from Harvey Fialkov of the SunSentinel,

A training camp begins Thursday with physicals and Friday's first practice at the the IceDen, the new-look Florida Panthers ignored the old axiom "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" this offseason.

Instead of tweaking a roster that won an Atlantic Division title last season with a franchise-record 47 wins and 103 points, the Panthers were arguably the busiest franchise in the NHL over the summer.

They overhauled everything from their logo and jerseys to trainers, equipment managers, scouts, assistant coaches and front office. Including rookie Mike Matheson, Florida will have four new blue-line starters on last year's seventh-ranked defense. In all, there could be 8-10 fresh faces on the Panthers' season-opening 23-man roster come Oct. 13.

Co-owners Vinnie Viola and Doug Cifu invested more than $220 million in signing five free agents while also locking up their talented young core of Vincent Trocheck, Aaron Ekblad, Reilly Smith and Jonathan Huberdeau for years to come.

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