Sam Bennett close to returning, possible he plays in next Panthers game
Bennett has not played since suffering an injury during Florida’s second-to-last preseason game
Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports - Sam Bennett close to returning, possible he plays in next Panthers gameThe Florida Panthers forward depth has allowed the team to mask the loss of one of its key centers.
Sam Bennett suffered a lower-body injury on Oct. 5 during the Panthers penultimate preseason game, a 6-3 win in Tampa Bay.
He hasn’t played in a game since, sitting out the first five games of the season and staying back in South Florida when the team embarked on its season opening three-game road trip.
During that time, Bennett has been slowly but surely working his way back to game ready.
In his absence, Eetu Luostarinen was moved up to the second line center spot, and the ripple effect created space for Florida to allow a pair of rookies to get a taste of NHL action in Mackie Samoskevich and Justin Sourdif.
How things will shake out once Bennett returns is yet to be determined, but those decisions may need to be made sooner rather than later.
Since Florida returned from the road, Head Coach Paul Maurice has maintained he’s looking at team’s next trip out of town, which begins on Oct. 30 in Boston and runs through Nov. 4 in Chicago, as a target for Bennett to make his season debut.
Speaking after the Panthers morning skate on Saturday, however, Maurice opened the door for a potential sooner launch date for Bennett.
“Maybe before,” Maurice said after agreeing that the road trip was the goal. “Seattle.”
Florida hosts the Kraken next Saturday, the final game of the homestand. A nice little piece of optimism from Maurice.
But then he continued.
“He’s not that far off now. He may be knocking on the door for San Jose," Maurice went on.
The Panthers welcome San Jose to Sunrise on Tuesday. Then they have three days before the Seattle game.
Bennett will have to be in pristine, perfect shape for them to take him out of the garage for the Sharks game, otherwise they'll have 72 hours to make sure the 27-year-old is in tip-top shape.
“Next week he’ll be back,” Maurice finally concluded.
THN learned Bennett resumed skating earlier this week, so barring any setbacks, it's only a matter of time.
In two-plus seasons and 144 games with the Panthers, Bennett has accumulated 50 goals and 104 points, earning an on-ice rating of plus-44 and 161 penalty minutes.
He does a little bit of everything for Florida, providing a steady combination of skill and grit.
Bennett’s return should provide a nice boost to the Panthers forward ranks while simultaneously releasing some of the added pressure on Luostarinen and others.
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