Luff was offered a tryout with the Panthers’ AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, which Maurice “believed” he accepted. That means his days within the Panthers organization may not be done yet if he can land an AHL contract.

The 27-year-old has 106 NHL games under his belt but didn’t see the majors last season. He spent an injury-plagued 2023-24 on assignment to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins while on a two-way deal with the Red Wings, recording 10 goals and eight assists in 26 games.

Luff has been a serviceable fourth-liner when given chances in the NHL, but he’s never established himself as a full-timer. He’s suited up for the Kings and Predators in addition to his time in Detroit, posting 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 career NHL points with a -12 rating while averaging 10:19 per game. The Ontario native was an undrafted free agent signing by Los Angeles out of the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs in 2016.

He was in contention to earn a two-way deal with the Panthers and serve as a potential mid-season call-up option, but for now, he’ll have to prove he’s still got game on a potential AHL deal. The fact he doesn’t have a guaranteed contract yet is surprising – he’s consistently hovered around a point per game in the minors over the past few years and would be a legitimately impactful addition to the Checkers roster.

Luff began his career with the Los Angeles Kings organization in 2016 after the team signed him out of the Ontario Hockey League. He was coming off a season with the Hamilton Bulldogs where he scored 25 goals and 49 points in 45 games. One of the major questions at the time of his signing was the limited usage of his larger frame. He was physically one of the bigger players in the OHL at the time but rarely played to his size which made him an interesting addition for a hard-nosed Kings playstyle at the time.

Most of his tenure in the Kings organization had him with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. He nevertheless managed to skate in 64 games for Los Angeles from 2018-21 where he added 10 goals and 17 points overall. After a one-year stint with the Nashville Predators organization in 2021-22 Luff eventually signed on with the Detroit Red Wings where he has been ever since.

His two separate one-year deals with the Red Wings have allowed for 19 appearances at the NHL level with two goals and four points. His real fruitfulness with the Red Wings organization has been his time with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, although he’s been mired by injuries. He’s appeared in 54 games for the Griffins over the last two years while posting 18 goals and 43 points.

It will be challenging for Luff to crack a re-worked Panthers’ bottom-six but his recent success at the AHL level has at least garnered him an opportunity. Florida does not have a deep crop of forwards at the AHL level as they struggled to score last year in Charlotte. Luff will have to assume a next-man-up mentality heading into the season but at least it will be in pursuit of joining the roster of the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

2/18: The Detroit Red Wings have placed forward Matt Luff on waivers for the purpose of reassignment to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Signing a one-year, $775K contract with the Red Wings this past offseason, Luff has yet to play in any games for the organization this season, suffering an injury back in training camp.

Considering the injury history for much of the regular season, it is more than likely that Luff will pass through waivers unscathed, and make his way to Grand Rapids in short order. Although he managed nearly 20 games for Detroit last season, it will be much more difficult for Luff to crack this version of the Red Wings roster.

In those 19 games last season, Luff was a depth player for Detroit, averaging just under 10 minutes of ice time per game, scoring two goals and four points overall. In the AHL, Luff did manage 28 games for the Griffins last year, tying for sixth on the team in scoring with eight goals and 25 points.

Having one of their better seasons over the last several years, Grand Rapids is in the midst of a hotly contested playoff race in the Central Division. Sitting 24th in the league in goals for, Luff’s offensive capabilities in the AHL should help the Griffins improve in one area of weakness for the club.

“He’s wrestling with some things right now, physically,” Cooper said. “It’s early in training camp, so we don’t need to rush anything along with him. When he’s ready to go, he’ll be out there.” Vasilevskiy missing any time would certainly throw a wrench into Tampa Bay’s season, although it thankfully appears that won’t be the case. With salary cap constraints in full force, the team has quite thin goaltending depth and is opting to go with unproven Jonas Johansson as Vasilevskiy’s full-time backup, meaning his workload is in line to be as high as ever. Vasilevskiy didn’t miss any time last season due to injury, but he certainly didn’t look himself in the team’s first-round playoff loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was the worst playoff performance of his career save for 2019’s upset loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, posting a .875 save percentage and conceding 5.4 goals above average over the course of six games.

