Don't expect to see any of Florida's NHL regulars during the team's preseason games this week
Don't expect to see any of Florida's NHL regulars during the team's preseason games this week
The Florida Panthers aren't going to be skating their regular NHL players during the team's next few preseason games.
That was the message Paul Maurice gave following Wednesday's morning skate at the Ice Den in Coral Springs.
Florida's lineup on Wednesday night, when they faced the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, was indicative of how the team will line up through this weekend's exhibition matchups.
"You're going to see fairy close to this roster for our next three games, and you won't see a lot of the guys who played for the Panthers last season," Maurice said.
That means guys like Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Gus Forsling, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe – basically, the players who are locked into their roster spots for Opening Night – won't be getting into the next few preseason games.
Instead, this gives more time for Florida's players who are fighting for roster spots and to show how their games have grown, an opportunity to do so in a game setting.
Maurice has pointed to players like Brett Ritchie and John Ludvig, who play an extremely physical brand of hockey, not being able to truly play to their strengths during practices, and for obvious reasons.
You aren't taking liberties with teammates. Nobody is going to light someone up coming across the middle of the ice during a practice.
"This is the big time for these guys," Maurice said.
Wednesday night's game roster featured forwards Gerry Mayhew, Grigori Denisenko, Steven Lorentz, Alex True, Zac Dalpe, Justin Sourdif, Mackie Samoskevich, Brett Ritchie, William Lockwood, Rasmus Asplund, Kevin Stenlund and Skyler Brind'Amour, and defensemen Matt Kiersted, Casey Fitzgerald, Mike Reilly, Uvis Balinskis, Lucas Carlsson and John Ludvig.
Of those 18 players, many of them are fighting for maybe a handful of NHL jobs. It's not easy to crack the roster of a team that is expected to compete for the Stanley Cup. Depth is generally a trait of the teams that are consistently good, and Florida can now consider itself among that group.
After Wednesday, the fringe guys will have at least two more shots to show what they've got.
On Friday the Panthers host Carolina at Amerant Bank Arena before heading out to Sydney, Nova Scotia for Sunday's Kraft Hockeyville showdown with the Ottawa Senators.
Once the team returns from Canada, the staff will begin forming the roster into shape.
The Panthers will wrap up their preseason slate next week with three games in six nights against the Tampa Bay Lightning. They'll take place Tuesday in Orlando, Thursday in Tampa and Saturday back in Sunrise.
