from Greg Cote of the Miami Herald,

“This is our summer,” said Tallon, his GM powers long since fully restored. “This has taken lots of fertilizer and lots of seed, but it’s building to a crescendo.”

The Panthers struck gold in April in landing Joel Quenneville, the second-winningest coach in NHL history and a three-time champion with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013 and 2015. He is this club’s Don Shula, its Pat Riley. Within three days of his hiring the Cats saw a spike of more than $500,000 in ticket sales.

“Our players are going to be in for — I don’t want to say rude awakening, but they better be ready,” Tallon said of the man they call Coach Q. “He’s not going to put up with any crap.”

In addition to the massive upgrade in coaching, Florida will have 26 picks in the next three drafts, having added five extra picks through shrewd trades that also saved at least $15 million in salary-cap space. The Cats are expected to think defense first with the 13th overall selection next Thursday, with Philip Broberg from Sweden a popular mock-draft pick for Florida.

Then comes free agency starting July 1, and the Panthers plan to be active “and aggressive in pursuing the top guys,” said Tallon, who has more than $20 million to spend on a couple of premier free agents or perhaps a handful of less expensive ones.

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