2003–04 Florida Panthers season

2003–04 Florida Panthers
Division	4th Southeast
Conference	12th Eastern
2003–04 record	28–35–15–4
Home record	16–15–7–3
Road record	12–20–8–1
Goals for	188
Goals against	221
Team information
General manager	Rick Dudley
Coach	Mike Keenan (Oct.–Nov.) Rick Dudley (Nov.–Feb.) John Torchetti (Feb.–Apr.)
Captain	Olli Jokinen
Alternate captains	Viktor Kozlov (Oct.–Mar.) Marcus Nilson (Oct.–Mar.) Lyle Odelein
Arena	Office Depot Center
Average attendance	15,936
Minor league affiliate(s)	San Antonio Rampage Augusta Lynx
Team leaders
Goals	Olli Jokinen (26)
Assists	Olli Jokinen (32)
Points	Olli Jokinen (58)
Penalty minutes	Darcy Hordichuk (158)
Plus/minus	Pavel Trnka (+2)
Wins	Roberto Luongo (25)
Goals against average	Roberto Luongo (2.43)

The 2003–04 Florida Panthers season was their eleventh season in the National Hockey League. The Panthers failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

Offseason

Olli Jokinen was named team captain on October 7, 2003.

Regular season

On November 9, 2003, head coach Mike Keenan was fired after leading the Panthers to a 5–8–2–0 start. General manager Rick Dudley assumed coaching duties on an interim basis through February 9, 2004, when assistant coach John Torchetti was named interim head coach.

The Panthers season finale against the Carolina Hurricanes on April 4, 2004, was the final tie in NHL history. Ties were eliminated after the 2004–05 NHL lockout when the shootout was adopted.

Final standings

Southeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
1	1	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	46	22	8	6	245	192	106
2	10	Atlanta Thrashers	82	33	37	8	4	214	243	78
3	11	Carolina Hurricanes	82	28	34	14	6	172	209	76
4	12	Florida Panthers	82	28	35	15	4	188	221	75
5	14	Washington Capitals	82	23	46	10	3	186	253	59

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	46	22	8	6	245	192	106
2	Y- Boston Bruins	NE	82	41	19	15	7	209	188	104
3	Y- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	40	21	15	6	209	188	101
4	X- Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	45	24	10	3	242	204	103
5	X- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	43	23	10	6	262	189	102
6	X- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	43	25	12	2	213	164	100
7	X- Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	41	30	7	4	208	192	93
8	X- New York Islanders	AT	82	38	29	11	4	237	210	91
8.5
9	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	37	34	7	4	220	221	85
10	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	33	37	8	4	214	243	78
11	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	28	34	14	6	172	209	76
12	Florida Panthers	SE	82	28	35	15	4	188	221	75
13	New York Rangers	AT	82	27	40	7	8	206	250	69
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	23	46	10	3	186	253	59
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	23	47	8	4	190	303	58

