Marchand is on the ice for warmups; will play in the Bruins season opener.
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Florida Panthers News
Goalie Start
Markstrom will start the Flames season opener in Winnipeg.
Markstrom had one of the best years of his career in a contract year, earning a six-year deal in Calgary. He went 23-16-4 with a 2.75 GAA and .918 SV% in 43 games last year and is expected to be a workhorse for the Flames this season. In his debut, he'll face a Jets team that was 17th in GoalsFor (3.00) and 15th in PP% (20.5) in 2020.
Marchand (sports hernia) is listed as a game-time decision for Thursday but is expected to play.
There was initial concern that Marchand may miss the start of the regular season but he participated throughout training camp and head coach Bruce Cassidy expects him to be available on Thursday. With David Pastrnak out for the start of the year, Marchand will need to get off to a hot start for the Bruins to have success.
The Panthers have claimed Gustav Forsling off of waivers from the Hurricanes.
Forsling is familiar with new Panthers bench boss Joel Quenneville from their days together in Chicago. Forsling has had a tough time becoming a full-time player in the NHL, never playing more than 43 games in a single-season (2019). He has 27 points (8G / 19A) in 122 career NHL games and will likely continue to serve a similar, fringe roster player role in Florida.
Marchand (sports hernia) will be at the start of Bruins' training camp.
Marchand underwent sports hernia surgery in mid-September and was expected to be sidelined until mid-January. On Thursday, the Bruins announced that Marchand has been skating regularly, will be there for the start of training camp and should be good to go for the start of the regular season.
The Sabres signed Sam Reinhart to a one-year deal worth $5.2 million.
In 2020, Reinhart was on-pace to set a new career-high in goals but when the season was paused he had 22 goals and 28 assists (50 points) in 69 games. Reinhart has not missed a game in three seasons, averaging 24 goals and 34 assists (58 points) per 82 games. With the addition of Taylor Hall, Reinhart could be pushed from the top-line in 2021 but should still finish with 20-plus goals and 30-plus assists.
The Hurricanes signed Gustav Forsling to a one-year, two-way contract ($700K/$200K).
Forsling had 26 points (8G / 16A) in 57 games with the Charlotte Checkers (AHL) during his first season in the Hurricanes' organization. He was acquired from the Blackhawks in the summer of 2019 in a deal that sent Calvin de Haan and Aleksi Saarela to Chicago. Given the fact that Carolina has such a deep blueline and Jake Bean is ahead of him on the AHL depth chart, Forsling likely won't be in the NHL in 2021.
The Devils have signed Dmitry Kulikov to a one-year deal worth $1.15 million.
Kulikov had two goals and eight assists (10 points) in 51 game with the Jets last season. Kulikov topped 100 huts for the sixth time in his 11-year career and will bring a physical element to the Devils blueline. His one-year deal buys Ty Smith an extra year of development before he likely becomes a full-time NHLer in 2022.
Marchand underwent sports hernia surgery on September 14 and is expected to be sidelined until mid-January.
The Flames have signed Jacob Markstrom to a six-year contract worth $36.0 million ($6.0M AAV).
Markstrom is coming off of the best year of his career, tying for 11th in the NHL in wins (23), 13th in SV% (.918) and tied for 25th in GAA (2.75). Now he goes from a team that gave up the third most scoring chances to a team that ranked in the middle of the pack, so his GAA and SV% should improve in 2021. The Flames have made a huge commitment to him but they have not had a goalie with a SV% above .920 since Miikka Kiprusoff in 2011-12.
The Flames have signed Alex Petrovic to a one-year, two-way deal.
Petrovic spent the entire 2020 campaign with the Providence Bruins (AHL) and will likely do the same in Stockton (AHL) next year. Petrovic is a big, physical defenseman that can log NHL minutes if the Flames find themselves in a bind.
The Panthers have signed Carter Verhaeghe to a two-year contract worth $2.0 million ($1.0M AAV).
Verhaeghe scored nine goals with four assists (13 points) in 52 games in his rookie season in the NHL in 2020. The 25-year-old is a former third-round pick (2015) and led the AHL in goals (34) and points (82) in 2018-19. He's shown offensive ability at lower-levels in the past, now it's a matter of getting opportunity in Florida to showcase he can do it at the NHL-level.
The Panthers have signed Radio Gudas to a three-year deal worth $7.5 million ($2.5M AAV).
Gudas is a big, (6-foot, 204 lbs) rugged defenseman that picked up 13 points (2G / 13A) with 164 hits and 75 blocked shots in 63 games in 2020. After a brief one-year stop in Washington, Gudas heads to Florida, where he'll likely be a third-pairing defenseman.
The Penguins have re-signed Sam Lafferty to a two-year contract worth $1.5 million ($750K AAV).
After spending four years at Brown University and one full season in the AHL, Lafferty spent most of 2020 with the Penguins, scoring six goals with seven assists (13 points) in 50 games. There were a lot of moving parts in Pittsburgh in the offseason but Lafferty should still have a spot in their bottom-6 come January.
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Verhaeghe is not on the ice for warmups; will come out of the lineup for Game 6.
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Verhaeghe will draw into the Lightning lineup for Game 2 vs. the Stars.
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Verhaeghe will draw into the Lightning lineup for Game 5 with Brayden Point sidelined.
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Verhaeghe is expected to draw into Tampa Bay’s lineup for Game 3.
Goalie Start
Markstrom starts Game 3 vs. the Golden Knights.
Goalie Start
Markstrom starts Game 2 vs. the Golden Knights.