The odds determine which Panthers player will lead the team in points

One of the reasons the Florida Panthers have become such a strong hockey club is the number of high-scoring players on the roster.

Last season, Florida had four players score points per game.

It was Sam Reinhart, Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. We count him among the PPG players because he scored 72 points in 76 games, which is close enough to the norm.

Reinhart led the Panthers in scoring and scoring last season, with 57 goals and 94 points.

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The year before, Tkachuk was on top with 109 points, but Verhaeghe scored the most goals on the team with 42 goals.

Ultimately, all four players mentioned above are capable of great performances and are all in the peak years of their careers.

That means they’re all realistic candidates to lead the Panthers in scoring this season.

But what would the odds be?

THN Florida took a stab at handicapping the Panthers scoring race. Here’s what we came up with.

Matthew Tkachuk -150

The favorite to lead the team in scoring is Tkachuk. He’s one season removed from a 40-goal, 109-point campaign, yet still managed to score 26 and 88 last year despite starting the season at less than 100 percent. Now fully healthy and hungry to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, the 26-year-old is poised for another big season.

Sasha Barkov +130

Even money for the regular captain. Sasha Barkov is fully capable of putting up huge numbers, but he has played 67, 68 and 73 games over the past three seasons. He will likely need to stay healthy to have a legitimate shot at leading the team in points.

Sam Reinhart-110

Like Barkov, Reinhart has proven he can score big, as evidenced by his 57 goals last season. If Reino can continue where he left off and have another 40 or 50 goal season, he could easily be at the top of the race.

Carter Verhaeghe +200

He has scored 76 goals and 145 points over the past two seasons. Verhaeghe has all the skills – an elusive shot, elite playmaking skills and a high hockey IQ – and he also gets time on Florida’s best power play.

Mackie Samoskevich +1100

We throw the rookie in as an outsider because if the stars align, as JP said on Angels in the Outfield, “It could happen.”

It’s not crazy to think that if Samoskevich makes the opening night roster, he could at some point get a shot on Florida’s top line with Barkov and Reinhart or Verhaeghe.

If that kid with top talent and ice time gets going, who knows what kind of numbers he can put up.

And if Samoskevich has such an impressive rookie year, it makes sense that he’d get some power play minutes as well.

Let us know in the comments which player or players you would bet on.

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