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

2003–04 regular season
October: 4–5–2–0 (home: 1–2–1–0; road: 3–3–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 W October 9, 2003 3–1 Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 1–0–0–0 Recap 2 T October 11, 2003 1–1 OT Boston Bruins (2003–04) 1–0–1–0 Recap 3 T October 13, 2003 2–2 OT @ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 1–0–2–0 Recap 4 L October 15, 2003 1–2 Phoenix Coyotes (2003–04) 1–1–2–0 Recap 5 L October 18, 2003 1–2 @ New York Islanders (2003–04) 1–2–2–0 Recap 6 L October 20, 2003 1–3 @ New York Rangers (2003–04) 1–3–2–0 Recap 7 W October 22, 2003 2–1 @ New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 2–3–2–0 Recap 8 L October 24, 2003 3–4 Minnesota Wild (2003–04) 2–4–2–0 Recap 9 W October 25, 2003 3–2 @ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 3–4–2–0 Recap 10 L October 29, 2003 1–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 3–5–2–0 Recap 11 W October 30, 2003 3–2 @ Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 4–5–2–0 Recap
November: 5–8–2–0 (home: 3–4–1–0; road: 2–4–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 12 L November 1, 2003 2–6 San Jose Sharks (2003–04) 4–6–2–0 Recap 13 L November 5, 2003 2–3 Los Angeles Kings (2003–04) 4–7–2–0 Recap 14 W November 7, 2003 6–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 5–7–2–0 Recap 15 L November 8, 2003 0–2 @ St. Louis Blues (2003–04) 5–8–2–0 Recap 16 W November 11, 2003 4–0 Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 6–8–2–0 Recap 17 L November 13, 2003 1–3 @ New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 6–9–2–0 Recap 18 W November 15, 2003 3–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 7–9–2–0 Recap 19 L November 16, 2003 2–5 @ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 7–10–2–0 Recap 20 L November 19, 2003 1–4 New York Islanders (2003–04) 7–11–2–0 Recap 21 L November 21, 2003 3–6 Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 7–12–2–0 Recap 22 W November 22, 2003 3–2 OT @ Washington Capitals (2003–04) 8–12–2–0 Recap 23 W November 24, 2003 2–1 Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 9–12–2–0 Recap 24 T November 26, 2003 3–3 OT New York Rangers (2003–04) 9–12–3–0 Recap 25 L November 28, 2003 3–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 9–13–3–0 Recap 26 T November 29, 2003 1–1 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04) 9–13–4–0 Recap
December: 3–3–5–2 (home: 3–1–3–1; road: 0–2–2–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 27 L December 3, 2003 0–4 Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 9–14–4–0 Recap 28 OTL December 6, 2003 3–4 OT Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 9–14–4–1 Recap 29 T December 10, 2003 1–1 OT Boston Bruins (2003–04) 9–14–5–1 Recap 30 W December 12, 2003 4–2 Montreal Canadiens (2003–04) 10–14–5–1 Recap 31 T December 13, 2003 2–2 OT @ Nashville Predators (2003–04) 10–14–6–1 Recap 32 L December 15, 2003 1–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (2003–04) 10–15–6–1 Recap 33 T December 17, 2003 2–2 OT Washington Capitals (2003–04) 10–15–7–1 Recap 34 W December 19, 2003 1–0 Dallas Stars (2003–04) 11–15–7–1 Recap 35 OTL December 22, 2003 2–3 OT @ Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 11–15–7–2 Recap 36 L December 23, 2003 2–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 11–16–7–2 Recap 37 W December 27, 2003 3–2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04) 12–16–7–2 Recap 38 T December 29, 2003 4–4 OT Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 12–16–8–2 Recap 39 T December 31, 2003 2–2 OT @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 12–16–9–2 Recap
January: 5–6–2–1 (home: 3–2–1–1; road: 2–4–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 40 L January 2, 2004 1–2 Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 12–17–9–2 Recap 41 W January 3, 2004 1–0 Columbus Blue Jackets (2003–04) 13–17–9–2 Recap 42 W January 8, 2004 4–3 OT @ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 14–17–9–2 Recap 43 L January 10, 2004 2–4 @ Calgary Flames (2003–04) 14–18–9–2 Recap 44 T January 11, 2004 2–2 OT @ Vancouver Canucks (2003–04) 14–18–10–2 Recap 45 L January 13, 2004 2–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (2003–04) 14–19–10–2 Recap 46 W January 17, 2004 2–1 Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 15–19–10–2 Recap 47 OTL January 19, 2004 1–2 OT St. Louis Blues (2003–04) 15–19–10–3 Recap 48 L January 21, 2004 5–6 Colorado Avalanche (2003–04) 15–20–10–3 Recap 49 W January 23, 2004 4–1 Washington Capitals (2003–04) 16–20–10–3 Recap 50 W January 24, 2004 2–1 @ Boston Bruins (2003–04) 17–20–10–3 Recap 51 L January 26, 2004 2–5 @ New York Rangers (2003–04) 17–21–10–3 Recap 52 T January 28, 2004 3–3 OT Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 17–21–11–3 Recap 53 L January 31, 2004 2–4 @ New York Islanders (2003–04) 17–22–11–3 Recap
