- Panthers goaltender Spencer Knight spoke with Ken Campbell of The Hockey News to discuss the events that transpired that ultimately resulted in him stepping away from the team in February to enter the NHL/NHL Players’ Association Player Assistance Program. Knight didn’t return during Florida’s run to the Stanley Cup Final but participated in their development camp this summer and is expected to be a full participant in training camp next week when he’ll look to reclaim the other spot in their tandem with Sergei Bobrovsky.
Panthers Rumors
Florida Panthers Expected To Sign Brett Ritchie To PTO
09/14/23: According to Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards, the Florida Panthers are expected to sign veteran forward Brett Ritchie to a professional try-out.
Ritchie has become a journeyman player, appearing with four different teams over the last four years. His nine-year career started with five years with the Dallas Stars, where he accumulated 54 points and 154 penalty minutes in 241 games. But at the end of this stretch, Dallas failed to qualify then-25-year-old Ritchie, making him a free agent and leading him to sign with the Boston Bruins. After one year in Boston and one trip on waivers, history repeated itself, with Ritchie failing to receive a qualifying offer and hitting free agency again.
That’s when Ritchie signed the first PTO of his career, inking one with the Calgary Flames midway through the 2020-21 season and earning a two-way contract. And for the first time since Dallas, Ritchie was even re-signed by a team, sticking with the Flames through most of the 2022-23 season. But at the March trade deadline, Calgary swapped Ritchie and Connor Mackey for Nick Ritchie, Brett’s brother, and Troy Stecher.
Ritchie stands at a menacing 6’4″, 215lbs, and works hard, making it clear why he’s stuck in the league thus far. He’ll now try to will his way onto another NHL roster in the Florida Panthers, who lack much competition for their bottom six. It’s likely that Ritchie will be competing with Grigori Denisenko and rookie Mackie Samoskevich. Denisenko has jumped between Florida’s NHL and AHL roster, yet to successfully find his footing at the top level. Samoskevich made the transition to professional hockey after the University of Michigan’s season ended last year, recording two assists in the two regular season AHL games he played and adding four more points in seven playoff games. The NHL readiness of both players is worth discussing, which could make it easier for Ritchie to achieve another successful PTO.
Tkachuk Has Fully Recovered From Broken Sternum
Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk told NHL.com’s Dan Rosen that he has fully recovered from the broken sternum that sidelined him late in the Stanley Cup Final back in June. He sustained the injury in the third game of the series and found a way to play the fourth before doctors shut him down. The 25-year-old followed up his breakout campaign in 2021-22 with an even better showing last season, finishing tied for sixth in league scoring with 109 points. Florida is expected to be without key blueliners Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour for a while – Tkachuk speculated about a late-December return for each of them – so they will be leaning heavily on their offensive star when the season gets underway next month.
Sam Reinhart Says He Wants To Stay In Florida On His Next Deal
- Sam Reinhart is entering the final year of his contract and beginning to consider his future with the Florida Panthers. Reinhart has never been an unrestricted free agent, signing his most recent deal as a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. But despite the freedom being a UFA provides, Reinhart says he’d like to stay in Florida. Speaking to the expiring contract, he said, “It is not something I stress over or lose sleep over too much. They know I want to be here, I know they want me here.”
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Summer Synopsis: Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers were a surprise Cinderella story this past spring as they reached the Stanley Cup Finals for just the second time in franchise history. It wasn’t a shocker to see them in the finals, but what was shocking was the path the team took to become the Eastern Conference’s representative in the final series. Florida knocked off the best regular season team of all time in seven games and then quickly dispatched the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round after the Leafs had won their first playoff series since 2004. Most pundits expected the Carolina Hurricanes to bring the Panthers back to reality, but Florida dispatched the Canes in a dominant sweep to reach the finals. Unfortunately for the Panthers the clock struck midnight on the fairy tale, and they ran into the buzzsaw that was the Vegas Golden Knights.
This offseason a lot of the storylines revolving around the team were the injuries they were going to need to navigate to start the 2023-24 season. Matthew Tkachuk is likely to miss the start of the season and Aaron Ekblad could as well. Head coach Paul Maurice has cautioned the teams fans that the club will be in a dog fight to make the playoffs and he likely isn’t wrong. Florida made the playoffs by a single point, and a lot of the teams that fell behind them are much improved heading into next season. 
This offseason the Panthers didn’t have the space to make any big splash and didn’t have any assets to make the big trade. But they tweaked around the edges and made some small moves that could pay off.
