

After being selected by the Los Angeles Kings 3rd overall in the 1997 Draft, people around the hockey world were beginning to consider him a bust as he struggled to find his stride.įinally, in 2002-03, the Finnish forward would take the next step in his development. In fact, his first five years in the league were underwhelming. Jokinen’s first two years with the Panthers were rough. Parrish and Kvasha had a few respectable years in the league after the trade, but compared to the impact of Jokinen and Luongo in Florida, Islander fans must have been distraught. Jokinen was packaged with Roberto Luongo and sent from the New York Islanders to South Florida in exchange for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha at the 2000 NHL Draft. It all started with probably the best trade in franchise history.

With that in mind, let’s look back on Jokinen’s record-breaking tenure with the Cats. What seems to fly under the radar is the footprint that the current franchise point leader – Olli Jokinen – left on Florida’s hockey market. At the end of the day, it only makes sense as they will undoubtedly take over as the all-time point leaders in Florida Panthers history next season. Here at The Rat Trick, we have praised the likes of Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau for their on-ice contributions. Olli Jokinen is both for the Florida Panthers. Every team has its heroes and underrated superstars.
