Florida Panthers News

Schmid was 9-5-2 with a .922 SV% and a 2.13 GAA in 2022-23 and will get his first start of the 2022-23 season Friday vs. Arizona. The 23-year-old netminder is only making his 19th career regular-season start but will be looking to build off his impressive postseason run last year, which saw him post a .921 SV% and 2.35 GAA in nine games played. He draws a great opening matchup against Arizona, who finished 2022-23 last in the NHL in shots per game (25.8) and 28th in goals for (225)

Lundell missed the Panthers' practice Wednesday for precautionary reasons but took part in Thursday's morning skate ahead of their game vs. Minnesota and is still. game-time decision for the affiar. The 22-year-old is entering his third full NHL season with Florida and had 12 goals, 21 assists, 152 SOG, 43 PIMs, and a +1 plus/minus in his sophomore campaign in 2022-23. The Panthers should provide an injury update closer to warmups Thursday.

Bennett will not be ready for the Panthers' opening game of the season as he did not travel with the team as he recovers from a lower-body injury. Last season, Bennett scored 40 points (16G / 24A) in 63 games for the Panthers while predominantly playing in a second-line role. Eetu Luostarinen, who recorded 43 points (17G / 26A) in 82 games last season, is expected to handle some extra responsibility on the second line and second powerplay unit during Bennett's absence.

Markstrom struggled in 2022-23 with a 23-21-12 record, a .892 SV%, and a 2.92 GAA and will take the crease for Calgary's season opener vs. Winnipeg on Wednesday. The 33-year-old veteran is entering his 14th NHL season and fourth with the Flames. He faces the Jets, who finished last season 21st in the NHL in both goals (246) and shots per game (30.3).

Lundell missed the Panthers' practice Wednesday for precautionary reasons and is expected to play in their opener vs. Minnesota on Thursday but is a game-time decision. The 22-year-old is entering his third full NHL season with Florida and had 12 goals, 21 assists, 152 SOG, 43 PIMs, and a +1 plus/minus in his sophomore campaign in 2022-23. The Panthers should provide an injury update closer to game-time Thursday.

Lafferty had 12 goals, 15 assists, 102 SOG, 37 PIMs, and a -11 plus/minus through 70 games played with Chicago and Toronto in 2022-23 and has been traded from Toronto to Vancouver for a 2024 fifth-round pick. The 28-year-old centre will be joining his fourth NHL team in his fifth season and has 23 goals and 59 points in 210 career games played.

Bennett is unlikely to be ready for the opening game of the season and could miss two weeks as he recovers from a lower-body injury. Last season, Bennett scored 40 points (16G / 24A) in 63 games for the Panthers while predominantly playing in a second-line role. Eetu Luostarinen, who recorded 43 points (17G / 26A) in 82 games last season, is expected to handle some extra responsibility on the second line and second powerplay unit during Bennett's absence.

Verhaeghe was forced to miss Florida's training camp skate Friday as he is day-to-day with muscle tightness but is expected to be ready for opening night after facing a similar injury last preseason. The 28-year-old left-winger had a breakout season in 2023-24 with 42 goals, 31 assists, 46 PIMs, 275 SOG and a +10 plus/minus. He is entering his fifth NHL season and has 93 goals and 177 points in 254 career games played.

Panthers GM Barry Zito did not have a definitive timetable for when Ekblad is expected to make his season debut but said it's safe to assume he'll be back between "November to January." That timeline doesn't clarify Ekblad's status, but more detailed updates could become available throughout training camp.

Both Ekblad and Brandon Montour underwent offseason shoulder surgery, and GM Bill Zito said they're "on time" and are expected to be back in "a month or two." This puts both defensemen on pace to be ready close to the start of the regular season. The Panthers play just eight games in October, so even if Ekblad misses the start of the season, he may not miss too many games.

Luostarinen had 17 goals, 26 assists, 132 SOG, 28 PIMs and a +19 plus/minus through 82 games with Florida in 2022-23 and has signed a three-year, $9 million contract extension ($3,000,000 AAV). The 24-year-old centre joined Florida after one short season in Carolina in 2020-21 and has 29 goals, 78 points and 259 SOG through 212 career games.

Fitzgerald had three assists, 13 SOG, four PIMs and a -2 plus/minus through 27 games with both Buffalo and Florida in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 with the Panthers. The 26-year-old defenseman was acquired off waivers from Buffalo in 2022-23 and has nine assists and a -21 plus/minus through 63 career NHL games.

Sebrango was a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and split the 2023 season between Grand Rapids (AHL) and Toledo (ECHL). The 21-year-old was fairly deep on the Red Wings' defensive prospect depth chart, so it's not a huge loss for an organization that has invested a lot of draft capital in defensemen in recent years. During his time in the AHL, Sebrango had five goals and 13 assists (18 points) in 135 games over the last three seasons.

Bjornfot had an assist, 10 SOG, six PIMs and a +1 plus/miinus through 10 games with Los Angeles in 2022-23 and has signed a two-year, $1.55 million contract extension ($775,000 AAV) with Los Angeles. The 22-year-old defenseman was Los Angeles first-round pick in 2019 (22nd overall) and has a goal, 15 points, 93 SOG and a 26 PIMs across 116 career NHL games through four season with the Kings.

Imama had five goals, 10 assists, 109 PIMs and a +3 plus/minus with the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 with Ottawa. The 26-year-old left-winger also appeared in five games for Arizona last season but failed to pick up a point to go along with his five PIMs and -2 plus/minus. He brings a goal, 10 PIMs and nine games of NHL experience to the Senators.

Gudas spent the last three seasons in Florida, where he had some of the best seasons of his career. He doesn't offer a lot offensively, posting just 44 points (7G / 37A) in 203 games, but he's a tough, rugged defenseman that led all defensemen in hits (917) during his three years with the Panthers. Not only did he have the most hits, he had 227 more hits than second (Luke Schenn).

Hathaway had 13 goals, nine assists, 88 SOG, 69 PIMs and a +5 plus/minus through 74 games played with both Boston and Washington in 2022-23 and has agreed to a two-year contract worth $4.75 million ($2.375M AAV) with Philadelphia. The 31-year-old right winger is set to join his fourth NHL team, bringing 58 goals and 122 points through 457 career games played.

Kulikov had three goals, 13 assists, 84 SOG, 34 PIMs and a -13 plus/minus through 67 games with both Anaheim and Pittsburgh in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year contract with Florida worth $1.0 million. The 32-year-old defensemen returns to the team that originally drafted him in the first-round of the 2009 Draft (14th overall) where he had 28 goals and 138 points across seven seasons and 460 games played in Florida to begin his career.

Eller had 10 goals, 13 assists, 140 SOG, 46 PIMs and a +3 plus/minus through 84 games with both Washington and Colorado in 2022-23 and has signed a two-year contract worth $4.9 million ($2.45M AAV) with Pittsburgh. The 34-year-old veteran centre is only 46 games from reaching the 1000 NHL games mark and has collected 163 goals and 371 points across his 14 year career.

Mikkola had a goal, five assists, 62 SOG, 58 PIMs and a +6 plus/minus through 81 games with both St.Louis and the New York Rangers in 2022-23 and has now signed a three-year contract worth $7.5 million ($2.5M AAV) with Florida. The 27-year-old stay-at-home defensemen will be joining his third NHL team and brings five goals and 23 points with 124 PIMs across 170 career NHL games to the Panthers.