February: 6–4–3–0 (home: 3–1–0–0; road: 3–3–3–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 54 L February 3, 2004 0–3 @ San Jose Sharks (2003–04) 17–23–11–3 Recap 55 W February 4, 2004 5–4 OT @ Phoenix Coyotes (2003–04) 18–23–11–3 Recap 56 W February 10, 2004 2–1 Montreal Canadiens (2003–04) 19–23–11–3 Recap 57 W February 12, 2004 5–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 20–23–11–3 Recap 58 L February 14, 2004 2–3 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 20–24–11–3 Recap 59 L February 16, 2004 1–3 @ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 20–25–11–3 Recap 60 T February 18, 2004 1–1 OT @ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 20–25–12–3 Recap 61 W February 20, 2004 2–0 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 21–25–12–3 Recap 62 T February 21, 2004 2–2 OT @ Washington Capitals (2003–04) 21–25–13–3 Recap 63 W February 23, 2004 2–0 @ Boston Bruins (2003–04) 22–25–13–3 Recap 64 W February 25, 2004 4–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 23–25–13–3 Recap 65 L February 27, 2004 1–4 Washington Capitals (2003–04) 23–26–13–3 Recap 66 T February 29, 2004 2–2 OT @ Chicago Blackhawks (2003–04) 23–26–14–3 Recap
March: 5–8–0–1 (home: 3–5–0–1; road: 2–3–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 67 W March 2, 2004 1–0 @ Washington Capitals (2003–04) 24–26–14–3 Recap 68 L March 3, 2004 2–5 New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 24–27–14–3 Recap 69 L March 6, 2004 3–5 Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 24–28–14–3 Recap 70 L March 9, 2004 0–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 24–29–14–3 Recap 71 W March 11, 2004 3–2 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04) 25–29–14–3 Recap 72 W March 13, 2004 3–2 OT New York Rangers (2003–04) 26–29–14–3 Recap 73 W March 17, 2004 6–4 New York Islanders (2003–04) 27–29–14–3 Recap 74 L March 19, 2004 2–3 @ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 27–30–14–3 Recap 75 L March 20, 2004 1–2 Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 27–31–14–3 Recap 76 OTL March 23, 2004 3–4 OT New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 27–31–14–4 Recap 77 L March 25, 2004 2–3 @ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 27–32–14–4 Recap 78 L March 27, 2004 0–3 Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 27–33–14–4 Recap 79 W March 29, 2004 3–1 Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 28–33–14–4 Recap 80 L March 31, 2004 4–5 Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 28–34–14–4 Recap
April: 0–1–1–0 (home: 0–0–1–0; road: 0–1–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 81 L April 1, 2004 3–4 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 28–35–14–4 Recap 82 T April 4, 2004 6–6 OT Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 28–35–15–4 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)   Overtime loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
12	Olli Jokinen	C	82	26	32	58	−16	81
8	Valeri Bure‡	RW	55	20	25	45	0	20
26	Mike Van Ryn	D	79	13	24	37	−16	52
22	Kristian Huselius	LW	76	10	21	31	−6	24
9	Stephen Weiss	C	50	12	17	29	−10	10
25	Viktor Kozlov‡	C	48	11	16	27	−4	16
13	Juraj Kolnik	RW	53	14	11	25	−7	14
14	Niklas Hagman	LW	75	10	13	23	−5	22
16	Nathan Horton	C	55	14	8	22	−5	57
4	Jay Bouwmeester	D	61	2	18	20	−15	30
17	Matt Cullen	C	56	6	13	19	−2	24
18	Marcus Nilson‡	LW	69	6	13	19	−9	26
2	Lyle Odelein	D	82	4	12	16	−7	88
7	Pavel Trnka	D	67	3	13	16	2	51
28	Donald Audette†	RW	28	6	7	13	−9	22
34	Mathieu Biron	D	57	3	10	13	−13	51
19	Byron Ritchie	C	50	5	6	11	−10	84
11	Mikael Samuelsson	RW	37	3	6	9	0	35
40	Vaclav Nedorost	C	32	4	3	7	−6	12
6	Andreas Lilja	D	79	3	4	7	−8	90
23	Lukas Krajicek	D	18	1	6	7	−2	12
5	Branislav Mezei	D	45	0	7	7	−4	80
38	Eric Beaudoin	LW	30	2	4	6	−6	12
39	Ivan Novoseltsev‡	RW	17	1	4	5	−6	8
27	Christian Berglund†	LW	10	3	1	4	−2	10
24	Darcy Hordichuk	LW	57	3	1	4	−10	158
1	Roberto Luongo	G	72	0	3	3		2
20	Craig MacDonald‡	LW	34	0	3	3	−5	25
15	Eric Messier	LW	21	0	3	3	−2	16
27	Jaroslav Bednar‡	RW	13	1	1	2	2	4
20	Josh Olson	LW	5	1	0	1	1	0
20	Kamil Piros†	C	3	1	0	1	−1	0
23	Lee Goren	RW	2	0	1	1	−4	0
41	Mike Green‡	C	11	0	1	1	0	2
44	Gregory Campbell	LW	2	0	0	0	−1	5
15	Ty Jones†	RW	6	0	0	0	0	7
33	Kristian Kudroc	D	2	0	0	0	0	2
32	Grant McNeill	D	3	0	0	0	0	5
36	Kyle Rossiter‡	D	4	0	0	0	−1	7
31	Steve Shields	G	16	0	0	0		6
21	Denis Shvidki	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
1	Roberto Luongo	72	25	33	14	2475	172	2.43	.931	7	4252
31	Steve Shields	16	3	6	1	346	42	3.44	.879	0	732

