The Florida Panthers have put forward MacKenzie Entwistle on waivers, with the move intended to send him to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, according to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.
Entwistle’s status has been complicated by an undisclosed injury that kept him out of training camp and the preseason. He is not in the second year of the two-year, two-way contract he signed with Florida in June of 2025.
Last season, Entwistle appeared in 49 games for Charlotte and produced five goals and 11 points. He also skated in two playoff games without registering a point. The season before that, in his first year in the Panthers organization, he played only seven regular-season games and eight playoff games.
Before arriving in Florida, the 27-year-old spent time with the Chicago Blackhawks and their AHL affiliate, the Rockford Ice Dogs. During his run in Chicago, he logged 193 NHL games and finished with 15 goals and 35 points.
Entwistle’s last NHL action came in the 2023-24 season.
Florida has had success on the waiver wire lately. During training camp roster cuts, the Panthers didn’t lose anyone on waivers, and over the past year they have added Cole Schwindt and Cole Reinhardt, two players the club believes can help at the NHL level when called upon.
Charlotte has opened the season 1-1-0, with seven goals scored and five allowed. Nathan Smith leads the way with three goals, and top prospect Jack Devine is right behind him with two.
In Other News...
Panthers Suddenly Have Much Less Reason To Chase Dylan Larkin
Aleksander Barkovs lower-body injury changes the calculus in Florida, even if it does not appear to change the long-term outlook. The Panthers captain is expected to miss six to eight weeks, but he will not need surgery, which at least keeps the door open for a cleaner return later in the season. In the short term, though, it leaves the Panthers without their top center and naturally invites a little roster-watching from the outside.
That is where the Dylan Larkin chatter had started to build, with the Detroit center back in the lineup after an injury and a trade request, then taking his share of boos before helping the Red Wings win. For Florida, the Barkov timeline makes a major center pursuit look far less pressing, and maybe far less realistic. The speculation had some traction because of the Panthers need, but with Barkov set to come back in a matter of weeks rather than months, the urgency around chasing a headline-grabbing fix has taken a noticeable hit. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Suddenly Have Another Injury Concern Fans Feared
Floridas injury picture got a lot murkier against the Kings when Brad Marchand went down with a lower-body injury and had to be helped off the ice. It came in just his second game back after offseason surgery, a reminder that the Panthers were still easing him into the lineup and hoping to get another veteran presence back into the fold without issue.
The timing made the scene even more uneasy for a team already bracing for captain Aleksander Barkov to miss six-to-eight weeks with a lower-body injury. Marchands status now becomes another important storyline for a club trying to hold things together early in the season while key pieces are already on the shelf. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Suddenly Have A Pavel Zacha Question They Cant Ignore
The Bruins attention may be on Pavel Zachas uncertain contract situation and the trade talk swirling around him, but the ripple effects reach well beyond Boston. Around the league, the market is still moving in the same cautious way, with Patrik Laine remaining unsigned as a free agent and David Perron also searching for a new home, while teams continue to weigh cap space, roster fit and timing. For the Florida Panthers, that broader churn matters because every move around a rival can shift the outlook in the Atlantic and alter how quickly teams try to solve their own lineup questions.
Florida already has enough on its plate with Aleksander Barkov expected to miss 6-8 weeks, and now it is also waiting for more clarity on Brad Marchands lower-body injury. The Panthers have not given a diagnosis or a timeline, leaving one of their most important late-season additions in limbo at a time when their margin for error is already thin. Between the uncertainty in Boston and the questions in Sunrise, the divisions picture is changing by the day, and the next update could carry real weight for the Panthers. [Read more 🡒]