The Florida Panthers plan to keep assistant coach John Madden. That's despite the fact that they changed head coaches from Peter Horachek to Gerard Gallant. Brian Skrudland, another holdover from Horachek's staff, might also serve under Gallant.

John Madden was signed by FLA on Friday January 18.

John Madden will undergo nasal surgery after he collided with teammate Tomas Kopecky during the first period of Game 7 last Thursday. He sustained lacerations under and above his right eye, which was also bruised badly, and required stitches in his nose. Despite all that he remained in the game and hopes to play again next year in the NHL, even if it isn't with the Florida Panthers. The soon to be 39-year-old center will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

John Madden won just three of 12 faceoffs on Thursday. Madden has won just 37.8% of his faceoffs in four playoff games. He was brought on primarily to provide a veteran presence and help defensively, so it really eats into his value when he does so poorly on the draw.

John Madden scored a goal in a 3-2 shootout victory. Mikael Samuelsson netted a power-play goal at 17:15 of the first period. Tomas Fleischmann, Stephen Weiss, Ed Jovanovski, and Erik Gudbranson each assisted on one of Florida's two goals in regulation.

John Madden netted his first goal as a member of the Florida Panthers on Thursday. The Panthers inked Madden to a one-year deal in January. He now has a point in 20 games in 2011-12.

John Madden returned to action on Tuesday February 28.

John Madden will miss the next two weeks due to a lower body injury. Madden didn't participate in Friday's game due to the ailment. He has no points and a minus-three rating in 15 contests this season.

John Madden made a very favourable first impression with the Panthers' coaching staff in Friday night's loss to his former team, the Devils. Panthers' assistant coach Gord Murphy praised Madden's leadership and conditioning after the contest. "He's a veteran player who has won [Madden has three Stanley Cup championship rings]. You see his intelligence on the ice. He manages the game well and plays his position well. He looks like he's in midseason form." That said, Madden has no fantasy value as he will toil on the Cats' third or fourth line.

John Madden logged 12:18 minutes in his Panthers debut on Friday. We figure that will be about par for the course for Madden this season. He's a solid bottom-six forward, but he has no fantasy value in standard leagues.