Draft
2-63: C Gracyn Sawchyn, Seattle (WHL)
4-127: D Albert Wikman, Farjestad Jr. (Sweden-JR.)
5-159: G Olof Glifford, HV 71 U18 (Sweden-JR. U18)
6–191: D Luke Coughlin, Rimouski (QMJHL)
7–198: LW Stepan Zvyagin, Dinamo-Shinnik Jr. (Russia-JR)
Florida didn’t have many draft picks left after making a litany of moves over the past two seasons. While it isn’t surprising to see teams empty the tank when they are in contention, the Panthers were criticized for mortgaging too much of their future at the 2022 trade deadline in moves they made for Claude Giroux and Ben Chiarot.
The club was still able to make some picks to add to their prospect cupboard. Second-round pick Sawchyn was a big-time player for the top team in the WHL this year as the speedster was a point-a-game player helping the Thunderbirds to a WHL championship. While Sawchyn can get around the ice, he has an awkward way of doing it as his powerful stride isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing. Sawchyn has a good set of hands but isn’t likely to be a top-end offensive player in the NHL, he has a very good chance to be an NHL regular as he does possess a wide-ranging skillset.
With their fourth-round pick the Panthers selected Wikman, a smooth skating player who can already get around the ice like a pro. Outside of his ability to move around, there isn’t much more to his game. He isn’t a great puck mover as he lacks a lot of the offensive instincts to get the puck up the ice with any pace. He could be an NHL player as he does have some of the tools needed, but at this point his future is unclear.
Trade Acquisitions
F Steven Lorentz (San Jose)
As mentioned earlier, Florida didn’t have many assets to move this summer in a trade and they made just one move. The Panthers somewhat surprisingly elected to sell low on former 30-goal scorer Anthony Duclair just a year after he posted 31 goals for Florida. In the salary dump, the Panthers acquired a fifth-round pick as well as forward Steven Lorentz from the San Jose Sharks. The 27-year-old Kitchener, Ontario native posted a career-high 10 goals and nine assists last season for the Sharks while averaging almost 12 minutes a night of ice time on a very bad Sharks team. Lorentz won’t fill the scoresheet, but he is a physical player who will make life difficult for opponents and in Florida, he should be able to play in a role that is much more suitable to his skillset.
UFA Signings
C Rasmus Asplund (One year, $775K)
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (One year, $2.25MM)
D Dmitry Kulikov (One year, $1MM)
RW William Lockwood (Two years, $1.55MM)
D Niko Mikkola (Three years, $7.5MM)
D Mike Reilly (One year, $1MM)
F Evan Rodrigues (Four years, $12MM)
C Kevin Stenlund (One year, $1MM)
G Anthony Stolarz (One year, $1.1MM)
C Alex True (One year, $775K)
The Panthers targeted several defensemen from the buyout market when they bought low on Ekman-Larsson and Reilly. Ekman-Larsson had a forgettable two years in Vancouver and was bought out by the Canucks in a move that will saddle them with a $2.126MM cap hit until 2031. The 32-year-old rearguard is about four years removed from being a top-end defenseman and was in over his head with Vancouver. Now that he isn’t being paid like a number one defenseman, he should be able to slot into a role that is more suitable to his current skillset. Ekman-Larsson should still have some gas in the tank and be able to offer the Panthers decent two-way play at a reasonable cap hit. If he is forced into big minutes, Ekman-Larsson could find himself in a situation not unlike the one he faced with the Canucks.
Reilly was initially a good fit with the Bruins when he was dealt to Boston mid-season in April 2021. So much so, that he signed a three-year $9MM deal with the team that turned sour almost immediately after the ink dried on the paperwork. Last season, Reilly dressed in just ten games for Boston and had just a single assist as he found himself on the outside looking in. A healthy scratch for much of the season, Reilly also found himself playing in the AHL for a stretch as the Bruins tried to find creative ways to keep the 30-year-old in game shape. Reilly should be able to provide the Panthers with some depth minutes while not eating much in the way of cap space. With their depth on the left side, it is unlikely that Florida will need the Chicago, Illinois native to play anything close to the 17 minutes a night that Reilly has averaged during his NHL career, but injuries could complicate matters as they did at times last year for Florida.
