Daily Faceoff Live: Are the Panthers or Rangers under more pressure to make the playoffs?

It’s Friday, so Frank Seravalli and Colby Cohen decided to play a game of This or That on Daily Faceoff Live, starting with: Who’s under more pressure to make the playoffs, the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winning Florida Panthers or the New York Rangers fresh off an appearance in the Eastern Conference Final?

Colby Cohen: “I think it’s the New York Rangers, and I think for the sheer reason that it’s New York. It’s New York City, it’s a big market, it’s the East Coast with a lot of national TV windows. You hear about the salary cap and how can the salary cap go up? Well, teams like the New York Rangers have long runs into the playoffs, and generate more and more hockey related revenue.

So, at the end of the day for me, I think that’s an easy question to answer. I think it’s great to see the way that the Florida Panthers have come alive over the last couple of seasons, but at the end of the day, if you’re asking me to pick, it’s an easy one and it’s the Rangers.”

Frank Seravalli: “Yeah, the pressure is certainly more on the Rangers.

I think the interesting part of it is how the Panthers have framed their season as well. Their GM in Bill Zito mentioning earlier this week in a story on NHL.com that he’s thrilled with the progress that they’ve made. It’s almost like they expected to take a step back this season, and then with upwards of $13 million in salary cap space upcoming this summer, plus whatever increase happens in the cap, that the Panthers could be in a huge position to take a step forward next year as opposed to doing it in back-to-back years with a new coaching staff and all of these new faces.”

You can watch the full episode here: