2003–04 Florida Panthers season

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.

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)
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Offseason

Olli Jokinen was named team captain on October 7, 2003.^[1]

Regular season

On November 9, 2003, head coach Mike Keenan was fired after leading the Panthers to a 5–8–2–0 start.^[2] 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.^[3]

The Panthers season finale against the Carolina Hurricanes on April 4, 2004, was the final tie in NHL history.^[4] Ties were eliminated after the 2004–05 NHL lockout when the shootout was adopted.^[5]

Final standings

Southeast Division^[6]

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^[7]

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

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Nathan Horton	October 9, 2003	[12]
	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	[13]

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.^[14]

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	[15]
	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	[15]
	To Atlanta Thrashers Ivan Majesky	To Florida Panthers 2nd-round pick in 2003	[15]
June 22, 2003 (2003-06-22)	To Philadelphia Flyers 6th-round pick in 2004	To Florida Panthers 7th-round pick in 2003	[16]
	To Chicago Blackhawks 9th-round pick in 2003	To Florida Panthers Dmytro Tolkunov	[16]
July 19, 2003 (2003-07-19)	To Colorado Avalanche Peter Worrell 2nd-round pick in 2004	To Florida Panthers Eric Messier Vaclav Nedorost	[17]
September 11, 2003 (2003-09-11)	To Ottawa Senators Serge Payer	To Florida Panthers 9th-round pick in 2004	[18]
October 5, 2003 (2003-10-05)	To Boston Bruins Future considerations	To Florida Panthers Steve Shields	[19]
December 29, 2003 (2003-12-29)	To Ottawa Senators Future considerations	To Florida Panthers Wade Brookbank	[20]
December 30, 2003 (2003-12-30)	To Phoenix Coyotes Ivan Novoseltsev	To Florida Panthers Future considerations	[21]
March 1, 2004 (2004-03-01)	To New Jersey Devils Viktor Kozlov	To Florida Panthers Christian Berglund Victor Uchevatov	[22]
March 2, 2004 (2004-03-02)	To Chicago Blackhawks Future considerations	To Florida Panthers Rights to Ty Jones	[23]
March 8, 2004 (2004-03-08)	To Calgary Flames Marcus Nilsson	To Florida Panthers 2nd-round pick in 2004	[24]
	To Dallas Stars Valeri Bure	To Florida Panthers Rights to Drew Bagnall 2nd-round pick in 2004	[25]
	To Atlanta Thrashers Kyle Rossiter	To Florida Panthers Kamil Piros	[26]
March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09)	To New York Rangers Jeff Paul	To Florida Panthers Paul Healey	[27]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
June 25, 2003 (2003-06-25)	Valeri Bure	St. Louis Blues		Waivers	[28]
July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03)	Kristian Kudroc	Tampa Bay Lightning	1-year	Free agency	[29]
July 11, 2003 (2003-07-11)	Max Birbraer	New Jersey Devils	1-year	Free agency	[30]
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)	Lee Goren	Boston Bruins	1-year	Free agency	[31]
August 12, 2003 (2003-08-12)	Travis Scott	Los Angeles Kings	2-year	Free agency	[32]
August 14, 2003 (2003-08-14)	Kent Huskins	Chicago Blackhawks	1-year	Free agency	[33]
	Craig MacDonald	Carolina Hurricanes	1-year	Free agency	[33]
August 19, 2003 (2003-08-19)	Jeff Paul	Colorado Avalanche	1-year	Free agency	[34]
August 20, 2003 (2003-08-20)	Todd Gill	Chicago Blackhawks	1-year	Free agency	[35]
September 4, 2003 (2003-09-04)	Jonas Hoglund	Toronto Maple Leafs	1-year	Free agency	[36]
September 9, 2003 (2003-09-09)	Lyle Odelein	Dallas Stars	1-year	Free agency	[37]
October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03)	Steve Valiquette	Edmonton Oilers		Waiver draft	[38]
January 16, 2004 (2004-01-16)	Donald Audette	Montreal Canadiens	1-year	Free agency	[39]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via[c]	Ref
July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01)	Igor Kravchuk[d]		Contract expiration (III)	[40]
