Montour Emerging into a Star on Panthers’ Blueline

When Brandon Montour took to the blueline at the Panthers training camp, he had one goal in mind — elevating his game.

And elevate he has. Montour is off to a blistering start with four goals and 15 points in the team’s first 12 games. His hottest start by far in his young NHL career and one that has him shaping into a star.

Montour Showing Star Power with Expanded Role on Panthers Blueline  

Montour played his first full season with the Panthers last year (81GP 11G 37P) after being brought over in a trade with Buffalo midway through the 2020-21 season. And now that he is acclimated to the Panthers organization, the six-year NHL veteran was ready to step up.

After an offseason that saw the Panthers move out some core pieces, including top pairing defenceman, MacKenzie Weegar, there was certainly an opportunity for Montour on the Panthers’ blue line.

When asked at the start of training camp whether he was up for the task of filling in on the now “thinner” blue line, Montour responded by saying he believed he was “fully capable of playing a larger role”.

And with 11 games into the season so far, he has done just that.

But no one could have predicted just how big of a role he’d be expected to take on so early into the season.

Ekblad Injury Creates Opportunity on Panthers Blueline for Montour

During the Panthers’ third game of the season, while playing the Boston Bruins at TD Garden, star defenceman Aaron Ekblad would leave the ice with a lower-body injury.

Fellow defencemen Gustav Forsling had already taken on a larger role himself on the blue line, replacing Weegar as Ekblad’s d-partner on the top pairing. But now, there was another opening.

Brandon Montour on his game and playing with Gus Forsling: “We have been playing well and strong in our own end. We enjoy doing that. When the offense comes, we like to get up there and make plays, too.”

More notes & quotes from today’s practice » https://t.co/sIafzjv9RU pic.twitter.com/1FFBUcd5CP

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) November 8, 2022

But Ekblad’s absence from the lineup presented an opportunity for Montour and it’s one he’s run with.  He has stepped up brilliantly and flourished in his expanded role and in doing so, proved to the league and his team what he is capable of accomplishing on the ice.

Maurice praised his new star defencemen saying “It’s so important for us when Aaron [Ekblad] does come back… now we have another defenceman that’s at the peak in his game.”

Montour’s Path to Panthers’ Top Defensive Pairing

Before his trade to Florida, Brandon Montour was a mid-pairing defenceman on a below-average Buffalo Sabres roster.

Drafted 55th overall in the 2014 draft by the Anaheim Ducks, Montour had shown early promise in his career. In his rookie season, Montour helped the Ducks reach the Western Conference final with seven points in 17 playoff games. He followed that performance with a 32-point campaign in his first full season in the NHL.

Despite the positive showings with the Ducks, the Brantford, ON native would be dealt to the Sabres in exchange for defenseman Brendan Guhle and a 2019 first-round draft pick (Brayden Tracey).

But after playing just 112 games with Buffalo, Montour would be moved to his third team.

On April 10, 2021, in an attempt to bolster their blue line heading into the playoffs, the Panthers would trade for the 6ft – 194lbs d-man in exchange for third-round pick Stiven Sardarian.

But success didn’t come right away. He was held pointless in six playoff games as the Panthers were eliminated in the first round by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

But the determined Montour responded the next season with a productive campaign, setting a career-high 37 points in 81 games. He also finished a +15 on the ridiculously high-scoring Panthers team.

However, despite his performance, last season, no one, outside of Montour probably, could have predicted the type of jump he’d make in his development this year.

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Taking it to Another Level

Entering this season, Montour had compiled 146 points in 374 NHL games. That’s good enough for a career points-per-game average of 0.39 while being respectable for an NHL defenceman. 

This season’s 15 points in 12 games make for a massive jump up to a 1.25 ppg average.

But the biggest stat that leaps out in relation to just how big of a step Montour has made this season is not a flashy one. 

It’s not the goals, it’s not the points. 

It’s his minutes played.

Montour Working Overtime as Team’s Swiss Army Knife

Last season, Montour averaged 17:53 in ice time with the Panthers. This year, it is up to a whopping 26:27.

Almost 10 more minutes a night.

His previous season high was 22:13 back in the 2018-19 season.

That is an incredible testament to the trust coach Paul Maurice has in his defenceman and the value Maurice sees in Montour.

But what makes this more special is that those minutes have been spread across every situation — even strength, power play, shorthanded, and overtime.

Brandon Montour scores a power-play goal against the Anaheim Ducks to make it 1-0 #ANAvsFLA #FlyTogether #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/qZgtG37WYb

— nopClips (@nopClips) November 7, 2022

In the Panthers’ most recent road swing, the Cats had a back-to-back with the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks to close out the trip.

Against the Kings, Montour logged 27:13 in ice time with 1:37 on the power play and 3:44 on the penalty kill. 

He followed that up the next night in Anaheim with 25:15 of ice time to go along with a goal and three assists. 

And this all came after setting a career-high in ice time with 30:41 of ice time on November 3 against the San Jose Sharks.

Brandon Montour is currently second in the NHL in average ice time, only trailing the Kings’ Drew Doughty who has seven seconds more at 26:34.

Montour’s Versatility Making Life Easier for Maurice

Paul Maurice commented on Montour’s ice time, saying “He’s an exceptionally fit man, he has incredibly fitness numbers” adding that “he’s one of those guys that comes to the bench late even if he was hemmed in and shows no signs of distress.”

Maurice went on to add that he has no problem in giving Montour the added minutes, stating that he has “earned the opportunity.”

Maurice’s ability to lean on his defenceman has made life easier for the Cats. It’s made navigating the changes and injuries to their lineup more manageable. The Panthers have been able to call up defencemen Matt Kiersted and Lucas Carlsson from the AHL Charolette Checkers and ease them into the lineup. And they’ve been able to preserve minutes over this long season to some of their older defencemen in Marc Staal and Radko Gudas.

Filling the Stat Sheet

But let’s go back to those flashy stats for a minute. Looking deeper into Montour’s 12 points, you can see that they have come at timely moments in the game. They aren’t garbage, stat-padding points.

Brandon Montour had 1-3—4 against his former club Sunday and matched the single-game franchise record for points by a @FlaPanthers defenseman, last achieved by Aaron Ekblad on March 10, 2022.#NHLStats: https://t.co/r4n0XBE8Dx pic.twitter.com/LugJudJyZH

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 7, 2022

The Panthers currently have a team record of 8-5-1. Of those seven wins, Montour has two game-winning goals and an assist on a fourth.

He also has points on four of the team’s opening goals and has five points on go-ahead goals.

He leads his team in power play goals (2), is second in power play assists (3), second in blocks (19), and second among defencemen in shots (38).

Montour also sits third in league scoring among defencemen.

Lastly, if you dive deeper into some of the more advanced-analytic stats, you’ll see that Montour and his teams’ possession numbers are over 60% when he is on the ice.

Star-like Performance not just a Hot Start

It has been an astonishing start for the young defencemen but most importantly it’s one that looks sustainable. Everything points toward the Panthers being a better team with Montour on the ice than off it.

His added points on the ice set him up for more opportunities to continue showing his offensive prowess. In the meantime, fans no doubt will be watching to see how Montour continues to live up to his star-like start to the season.

The only question now is how the ice gets divvied up upon Ekblad’s return.

But that’s a good problem to have.