Elsewhere in injury notes from around the league with preseason games underway this afternoon:

• Detroit Red Wings depth forward Matt Luff left today’s intrasquad scrimmage with a right arm injury after crashing into the boards, reports The Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan. The 26-year-old right wing didn’t crack Detroit’s roster out of camp last season but was recalled after a few weeks, getting into a handful of games before sustaining a wrist injury that sidelined him for 32 games. The undrafted free agent has largely been a fringe player throughout the course of his career, often splitting time between the majors and the minors, and this season is expected to be no different. He was extremely productive in the AHL with Grand Rapids last season when healthy, recording eight goals, 17 assists and 25 points in 28 games. Set to be a restricted free agent this summer, Detroit did not issue him a qualifying offer but re-signed him before free agency opened on July 1 anyway to a league-minimum two-way deal carrying a $450K guarantee.
• Minnesota Wild defense prospect Daemon Hunt left today’s clash against the Colorado Avalanche and has not returned with a prospective upper-body injury. As The Athletic’s Peter Baugh notes, Hunt hit the ice after an accidental collision behind the net with Avalanche forward Tanner Kero. The 65th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, Hunt is a promising two-way defense prospect entering his second pro season with AHL Iowa. The 21-year-old recorded two goals, nine assists, 11 points, and a +2 rating in 59 contests with Iowa last season after captaining the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors from 2020 to 2022.
• Washington Capitals head coach told reporters, including Monumental Sports Network’s Matt Weyrich, that he’s “concerned” about the status of defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk. The veteran right-shot defender left today’s preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres and did not return after a shot from Sabres forward Jordan Greenway struck him in the right wrist area. Van Riemsdyk will undergo further testing tomorrow to determine the severity of the injury and a potential recovery timeline. The 32-year-old is entering the first season of a three-year, $9MM extension he signed last March and is expected to start the season on the team’s third pairing alongside offseason trade acquisition Joel Edmundson.

The Red Wings opted to non-tender the 26-year-old yesterday, taking away the potential that he could file for salary arbitration and potentially wind up with an award that’s worth more than they were comfortable paying.  Quietly, Luff has seen NHL action in each of the last five seasons, spanning a little more than 100 games which could have presented enough of a case for him to be awarded more than the minimum.  Clearly, the two sides were able to find common ground soon after.

Luff split last season between Detroit and AHL Grand Rapids.  He got into 19 games with the Red Wings, picking up two goals and two assists while logging just under ten minutes a night of playing time.  Meanwhile, with the Griffins, Luff was much more productive, notching eight goals and 17 helpers in just 28 contests.

It’s likely that Luff will have a similar role next season, one that sees him start the year as a key scorer for Grand Rapids but when injuries arise, he becomes one of their first recalls.

Keefe did not specifically use the word “maintenance”, but with nine defensemen on the active roster ready to fill in, this is exactly what it seems like for Brodie tonight. Having been placed on the injured reserve twice already this year, Brodie is having a down year for his standards. Playing in only 47 games so far this season, Brodie has two goals and nine assists for the Maple Leafs. Although his point scoring is down, Brodie has still been racking up the blocked shots and serving valuable minutes on Toronto’s penalty kill.

Other notes:

• The Detroit Red Wings announced that they have recalled forward Matt Luff from their AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins. Playing in his first season in the Red Wings’ organization, Luff actually missed over two months of play from an injury at the beginning of the season. Playing in only seven games for Detroit, the forward has scored one goal this year. In the minor leagues, Luff has been a very productive forward for the Griffins, scoring 25 points in 28 games.
• Being recalled on emergency loan on March 9th, the Montreal Canadiens have sent forward Anthony Richard back to their AHL affiliate Laval Rocket. Playing in 13 games this season for the Canadiens, Richard has scored three goals and two assists. Unlike his production in the NHL, Richard has been one of the best players in Laval this season, if not one of the best players in the minor leagues altogether. In 49 games played for Laval, the forward has scored 24 goals and 31 assists.

