Timeline:
February 24th, 2023: Spencer Knight is out indefinitely as he goes into the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, and is out indefinitely.
October 6th, 2023: Spencer Knight is sent down to the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL losing the backup job to Anthony Stolarz.
June 24th, 2024: The Florida Panthers win their first Stanley Cup, and Spencer Knight wins a ring as the 3rd goalie.
October 10th 2024: Spencer Knight becomes the official backup behind star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
Through the first 21 games of the season, the Florida Panthers have shown no signs of a Stanley Cup hangover. One of the main reasons why the Panthers have been able to be so successful is due to the excellent play of their two top goalies.
In previous years it felt as if you needed Sergei Bobrovsky to play the majority of the games to have regular season success, whether it be because of incompetent backups or inexperienced backups. Now with Knight having three years of NHL/AHL experience, you feel as if there isn’t really a dip in play whether it be Knight or Bob in net. Knight has a modest record of 3-3-0 so far this season, but it isn’t the numbers that pop out to you, it is the timely and key saves that he has made in the seven games that he has played in.
Although the Cats are in a bit of a funk right now, this goalie tandem, and more specifically Spencer Knight, should be able to help right the ship and get the Panthers back on track.
New Line Combinations:
After having a little slump, going 1-5-0 in their last six games, coach Paul Maurice decided to throw Florida’s lines in a blender. This is what the new lineup looks like:
Forwards:
Rodrigues-Barkov-Reinhart
Luostarinen-Bennett-Tkachuk
Verhaeghe-Lundell-Samoskevich
Greer-J.Boqvist-Gadjovich
Defense:
Forsling-Ekblad
Mikkola-Kulikov
Balinskis-A.Boqvist
Scratches: Nosek, Schmidt.
Maurice moved Verhaeghe to the third line because he hasn’t had the best start to the season. He has 14 points in 21 games, is a -16, which is the worst on the team, and has 18 penalty minutes. Also, Verhaeghe’s previous with Tkachuk and Bennett were a liability in the defensive zone.
Adam Boqvist got another opportunity to play after some mediocre play from the third pairing of Balinskis and Schmidt.
Prediction:
Although the Florida Panthers are currently ranked eighth in the league with a power play percentage of 23.1%, they will go out and acquire a good puck moving defenseman, who can quarterback the power play and lead the Panthers to an even better power play. Two names that come to mind are Mike Matheson and Erik Karlsson.
- Mike Matheson: Matheson, a familiar face who was drafted by the Cats and played five seasons with them, is someone who just had a career high of 62 points this past season. He has one more year left on his deal.
- Erik Karlsson: Karlsson, a dynamic offensive defenseman who is known for his puck-moving skills, offensive instincts, and ability, could become available as the Penguins head into a retool/rebuild. His potential addition could elevate the Panthers offense to their historic 2021-2022 level. The one complication about a deal for Karlsson is that he has a cap hit of 10.5 million dollars for the next two seasons. If he became available and the Panthers targeted him, they would need a third party broker to help facilitate the deal.
These next few weeks are very important for the Panthers as they look to get out of the slump they are in, and raise their game to where it needs to be.