South Florida Born Jaycob Megna Fighting to Make Hometown Panthers

After spending his Christmas breaks attending Florida Panthers games, Jaycob Megna is battling for a roster spot on his hometown club.

Photo by Colby Guy

After spending his winters going to Florida Panthers games, Jaycob Megna will get the chance to play for his hometown squad.

The 31-year-old defenseman was born just down the road from the team’s Sunrise arena in Plantation and spent part of his childhood there after moving to Chicago to play his junior hockey.

Even living in Blackhawks country, he was still a big Panthers guy.

“We’d always catch that last game before Christmas break for the team,” Megna said. “It was always a lot of fun. Something we look forward to. It’s been Christmas at the beach, but we’d still be at the rink still once or twice, so it was always a lot of fun. And then we’d go to the Ice Den and skate in the free skates, so we definitely have a lot of memories down here.

“The Panthers were the first team I grew up watching, really, and it was special to be able to sign here.”

Coming back to South Florida an seeing the brand new practice rink in Fort Lauderdale, multiple new youth hockey programs that have been producing NHL prospects all across the state and a fanbase ignited by a Stanley Cup run, Megna could not be any prouder.

Gone are the days when guys like Megna had to move away from South Florida to get noticed.

“It seemed like players always had to move to go to further levels before there was a AAA team,” Megna said. “Now, you come down here and there’s AAA teams, there’s players who are homegrown — guys I train with in the summer like Brandon Duhaime and Andrew Peeke that were down here growing up. So, you’ve obviously seen NHLers from here start to pop up.

“And it’s only growing. That brand new rink down in Fort Lauderdale is only going to help. Selfishly, it’s really nice for me in the summer not having to drive out to Coral Springs, being five minutes away from the rink, and I think most guys live down in Fort Lauderdale, so that’s been awesome. So it definitely helps.”

Megna has a lot to prove if he wants to be among those on the ice for opening night, and he is ready to do that.

The journeyman blueliner was one of many defensemen the Panthers brought in looking to fill the hole created by Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson leaving in free agency. Megna inked a two-way deal with the Panthers after putting up two assists in 44 games with the Chicago Blackhawks.

“It feels like a great opportunity here,” Megna said. “They obviously had a lot of success, and with that, comes guys leaving, guys getting better contracts and it opens up a couple of spots. Obviously, there’s too many guys here for the spots that are available, but that’s what makes training camp, that’s what makes hockey, it’s competition. And I think if you ask any guy here, that’s what makes it fun.

“For me, personally, I’m just looking to play my game and hopefully I can fit into the style of hockey. The one thing here is that they have a specific way they want to play and they know what fits. You’re not going into a game with any questions about your goal and what your job is. I think that role clarity really helps players, especially myself, when I know what I’m supposed to be doing and I know what’s expected.”

And after playing 185 games across seven NHL seasons, Megna knows what he expects out of himself: smart defensive-alone play.

“It’s tough, because you want to play your game and you don’t want to go outside of yourself,” Megna said. “Because then you wind up making mistakes or you’re trying to do too much. But at the same, you have to show what you can do. And I think, for me, I have played long enough that I can kind of tell what my game is and I know what I’m capable of. If I’m successful, I can play in this league and play against anybody.

“So, I think it’s just kind of finding that happy medium of trying to show your best and not trying to do too much. Especially as a stay-at-home guy, I think the less I get noticed, probably the better during a game. Just kind of making the simple play, making the right read and being in the right spots.“