Here are some other minor moves from around the league today:

• The Boston Bruins have recalled Jakub Lauko under emergency conditions, after sending him down yesterday. Lauko hasn’t played since March 2 and has just 12 appearances this season, but has been bounced back and forth between leagues whenever the team is dealing with injuries. Through those 12 matches, he has five points in his first taste of NHL action.
• The Seattle Kraken have recalled John Hayden from the AHL, as they hit the road for a game in San Jose tomorrow night. The Kraken are coming off consecutive losses to the Dallas Stars and have now slipped below the Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division playoff race. Hayden, 28, has just two points in five NHL games this year.
• The Arizona Coyotes have reassigned forward Bokondji Imama to their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. The 26-year-old is an alternate captain for the Coyotes’ farm team, where he has provided hard-working physical play and 12 points of offense at that level. He’s played the last two games for the Coyotes, seeing time in both of the team’s consecutive overtime wins.
• The Florida Panthers have swapped goalies on their NHL roster, sending down 2022 Calder Cup Champion Alex Lyon in favor of rookie Mack Guzda. The move allows the team’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, to get the more experienced goaltender as they look to clinch a spot in the Calder Cup playoffs.

Luff needed wrist surgery and hasn’t played since. Today, he was activated by the Red Wings from injured reserve and loaned to the AHL. Despite playing seven games in the NHL, he remains waiver-exempt for the time being.

Through seven games this season, the depth forward was averaging just over eight minutes a game and had scored one goal. In the AHL, where he has always been excellent, he had seven points in five contests.

The Grand Rapids Griffins could certainly use his help. They sit 15-19-4 on the year and have only scored 103 goals in 38 games.

Luff, 25, had seen regular action on the Red Wings’ fourth line the last little while, playing in seven games and scoring a goal against the New York Rangers on Sunday. That spot will now have to be filled by someone else for the next few months, potentially leaving Luff without a role to return to. It’s a tough result for a player still trying to establish himself as an everyday NHL player, one who played just 23 games at that level last season.

Slafkovsky, meanwhile, may actually face a stiffer penalty as the league does take injury into consideration when doling out supplementary discipline. The hit from behind that sent Luff sprawling into the boards was enough for a hearing, and this news will only create more reason to hand the first-overall pick his first suspension.

The incident in question came close to the end of the third period of the Red Wings’ shootout loss to the Canadiens. The Red Wings won a defensive zone faceoff, and Luff had carried the puck up to the red line. He attempted to chip a puck past Canadiens defenseman Joel Edmundson, who promptly swatted Luff’s chip attempt back down towards Luff. At that point, Luff attempted to send the bouncing puck into the offensive zone, but after whiffing on his first attempt was driven into the boards by Slafkovsky, who was gliding through the neutral zone.

Slafkovsky hit Luff in the numbers, driving him head-first into the boards. Luff looked to be in pain as he got up and left the ice, and coach Derek Lalonde said postgame that Luff would be out “long-term.”

As the 2022 first-overall pick, last night’s game was Slafkovsky’s tenth in the NHL, so it should not be a surprise that this is his first run-in with the Department of Player Safety. The Canadiens have already lost winger Josh Anderson to a two-game suspension, and it would not be a surprise to see the other Canadiens power forward be handed a similar punishment.

Luff, 25, is off to a great start with the Grand Rapids Griffins, scoring seven points in his first five games this season. The undrafted forward has always been an excellent player at the minor league level and even had six points in 23 games with the Nashville Predators last year. In total, he has played 87 NHL games in his career, scoring 13 goals and 23 points.

It’s not clear if he will go into the lineup or not, but the Red Wings were using Jordan Oesterle as a forward in yesterday’s practice beside Pius Suter and Filip Zadina, according to Ansar Khan of MLive. That could be the spot for Luff to go into, adding some size and skill to the third line as Detroit tries to get back on track.

Now 3-1-2 on the year, that sole regulation loss came at the hands of the New Jersey Devils a couple of days ago. The team was thoroughly outplayed in that one, and will be trying to show why they should be considered a playoff contender in tonight’s matchup with an Atlantic Division rival.