Plan for NHL regulars comes into focus as Panthers camp, preseason slate continues

It was a busy day on Tuesday at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale as training camp continues for the Florida Panthers.

On Wednesday, the Panthers will head up to Raleigh for a preseason matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center.

Making the trip to North Carolina for the Cats will be group that will not feature any of the teamâ€s returning NHL regulars, a similar situation as to over the weekend when Florida played a preseason doubleheader in Nashville against the Predators on Sunday.

The players who will participate on Wednesday in Raleigh were on the ice for a formal camp practice Tuesday afternoon.

For many, itâ€s all about trying to make a good impression and prepare yourself for the season to come, but at the end of the day, as long as the effort is there, the coaching staff understands that itâ€s a long road to the NHL.

“That’s really what I’m looking for,†said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “If any of these young guys that came out and, let’s say, I thought they were all fine, you know, real good idea of, like, either why we drafted them or why we brought them to camp. But if they’re young, and they had a tough camp, I won’t think about them again. I won’t assess them, because theyâ€ve got years before (theyâ€re expected at the NHL level). So if a guy had a tough camp, that doesn’t mean his career is over at all. He’s just got to go back to play junior, or if itâ€s his first year pro, or whatever that is, get another year, and then you come in. So you really do go through the stages here, especially because we haven’t drafted a high, first round pick that comes in has a legitimate chance to make our team. We don’t have those players. All our first-round picks are playing on our team.â€

Roster-wise, it will be a similar situation when Floridaâ€s next road preseason game arrives, which will be next Tuesday when Florida faces the Tampa Bay Lightning in Orlando.

For that game, expect the Panthers to bring another mostly-young group to the neutral site showdown with Tampa.

However, the night before, when Florida hosts Carolina on Monday night in Sunrise, weâ€ll get our first look at some of the NHLers expected to be on the Opening Night roster.

Itâ€s all part of the process and Maurice and his staff evaluate everyone, new and returning, to see exactly where everyone shapes up as they prepare to mold a new roster for the upcoming season.

“All of the new guys, I’m just trying to learn their game, trying to find out what I think they do for a living,†said Maurice. “What are they good at? That’s a really important question to ask. What’s that guy good at? How do I fit him in? The returning players that we’ve had year over year, I’m just trying to anecdotally measure how much better they are. Do I think they’re fitter? Are they stronger? Are they grasping what we’ve done? We’re looking for progression and trying to measure that. And then there are a band of players that you’re looking at saying, okay, that guy’s a potential call-up, how would I play him? First of all, can I make him better? Can I help him get better? Early on, I just want them to learn our game, try to play it, and see if you can, and then we’ll shape you a little bit. You’ve got to be more physical. You can be less physical. You’re running around. We need to get the little details, where you take each individual player and try to shape them into our team.â€

Before Tuesdayâ€s formal workout in Fort Lauderdale, a large group of the Opening Night Panthers held a skate and scrimmage.

On the ice were Brad Marchand, Evan Rodrigues, Sam Bennett, Eetu Luostarinen, Dmitry Kulikov, Sasha Barkov, Niko Mikkola, Seth Jones, Anton Lundell, Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart, Uvis Balinskis, Mackie Samoskevich, Carter Verhaeghe, A.J. Greer, Gus Forsling, Jesper Boqvist and Jeff Petry.

They are all expected to join the regular camp practices later this week ahead of Monday’s game against Carolina. 

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Photo caption: Sep 19, 2025; Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA; Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice speaks to center Gracyn Sawchyn (59), forward Tyler Motte (14) and forward Noah Gregor (18) during training camp at Baptist Health IcePlex. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

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