The Florida Panthers are down to the final stretch of training camp, and by Monday the picture should be a lot clearer.
Friday’s practices in Fort Lauderdale were short and low-key, with coach Paul Maurice stepping off the ice after about 30 minutes in both sessions. The team still has one preseason game left tonight in Sunrise against the Lightning, then comes a day off Sunday before the Panthers hold their first official practice Monday ahead of Tuesday’s season opener against the Carolina Hurricanes.
”There is cake in the coaches room right now,’’ Maurice said. “Monday will be a good day.’’
By Monday afternoon, Florida needs its roster sorted out, and that means some players could be placed on waivers by Sunday. Others who don’t require waivers may be headed to Charlotte just a few hours after the game against Tampa Bay.
Maurice said the competition throughout camp has been real, even for players who were never likely to crack the Opening Night group.
”It’s been a constant jockeying for position and that is true for players who won’t start here,” Maurice said. “We had a lot of good pros here and a lot of guys fighting for almost non-existent jobs in some ways.
But how they leave camp gives with the opportunity to have a leg-up on other players who go down. You want to make the team, I’m sure of that, but want to leave with a very positive impression.
“When you hear in three weeks or a month that ‘this guy is doing well,’ they are the next one up. The door is not closed.
You can have a great week or two weeks here, and the next few weeks are just as important. You want to leave with the best foot forward and leave a positive impression on the coaches.”
The Panthers’ roster is largely settled, but not completely. Florida is allowed to carry 23 players, usually split into 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders. There’s also a salary-cap wrinkle to sort through, and the Panthers may not have room to carry a full 23-man roster by Monday.
”When you are fortunate enough to have ownership willing to spend to the cap,’’ Maurice said, “you try and maximize that.’’
Per PuckPedia, Florida is already $896,000 over the $104 million cap with only 21 players on the books. That number does not yet include the team’s plans for Brad Marchand and Jonah Gadjovich.
Maurice said Marchand will be out at least until November, which gives the Panthers a path to place him on long-term injured reserve and use a portion of his $5.25 million salary for cap relief. A player on LTIR must miss 10 games and 24 days, and Florida will play 14 games from Tuesday’s opener through the end of October.
Gadjovich is out indefinitely, so he is expected to land on LTIR as well, opening up his $905,000 salary.
That gives Florida some short-term flexibility, but the bigger question is which players actually survive the final cuts.
Up front, the Panthers appear set with their top 11 forwards. That leaves Bokondji Imama, Cole Reinhardt, Cole Schwindt and others competing for what could be the final spot among the forwards.
On defense, Florida is expected to begin with Radko Gudas and Dmitry Kulikov as the third pair, while Uvis Balinskis projects as the seventh defenseman.
If the Panthers decide to carry eight defensemen, Alexander Petrovic looks like the most natural choice, though his two-year contract could make him easier to sneak through waivers to Charlotte than someone like Donovan Sebrango.
With so many players hitting the waiver wire at once around roster deadline time, Florida may have a better chance of keeping its bubble players out of harm’s way.
Forwards (11): Sasha Barkov, Brady Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Sandis Vilmanis, Lars Eller, Garnet Hathaway
Defensemen (7): Aaron Ekblad, Gus Forsling, Seth Jones, Niko Mikkola, Dmitry Kulikov, Radko Gudas
Goalies (2): Jacob Markmark, Akira Schmid
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