Evan Rodrigues was supposed to cash in with a lucrative long-term contract last summer but misjudged the free agent market and had to settle for a one-year $2MM deal with the Colorado Avalanche. Rodrigues had another good year last year posting 16 goals and 23 assists in 69 games while playing in different roles for the Avalanche. Rodrigues has a terrific track record of being like a Swiss army knife for teams to utilize in many different roles. Rodrigues’ former team the Pittsburgh Penguins really missed his reliability and his ability to play almost anywhere in the lineup and it is something Florida should find useful when navigating injuries and other holes that get created in the lineup. Rodrigues might have signed the most lucrative contract of his career, but he is still a bargain at just $3MM per year.
Speaking of former Penguins players, Dmitry Kulikov had a cup of coffee with the Penguins last season after he was acquired in a trade deadline move from Anaheim. The 32-year-old had a largely forgettable campaign as he like everyone else, struggled with the Ducks and found himself getting caved in on most nights. After the trade to Pittsburgh, Kulikov fared much better, but an injury limited him to just six games and the Penguins faded down the stretch as they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006. On the Panthers, he will likely take bottom pairing minutes on a regular basis and should be able to provide the Panthers with a good depth option, albeit one who won’t provide much offensively.
RFA Re-Signings
D Lucas Carlsson (One year, $775K)*
F Grigori Denisenko (Two years, $1.55MM)
D Casey Fitzgerald (One year, $775K)*
D John Ludvig (Two years $1.55MM)*
C Gerald Mayhew (One year, $775K)*
*-denotes two-way contract
The Panthers didn’t have much to worry about in the restricted free agent market as the team took care of most of their business on July 1st. Their highest profile RFA was forward Grigori Denisenko who signed with a slew of other Panthers on July 1st. The 23-year-old forward has dressed in 26 games over parts of three seasons and has yet to score an NHL goal but does have seven assists to his name. Last season the native of Novosibirsk, Russian Federation dressed in a career high 18 games and posted just three assists. At the AHL level, Denisenko posted 12 goals and 24 assists in 56 games with the Charlotte Checkers, however he was -18. At this point in his career, it doesn’t appear as though the former 15th overall pick will live up to his draft position, but the door isn’t shut on him becoming a productive NHL player.
Departures
D Anthony Bitetto (Unsigned)
C Connor Bunnaman (Kärpät, Finnish Liiga)
F Anthony Duclair (Traded to San Jose)
D Radko Gudas (Anaheim, Three Years, $12MM)
F Aleksi Heponiemi (EHC Biel-Switzerland)
F Patric Hornqvist (Retired)
G Alex Lyon (Detroit, Two Years, $1.8MM)
RW Givani Smith (San Jose, Two Years, $1.6MM)
D Marc Staal (Philadelphia, One Year, $1.1MM)
F Colin White (Unsigned)
Its commonplace for teams that go deep in the playoffs to lose an integral part of that team to free agency, and that happened to the Panthers, albeit not as heavy as some team’s experience. Radko Gudas was a force for the Panthers in the playoffs and was a big part of some key moments in their run to the finals. None bigger than his drive to the net on the series-clinching goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gudas cashed in on his moment and moved to the West Coast to be a leader in the Anaheim Ducks rebuild. Gudas will be well compensated for what he brings to the table but should be able to help teach some of Anaheim’s younger players in much the same way he did with Florida. His loss will sting for Panthers fans as he was a noticeable part of the Panthers team identity, even if it didn’t show up on the scoresheet.
Speaking of leadership, the Panthers lost a few other key leaders in Hornqvist and Staal. Staal was effectively replaced on day with the dept signings of Kulikov and Reilly, while Hornqvist was largely a non-factor for the Panthers last year having dressed in just 22 games and was only able to muster up a goal and two assists. Hornqvist was forced to retire and while they will miss what he brings off the ice, he wasn’t able to offer the Panthers much last season on the ice.
The other key loss for Florida will be Anthony Duclair. He only dressed in 20 games last season but is just a year removed for posting 31 goals in the 2021-22 season. Duclair was a salary cap casualty and could flourish in San Jose if he is able to get healthy once again.
Salary Cap Outlook
The Panthers will have an interesting summer in 2024 as they have a few key free agents and not a ton of cap space to make moves. Now they are slated to have just over $26MM available, but they have just two defensemen signed past this year and will have to re-sign Brandon Montour and Sam Reinhart to new deals.
The Sergei Bobrovsky contract has loomed large for a few years now, but the Panthers have always been able to navigate it up until this point. Next summer could be the one in which it becomes prohibitive and problematic should his quality of play decrease.
