By Associated Press

SUNRISE -- Flashing an irrepressible grin that clearly
displayed his feelings about the NHL's lockout finally
ending, Mike Keenan said Saturday he's looking forward
to the work that awaits him and the Florida Panthers.

Keenan, the team's general manager, has a $30 million
payroll budget for the coming season. With that money,
the Panthers need to negotiate new deals with star
goalie Roberto Luongo, highly touted defenseman Jay
Bouwmeester and team captain Olli Jokinen -- all among
the team's 12 restricted free agents.

Florida currently has just $6.4 million committed for
next year, but that only includes deals with seven
players. Still, Keenan believes the Panthers -- who
made their last Stanley Cup playoffs appearance in
2000 -- are in position to improve right away.

"We're one of the best-positioned teams in the league
because we don't have the commitments financially,"
Keenan said. "We've got the flexibility to be patient
and wait for those opportunities as they come about.
... We've got a payroll situation right now that's
advantageous, that most teams would like to have."

On Friday, more than a year after a lockout silenced
the game, the NHL's board of governors voted 30-0 to
pass the salary-cap based collective bargaining
agreement that the players' association overwhelmingly
approved Thursday.

And already, the financial realities of the new NHL
are taking shape.

On Saturday, Philadelphia bought out the contracts of
forwards John LeClair and Tony Amonte -- who, even
after the 24-percent contract rollback in the new CBA,
were due more than $11 million next season.

Since no team's payroll will exceed $39 million or go
under $21.5 million next season -- including salaries,
signing bonuses and performance bonuses -- the Flyers
simply couldn't afford to keep both longtime stars.

The salary cap will even the field a bit, as will a
new rule that affects the Panthers perhaps more than
most: Goalie pads will be about 11 percent smaller, an
attempt to raise scoring. The width of pads will be
reduced to 11 inches and the glove, upper-body
protector, pants and jersey will also be smaller.

For years, Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo -- who set
NHL records in the 2003-04 season for most saves
(2,303) and most shots faced (2,475), while finishing
third in the league in save percentage (.931) -- has
heard critics say his pads are simply too big.

Now, he'll be slightly less imposing.

"Roberto having smaller equipment is not a huge
adjustment in terms of comparison with other
goaltenders. We probably should have brought them in
many years ago," Keenan said.

Other rule changes include the elimination of the
center red line and the addition of shootouts
following overtime. But perhaps the biggest change to
the league won't be a rule, but a player: young star
Sidney Crosby, who'll be drafted No. 1 by the
Pittsburgh Penguins next Saturday.

The Panthers will pick 29th in the draft's first
round, then make their second-round pick three spots
later. While Crosby is at the head of the draft class,
Keenan thinks there will be plenty of talent to go
around.

"There are a lot of players in the first round this
year that will be impact players," Keenan said.

July 24, 2005

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