	1	37
Dallas Eakins	1	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SV% = Save percentage ; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts

Player	GP	W	L	T	SV%	GAA	SO
John Vanbiesbrouck	57	21	25	11	.924	2.53	1
Mark Fitzpatrick	28	12	8	6	.914	2.73	1
Pokey Reddick	2	0	1	0	.822	6.00	0

Awards and records

• John Vanbiesbrouck, Goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star
• John Vanbiesbrouck, runner-up, Hart Memorial Trophy
• John Vanbiesbrouck, runner-up, Vezina Trophy

Transactions

Trades

Trades listed are from June 1, 1993 to June 1, 1994.

Date	Details
June 25, 1993 (1993-06-25)	To Tampa Bay Lightning Panthers agree to select Daren Puppa in 1993 NHL Expansion Draft	To Florida Panthers 1993 PIT 3rd-round Pick (#78 overall)
June 26, 1993 (1993-06-26)	To Winnipeg Jets 1993 2rd-round Pick (#31 overall)	To Florida Panthers 1993 2nd-round Pick (#41 overall) 1993 3rd-round Pick (#67 overall)
July 30, 1993 (1993-07-30)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cash	To Florida Panthers Dave Tomlinson
August 3, 1993 (1993-08-03)	To Winnipeg Jets Dave Tomlinson	To Florida Panthers Jason Cirone
September 30, 1993 (1993-09-30)	To Winnipeg Jets 1994 4th-round Pick (#79 overall)	To Florida Panthers Evgeny Davydov 1994 Conditional 4th-round Pick
September 30, 1993 (1993-09-30)	To Chicago Blackhawks Darin Kimble	To Florida Panthers Keith Brown
October 3, 1993 (1993-10-03)	To Winnipeg Jets Milan Tichy	To Florida Panthers Brent Severyn
November 5, 1993 (1993-11-05)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cash	To Florida Panthers Mike Foligno
November 25, 1993 (1993-11-25)	To Winnipeg Jets Randy Gilhen 1994 4th-round Pick	To Florida Panthers Stu Barnes 1994 STL 6th-round Pick (#146 overall)
November 28, 1993 (1993-11-28)	To Philadelphia Flyers Cash	To Florida Panthers Greg Hawgood
December 6, 1993 (1993-12-06)	To Edmonton Oilers 1994 3rd-round Pick (#53 overall) 1994 STL 6th-round Pick (#146 overall)	To Florida Panthers Geoff Smith 1994 4th-round Pick (#84 overall)
December 7, 1993 (1993-12-07)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Greg Smyth	To Florida Panthers Future Considerations (Cash)
December 16, 1993 (1993-12-16)	To Hartford Whalers Alexander Godynyuk	To Florida Panthers Jim McKenzie
December 16, 1993 (1993-12-16)	To Dallas Stars Jim McKenzie	To Florida Panthers 1995 4th-round Pick (#89 overall)
January 6, 1994 (1994-01-06)	To Ottawa Senators Scott Levins Evgeny Davydov 1994 6th-round Pick (#131 overall) 1995 DAL 4th-round Pick (#89 overall)	To Florida Panthers Bob Kudelski
March 19, 1994 (1994-03-19)	To Pittsburgh Penguins Greg Hawgood	To Florida Panthers Jeff Daniels
March 21, 1994 (1994-03-21)	To Ottawa Senators 1994 9th-round Pick (#209 overall)	To Florida Panthers Peter Andersson

Free agents Date Player Team July 8, 1993 (1993-07-08) Dallas Eakins from Winnipeg Jets July 9, 1993 (1993-07-09) Darin Kimble from Boston Bruins July 12, 1993 (1993-07-12) Pokey Reddick from Edmonton Oilers July 13, 1993 (1993-07-13) Brian Benning from Edmonton Oilers July 14, 1993 (1993-07-14) Daniel Gauthier July 14, 1993 (1993-07-14) Greg Smyth from Calgary Flames July 14, 1993 (1993-07-14) Jeff Greenlaw July 20, 1993 (1993-07-20) Jeff Serowik July 20, 1993 (1993-07-20) Len Barrie from Philadelphia Flyers July 26, 1993 (1993-07-26) Patrick Lebeau August 10, 1993 (1993-08-10) Jody Hull from Ottawa Senators August 31, 1993 (1993-08-31) Jamie Leach October 4, 1993 (1993-10-04) Jamie Linden October 4, 1993 (1993-10-04) Brad Smyth