Florida will be okay if the cap goes up, but if it remains relatively flat, they could see a lot of turnover next year.
Key Questions
Can They Get Back to The Playoffs: Paul Maurice said that Florida will be in tough to make the playoffs and given the improvement of the teams below them in the East (Pittsburgh, Detroit) it is easy to see why. The Penguins were uncharacteristically bad last season, but with Kyle Dubas at the helm they have made monumental changes and should be a playoff team. Detroit shuffled a lot of the furniture around as well and should be better. Can Florida get enough milage out of the remaining core to get back to the playoffs once again? Time will tell.
How Will Injuries Impact The Season? Matthew Tkachuk could barely put on his equipment in the Stanley Cup Finals and will miss the start of the year. Aaron Ekblad suffered multiple injuries in the playoffs and will miss training camp. How will these injuries impact the start of Florida’s season and will they create an overreaction?
Can Bobrovsky Match Last Year’s Success? Bobrovsky found his game in last year’s postseason for the first time in a long time. And while he showed that he can carry a team to the Stanley Cup final, he hasn’t been able to put together much in the way of regular season success having posted a save percentage above .910 only once since joining the Panthers. Will he continue to post elite numbers or will Bobrovsky revert to his previous regular season numbers?
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montour “On Time” In Shoulder Surgery Recoveries
The Florida Panthers’ pair of star defensemen, Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, are both on track in their respective recoveries from offseason shoulder surgeries, general manager Bill Zito relayed this week on the Sirius XM NHL Power Play radio spot. Both players sustained the injuries in Florida’s run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final and were given recovery times from June surgeries that placed them ready for returns around the start of the regular season.
Zito believes both players are one to two months away from returning. That means opening night on October 12 is possible, but not a guarantee, for both. The information explains why the Panthers didn’t dip too much (if at all) into the potential long-term injured reserve relief provided by Ekblad and Montour this offseason, as one or both of them are likely to return early enough into the season that they wouldn’t be eligible for LTIR placement.
While Florida made a multitude of adds on defense this summer, they were all of the stopgap nature to help them get by until their number one and number two defenders returned to the lineup. If they’re not available when the Panthers open their season on the road in Minnesota, they’ll be looking at a top pairing of a mix of Gustav Forsling, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Josh Mahura, or Dmitry Kulikov – a far cry from what you’d expect from a defending conference champion.
When they return to the lineup, Ekblad and Montour will undoubtedly fill out the right-shot positions on both the team’s first and second pairings. Both players averaged over 23 minutes per game last season, although Montour pulled ahead in ice time slightly with a career-high average of 24:08 per game in the regular season. In his increased role, Montour had a rather earth-shattering breakout season at the age of 28. Recording 16 goals, 57 assists and 73 points in 80 games, Montour finished 12th in Norris Trophy voting last season. It was his first instance of receiving any consideration for the league’s Defenseman of the Year award.
Montour especially will hope to get off to a smooth start next season and hit the ground running. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent and needs to prove he’s worth a sharp increase on his current $3.5MM cap hit. Given his age, this is his one chance to lock in a lucrative long-term deal.
Ekblad, meanwhile, is locked in for two more seasons at a $7.5MM cap hit. He’ll look to return to his 2021-22 form when he recorded a +38 rating, 15 goals, 42 assists and 57 points in 61 games en route to finish sixth in Norris voting (and capturing the franchise’s first President’s Trophy).
August Free Agency Update: Atlantic Division
As even most mid-tier free agents are now off the market, it’s a good time to look at how each team has fared on the free agent market this offseason. We’re publishing a list of one-way signings (i.e., likelier to start the season on the NHL roster) by team, per division, to keep you updated on NHL player movement since the new league year began on July 1.