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL Second All-Star Team	Roberto Luongo (Goaltender)
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Roberto Luongo

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Nathan Horton	October 9, 2003
	Gregory Campbell	October 18, 2003
	Grant McNeill	November 22, 2003
	Mike Green	February 3, 2004
	Josh Olson	March 11, 2004
1,000th game played	Lyle Odelein	January 31, 2004

Transactions

The Panthers were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2003, the day after the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 7, 2004, the day of the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 21, 2003 (2003-06-21)	To Pittsburgh Penguins 1st-round pick in 2003 3rd-round pick in 2003	To Florida Panthers Mikael Samuelsson 1st-round pick in 2003 2nd-round pick in 2003
	To Tampa Bay Lightning 2nd-round pick in 2003 2nd-round pick in 2003 6th-round pick in 2003	To Florida Panthers 1st-round pick in 2003
	To Atlanta Thrashers Ivan Majesky	To Florida Panthers 2nd-round pick in 2003
June 22, 2003 (2003-06-22)	To Philadelphia Flyers 6th-round pick in 2004	To Florida Panthers 7th-round pick in 2003
	To Chicago Blackhawks 9th-round pick in 2003	To Florida Panthers Dmytro Tolkunov
July 19, 2003 (2003-07-19)	To Colorado Avalanche Peter Worrell 2nd-round pick in 2004	To Florida Panthers Eric Messier Vaclav Nedorost
September 11, 2003 (2003-09-11)	To Ottawa Senators Serge Payer	To Florida Panthers 9th-round pick in 2004
October 5, 2003 (2003-10-05)	To Boston Bruins Future considerations	To Florida Panthers Steve Shields
December 29, 2003 (2003-12-29)	To Ottawa Senators Future considerations	To Florida Panthers Wade Brookbank
December 30, 2003 (2003-12-30)	To Phoenix Coyotes Ivan Novoseltsev	To Florida Panthers Future considerations
March 1, 2004 (2004-03-01)	To New Jersey Devils Viktor Kozlov	To Florida Panthers Christian Berglund Victor Uchevatov
March 2, 2004 (2004-03-02)	To Chicago Blackhawks Future considerations	To Florida Panthers Rights to Ty Jones
March 8, 2004 (2004-03-08)	To Calgary Flames Marcus Nilsson	To Florida Panthers 2nd-round pick in 2004
	To Dallas Stars Valeri Bure	To Florida Panthers Rights to Drew Bagnall 2nd-round pick in 2004
	To Atlanta Thrashers Kyle Rossiter	To Florida Panthers Kamil Piros
March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09)	To New York Rangers Jeff Paul	To Florida Panthers Paul Healey

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
June 25, 2003 (2003-06-25)	Valeri Bure	St. Louis Blues		Waivers
July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03)	Kristian Kudroc	Tampa Bay Lightning	1-year	Free agency
July 11, 2003 (2003-07-11)	Max Birbraer	New Jersey Devils	1-year	Free agency
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)	Lee Goren	Boston Bruins	1-year	Free agency
August 12, 2003 (2003-08-12)	Travis Scott	Los Angeles Kings	2-year	Free agency
August 14, 2003 (2003-08-14)	Kent Huskins	Chicago Blackhawks	1-year	Free agency
	Craig MacDonald	Carolina Hurricanes	1-year	Free agency
August 19, 2003 (2003-08-19)	Jeff Paul	Colorado Avalanche	1-year	Free agency
August 20, 2003 (2003-08-20)	Todd Gill	Chicago Blackhawks	1-year	Free agency
September 4, 2003 (2003-09-04)	Jonas Hoglund	Toronto Maple Leafs	1-year	Free agency
September 9, 2003 (2003-09-09)	Lyle Odelein	Dallas Stars	1-year	Free agency
October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03)	Steve Valiquette	Edmonton Oilers		Waiver draft
January 16, 2004 (2004-01-16)	Donald Audette	Montreal Canadiens	1-year	Free agency