Signings Date Player Contract term June 2, 1994 (1994-06-02) Dallas Eakins multi-year June 2, 1994 (1994-06-02) Doug Barrault multi-year Retirement Date Player July 1, 1993 (1993-07-01) Pete Stauber

Draft picks

Expansion Draft

#	Player	Position	Drafted from
1	John Vanbiesbrouck	G	Vancouver Canucks
4	Mark Fitzpatrick	G	Quebec Nordiques
5	Daren Puppa 1	G	Toronto Maple Leafs
7	Milan Tichy	D	Chicago Blackhawks
10	Paul Laus	D	Pittsburgh Penguins
12	Joe Cirella	D	New York Rangers
13	Alexander Godynyuk	D	Calgary Flames
15	Gord Murphy	D	Dallas Stars
18	Steve Bancroft	D	Winnipeg Jets
20	Stephane Richer	D	Boston Bruins
21	Gord Hynes	D	Philadelphia Flyers
24	Tom Fitzgerald	C/RW	New York Islanders
25	Jesse Belanger	C	Montreal Canadiens
27	Scott Levins	C	Winnipeg Jets
30	Scott Mellanby	RW	Edmonton Oilers
32	Brian Skrudland	C	Calgary Flames
33	Mike Hough	LW	Washington Capitals
35	Dave Lowry	LW	St. Louis Blues
38	Bill Lindsay	LW	Quebec Nordiques
40	Andrei Lomakin	RW	Philadelphia Flyers
41	Randy Gilhen	C	Tampa Bay Lightning
43	Doug Barrault	LW	Dallas Stars
46	Marc Labelle	LW	Ottawa Senators
48	Pete Stauber	LW	Detroit Red Wings

Notes

1. Lost in Expansion Draft phase two to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

NHL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	5	Rob Niedermayer	C	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
21	41	Kevin Weekes	G	Canada	Owen Sound Platers (OHL)
3	57	Chris Armstrong	D	Canada	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
31	67	Mikael Tjallden	D	Sweden	MODO (Elitserien)
32	78	Steve Washburn	C	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
4	83	Bill McCauley	C	United States	Detroit Junior Red Wings (OHL)
5	109	Todd MacDonald	G	Canada	Tacoma Rockets (WHL)
6	135	Alain Nasreddine	D	Canada	Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)
7	161	Trevor Doyle	D	Canada	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
8	187	Briane Thompson	D	Canada	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
9	213	Chad Cabana	LW	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
10	239	John Demarco	D	United States	Archbishop Williams High School (USHS-MA)
11	265	Eric Montreuil	C	Canada	Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
S	4	Chris Imes	D	United States	University of Maine (Hockey East)

Notes

1. The Panthers acquired these picks as the result of a trade on June 26, 1993 that sent a second-round pick in 1993 (31st overall) to Winnipeg in exchange for these picks.
2. The Panthers acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 25, 1993 that agreed that Florida selected Darren Puppa in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft to Tampa Bay in exchange for this pick.

   Tampa Bay previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on March 22, 1993 that sent Peter Taglianetti to Pittsburgh in exchange for this pick.

• The Panthers second-round pick went to the Winnipeg Jets as the result of a trade on June 26, 1993 that sent a second and third-round pick both in 1993 (41st and 67th overall) to Florida in exchange for this pick (31st overall).

Notes

1. The first tiebreaker was total wins. While the Panthers finished with 83 points, and the New York Islanders 84, the Islanders won 36 games compared to the Panthers' 33.

References

• Panthers on Hockey Database

1. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
2. "NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com. Retrieved August 17, 2024.