2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Florida Panthers Make Roster Moves Before Playoffs

Published

6 days ago

April 16, 2025

Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell and Sergei Bobrovsky celebrate after their win against the Detroit Red Wings on April 10 in Sunrise. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

The Florida Panthers pared down their roster Wednesday, a few days before they open the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Panthers have 25 players on their current playoffs roster — including defenseman Aaron Ekblad, whose suspension carries through the first two games against the Lightning — after sending three players back to the Charlotte Checkers for their playoffs.

The three players going back to Charlotte are defenseman Matt Kiersted, as well as forwards Jesse Puljujarvi and Rasmus Asplund.

Charlotte has three games remaining in the regular season: Tonight against the Hartford Wolf Pack, then two against the Springfield Thunderbirds.

The AHL playoffs begin next week, and the Checkers currently hold a first-round bye.

Jaycob Megna, who was recalled from Charlotte on March 2 before Florida’s game in Toronto, remains with the team after playing the past eight games.

He is averaging 16:06 in those games.

PANTHERS PLAYOFF ROSTER

Forwards (15): Sasha Barkov, Sam Bennett, Jesper Boqvist, Jonah Gadjovich, A.J. Greer, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Brad Marchand, Tomas Nosek, Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues, Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm, Matthew Tkachuk, Carter Verhaeghe
Defensemen (8): Uvis Balinskis, Aaron Ekblad, Gus Forsling, Seth Jones, Dmitry Kulikov, Jaycob Megna, Niko Mikkola, Nate Schmidt
Goalies (2): Sergei Bobrovsky, Vitek Vanecek

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE 1ST ROUND: GAME 1

FLORIDA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

When: TBA (Likely on Sunday)
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa
Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
National TV: ESPN or TNT/truTV
Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+ or MAX
Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
Series Schedule: TBA
Season Series (Tied 2-2) — At Tampa Bay: Panthers 4, Lightning 2 (Dec. 22); Tuesday. At Florida: Lightning 4, Panthers 0 (Dec. 23); Panthers 2, Lightning 1 (March 3).
All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 79-53-19, 10 ties
All-Time Postgame Series: Tampa Bay Leads 2-1 (won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS); Florida d. Lightning 4-1 in 2024 first-round.