Asterisked players denote a restricted free agent. Double-asterisked players denote the contract starts in the 2024-25 season. First up is the Atlantic Division:
Boston Bruins
*G Jeremy Swayman (one year, $3.475MM cap hit)
*F Trent Frederic (two years, $2.3MM cap hit)
F Morgan Geekie (two years, $2MM cap hit)
D Kevin Shattenkirk (one year, $1.05MM cap hit)
F James van Riemsdyk (one year, $1MM cap hit)
F Milan Lucic (one year, 35+ contract, $1MM cap hit)
F Patrick Brown (two years, $800K cap hit)
*D Ian Mitchell (one year, $775K cap hit)
F Jesper Boqvist (one year, $775K cap hit)
Buffalo Sabres
D Connor Clifton (three years, $3.333MM cap hit)
D Erik Johnson (one year, 35+ contract, $3.25MM cap hit)
F Tyson Jost (one year, $2MM cap hit)
Detroit Red Wings
*F Alex DeBrincat (four years, $7.875MM cap hit)
F J.T. Compher (five years, $5.1MM cap hit)
D Shayne Gostisbehere (one year, $4.125MM cap hit)
D Justin Holl (three years, $3.4MM cap hit)
F Klim Kostin (two years, $2MM cap hit)
F Daniel Sprong (one year, $2MM cap hit)
G James Reimer (one year, 35+ contract, $1.5MM cap hit)
F Christian Fischer (one year, $1.125MM cap hit)
D Gustav Lindström (one year, $950K cap hit)
G Alex Lyon (two years, $900K cap hit)
Florida Panthers
F Evan Rodrigues (four years, $3MM cap hit)
**F Eetu Luostarinen (three years, $3MM cap hit)
D Niko Mikkola (three years, $2.5MM cap hit)
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (one year, $2.25MM cap hit)
G Anthony Stolarz (one year, $1.1MM cap hit)
D Mike Reilly (one year, $1MM cap hit)
D Dmitry Kulikov (one year, $1MM cap hit)
F Kevin Stenlund (one year, $1MM cap hit)
*F Grigori Denisenko (two years, $775K cap hit)
Montreal Canadiens
*F Alex Newhook (four years, $2.9MM cap hit)
*F Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (two years, $1.1MM cap hit)
Ottawa Senators
F Vladimir Tarasenko (one year, $5MM cap hit)
G Joonas Korpisalo (five years, $4MM cap hit)
*D Erik Brännström (one year, $2MM cap hit)
D Travis Hamonic (two years, $1.1MM cap hit)
*D Jacob Bernard-Docker (two years, $805K cap hit)
F Zack MacEwen (three years, $775K cap hit)
Tampa Bay Lightning
*F Tanner Jeannot (two years, $2.665MM cap hit)
F Conor Sheary (three years, $2MM cap hit)
F Josh Archibald (two years, $800K cap hit)
F Luke Glendening (two years, $800K cap hit)
G Jonas Johansson (two years, $775K cap hit)
D Calvin de Haan (one year, $775K cap hit)
Toronto Maple Leafs
F Tyler Bertuzzi (one year, $5.5MM cap hit)
D John Klingberg (one year, $4.15MM cap hit)
*G Ilya Samsonov (one year, $3.55MM cap hit)
F Max Domi (one year, $3MM cap hit)
F Ryan Reaves (three years, 35+ contract, $1.35MM cap hit)
G Martin Jones (one year, $875K cap hit)
F Dylan Gambrell (one year, $775K cap hit)
Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly
Florida Panthers Hosting Four-Team Southeast Rookie Showcase
- Another rookie showcase-type tournament before training camps start has been confirmed. The Florida Panthers are hosting a four-team tournament including themselves, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, and Nashville Predators from September 15 to 18 at the Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida, home of the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. While not set in stone nor publicized, players with less than three seasons of pro experience and less than 50 NHL games under their belts are generally eligible to participate in rookie tournaments, although eligibility rules are set individually league-wide by tournament organizers.
Unlikely Panthers Make Any More UFA Signings?
- While the Panthers have some short-term wiggle room from a salary cap perspective with both Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour likely to start on LTIR, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now figures that Florida is done on the free agent front this summer. They were active on the back end on the open market, adding four players that project to be on their roster when the season starts while they also added Evan Rodrigues and Kevin Stenlund up front. Eric Staal, who spent most of 2022-23 on the fourth line, is still unsigned but Richards feels he’s unlikely to accept a PTO this time around without a likely roster spot available for him; Stenlund is likely to fill that particular spot on the depth chart.
Prospect Josh Davies Traded In WHL
- Panthers prospect Josh Davies is on the move in junior as WHL Portland announced that they’ve acquired the forward from Swift Current. The 19-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Florida in 2022 (186th overall) after a 36-point, 119-PIM season. However, Davies wasn’t able to build on those numbers in 2022-23, recording 20 goals and 14 assists along with 131 penalty minutes. He’ll be hoping that a fresh start could help him find another gear offensively to try to land an entry-level deal from Florida by the June 1st deadline.