	Andy Lundbohm[e]		Contract expiration (VI)	[40]
July 4, 2003 (2003-07-04)	Pierre Dagenais	Montreal Canadiens	Free agency (VI)	[43]
July 14, 2003 (2003-07-14)	Igor Ulanov	Toronto Roadrunners (AHL)[f]	Buyout	[45]
July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15)	Rocky Thompson	Edmonton Oilers	Free agency (VI)	[46]
July 16, 2003 (2003-07-16)	Pascal Trepanier	Tampa Bay Lightning[g]	Release (II)	[48]
July 29, 2003 (2003-07-29)	Stephane Matteau		Retirement (III)	[49]
	Jamie Rivers	Detroit Red Wings	Free agency (UFA)	[50]
August 6, 2003 (2003-08-06)	Tyrone Garner	Stuttgart Wizards (GER-3)	Free agency (UFA)	[51]
September 8, 2003 (2003-09-08)	Dmytro Tolkunov	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (RSL)	Free agency (II)[h]	[53]
September 20, 2003 (2003-09-20)	Paul Laus		Retirement	[54]
September 25, 2003 (2003-09-25)	Petr Kadlec	HC Slavia Praha (ELH)[i]	Release	[56]
N/A	Jim Campbell	HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (RSL)	Free agency (UFA)	[57]
October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03)	Todd Gill	Lausitzer Fuchse (GER-3)[j]	Release	[38]
	Jani Hurme	Carolina Hurricanes	Waiver draft	[38]
	Chris Mason	Nashville Predators	Waiver draft	[38]
October 4, 2003 (2003-10-04)	Jonas Hoglund	HC Davos (NLA)[k]	Release	[60]
October 8, 2003 (2003-10-08)	Steve Valiquette	Edmonton Oilers	Waivers	[61]
November 11, 2003 (2003-11-11)	Jeff Toms	EHC Basel (NLA)	Free agency	[62]
December 1, 2003 (2003-12-01)	Jaroslav Bednar	Avangard Omsk (RSL)[l]	Release	[64]
January 20, 2004 (2004-01-20)	Craig MacDonald	Boston Bruins	Waivers	[65]
March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09)	Mike Green	New York Rangers	Waivers	[66]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
June 11, 2003 (2003-06-11)	Branislav Mezei	3-year	Re-signing	[67]
June 13, 2003 (2003-06-13)	Mathieu Biron	3-year	Re-signing	[68]
July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03)	Chris Mason	1-year	Re-signing	[29]
July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15)	Petr Kadlec	1-year	Entry-level	[69]
July 16, 2003 (2003-07-16)	Olli Jokinen	1-year	Re-signing	[70]
	Viktor Kozlov	1-year	Re-signing	[70]
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)	Darcy Hordichuk	1-year	Re-signing	[31]
	Denis Shvidki	1-year	Re-signing	[31]
July 30, 2003 (2003-07-30)	Jaroslav Bednar	1-year	Re-signing	[71]
August 5, 2003 (2003-08-05)	Eric Beaudoin	1-year	Re-signing	[72]
	Mike Green	1-year	Re-signing	[72]
	Kyle Rossiter	1-year	Re-signing	[72]
August 12, 2003 (2003-08-12)	Ryan Jardine	1-year	Re-signing	[32]
	Ivan Novoseltsev	1-year	Re-signing	[32]
August 19, 2003 (2003-08-19)	Mike Van Ryn	1-year	Re-signing	[34]
September 3, 2003 (2003-09-03)	Kristian Huselius	2-year	Re-signing	[73]
	Juraj Kolnik	1-year	Re-signing	[73]
	Michel Periard	1-year	Re-signing	[73]
October 6, 2003 (2003-10-06)	Nathan Horton	3-year	Entry-level	[74]
October 14, 2003 (2003-10-14)	Petr Taticek	3-year	Entry-level	[75]
June 1, 2004 (2004-06-01)	Rob Globke		Entry-level	[76]
	Jeremy Swanson		Entry-level	[76]

Draft picks

Florida's draft picks at the 2003 NHL entry draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.^[77]

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)

Notes

1. Nedorost wore number 62 in his first two games.
2. Messier suffered a dislocated right wrist in a November 21 game and missed the rest of the season. On the Panthers official website he is listed as having changed his number to 29 after the trade deadline.^[9]
3. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on July 1 if applicable.^[40]
4. Kravchuk retired.^[41]
5. Lundbohm retired.^[42]
6. Ulanov signed with the Roadrunners on December 13.^[44]
7. Trepanier signed with Tampa Bay on July 23.^[47]
8. Florida retained Tolkunov’s NHL rights through the 2006–07 season.^[52]
9. Kadlec returned to Slavia.^[55]
10. Gill signed with Lausitzer on December 26.^[58]
11. Hoglund signed with HC Davos on October 15.^[59]
12. Bednar signed with Avangard Omsk on December 11.^[63]