The Florida Panthers are back in action tonight for their sixth preseason game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. General Manager Bill Zito announced this morning that the Florida Panthers have now made it to a 42-man roster. This roster consists of 25 forwards, 12 defensemen, and five goaltenders. The rookies listed here are the forwards sent back to their respected AHL clubs.
Forwards John Leonard, Aidan McDonough, Ben Steeves, Defensemen Marek Alscher, Micheal Benning, Evan Nause, and Zachary Uens have been assigned to the Charlotte Checkers (AHL). Along with Forwards Hunter St. Martin and Gracyn Sawchyn have been returned to their respective junior clubs.
Florida Panthers-Tampa Bay Lightning
Head Coach Paul Maurice said in his morning press conference on how the team and roster work to get down to the 23-man roster. At the beginning of training camp and preseason Maurice works on the speed of the team and teaching the young guys that come into camp. After week one, week two consists of heavy practices and a style of game reinforcing the skills needed at an NHL level.
While giving the opportunity for the younger players, most of the first two weeks feature the rookies and not the full starting roster. As week three approaches of the preseason, the special teams are worked on but not necessarily the starting power play players. Week three is full of speed and splitting guys up to make the roster fuller to get close to what the team will be come opening night.
Panthers Preseason Review
The Florida Panthers are 3-5 in the preseason this year. It’s not so much winning for Coach Paul Maurice but seeing which young player rookie is stepping up their game and learning to make the fourth line this year. Tonight the Panthers will have a fuller roster against the Lightning and splitting the defenseman. According to Maurice, the games aren’t really about who blocks shots or anything. It is about what players do in practice and how they are developing.
However, for the fans, it is fun to watch the Panthers out on the ice and cheer them on. Fans will be able to watch the Florida Panthers tonight on all Scripps programming. This can be found on the Broward/Miami Dade home of the Panthers, WSFL, channel 39. In Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, fans can watch Panthers games on South Florida’s 9 (WHDT), and in Fort Myers, WFTX, channel 36.3.
As for Tampa Bay Lightning as of September 29, they cut their roster to a 35-man roster. Head Coach Jon Cooper will be looking at a much smaller roster than the Panthers tonight. The Lighting will have more of the starters playing as the season approaches to cut to a 23-man roster. The last preseason game the Panthers played against the Lightning ended in a loss for the Florida Panthers 8-7. The Florida Panthers will look to get a win tonight and give a good response to Maurice in what he wants in a team.
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