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via	Ref
July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01)	Igor Kravchuk		Contract expiration (III)
	Andy Lundbohm		Contract expiration (VI)
July 4, 2003 (2003-07-04)	Pierre Dagenais	Montreal Canadiens	Free agency (VI)
July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15)	Rocky Thompson	Edmonton Oilers	Free agency (VI)
July 16, 2003 (2003-07-16)	Pascal Trepanier	Tampa Bay Lightning	Release (II)
July 29, 2003 (2003-07-29)	Stephane Matteau		Retirement (III)
	Jamie Rivers	Detroit Red Wings	Free agency (UFA)
August 6, 2003 (2003-08-06)	Tyrone Garner	Stuttgart Wizards (GER-3)	Free agency (UFA)
September 8, 2003 (2003-09-08)	Dmytro Tolkunov	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (RSL)	Free agency (II)
September 20, 2003 (2003-09-20)	Paul Laus		Retirement
September 25, 2003 (2003-09-25)	Petr Kadlec	HC Slavia Praha (ELH)	Release
N/A	Jim Campbell	HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (RSL)	Free agency (UFA)
October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03)	Todd Gill	Lausitzer Fuchse (GER-3)	Release
	Jani Hurme	Carolina Hurricanes	Waiver draft
	Chris Mason	Nashville Predators	Waiver draft
October 4, 2003 (2003-10-04)	Jonas Hoglund	HC Davos (NLA)	Release
October 8, 2003 (2003-10-08)	Steve Valiquette	Edmonton Oilers	Waivers
November 11, 2003 (2003-11-11)	Jeff Toms	EHC Basel (NLA)	Free agency
December 1, 2003 (2003-12-01)	Jaroslav Bednar	Avangard Omsk (RSL)	Release
December 13, 2003 (2003-12-13)	Igor Ulanov	Toronto Roadrunners (AHL)	Free agency
January 20, 2004 (2004-01-20)	Craig MacDonald	Boston Bruins	Waivers
March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09)	Mike Green	New York Rangers	Waivers

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
June 11, 2003 (2003-06-11)	Branislav Mezei	3-year	Re-signing
June 13, 2003 (2003-06-13)	Mathieu Biron	3-year	Re-signing
July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03)	Chris Mason	1-year	Re-signing
July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15)	Petr Kadlec	1-year	Entry-level
July 16, 2003 (2003-07-16)	Olli Jokinen	1-year	Re-signing
	Viktor Kozlov	1-year	Re-signing
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)	Darcy Hordichuk	1-year	Re-signing
	Denis Shvidki	1-year	Re-signing
July 30, 2003 (2003-07-30)	Jaroslav Bednar	1-year	Re-signing
August 5, 2003 (2003-08-05)	Eric Beaudoin	1-year	Re-signing
	Mike Green	1-year	Re-signing
	Kyle Rossiter	1-year	Re-signing
August 12, 2003 (2003-08-12)	Ryan Jardine	1-year	Re-signing
	Ivan Novoseltsev	1-year	Re-signing
August 19, 2003 (2003-08-19)	Mike Van Ryn	1-year	Re-signing
September 3, 2003 (2003-09-03)	Kristian Huselius	2-year	Re-signing
	Juraj Kolnik	1-year	Re-signing
	Michel Periard	1-year	Re-signing
October 6, 2003 (2003-10-06)	Nathan Horton	3-year	Entry-level
October 14, 2003 (2003-10-14)	Petr Taticek	3-year	Entry-level
June 1, 2004 (2004-06-01)	Rob Globke		Entry-level
	Jeremy Swanson		Entry-level

Draft picks

Florida's draft picks at the 2003 NHL entry draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	3	Nathan Horton	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
1	25	Anthony Stewart	Canada	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
2	38	Kamil Kreps	Czech Republic	Brampton Battalion (OHL)
2	55	Stefan Meyer	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
4	105	Martin Lojek	Czech Republic	Brampton Battalion (OHL)
4	124	James Pemberton	United States	Providence College (NCAA)
5	141	Dan Travis	United States	Deerfield Academy (USHS–MA)
5	162	Martin Tuma	Czech Republic	HC Litvínov Jr. (Czech Republic)
6	171	Denis Stasyuk	Russia	Metallurg Novokuznetsk (Russia)
7	223	Dany Roussin	Canada	Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL)
8	234	Petr Kadlec	Czech Republic	Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
9	264	John Hecimovic	Canada	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
9	265	Tanner Glass	Canada	Dartmouth College (ECAC)

References

• "Florida Panthers 2003–04 roster and statistics". The Internet Hockey Database. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
• "2003–04 Florida Panthers Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 8, 2022.