FHN Today: Florida Panthers Waive Six, Still Over Salary Cap

The Florida Panthers will have to be under the NHL’s $82.5 million salary cap by 5 p.m. today and on Sunday, they put six players on waivers to try and resolve some of their cap issues.

They are not out of the woods yet.

Two of the biggest surprises on the waiver wire from Sunrise were forward Aleksi Heponiemi along with defensemen Lucas Carlsson and Michael Del Zotto.

Although Del Zotto probably clears and could either remain with the Panthers or come up soon enough, there is a decent chance Florida loses both Heponiemi and Carlsson — a pair of young players who had solid camps and have upside.

The Panthers also have interest in signing Eric Staal to a contract and need to find the cap space to do that.

Stay tuned.

Waiver claims will be announced at 2 p.m. with the roster set in the hours to follow.

The Montreal Canadiens made some moves of their own and could be very active today.

Don’t be shocked if one of the Florida players gets claimed by the Habs — especially after the Noah Juulsen deal two seasons ago.

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW

Matthew Tkachuk has No. 19 now, but who wore it best in Florida Panthers history?

We look at all the new number assignments — and who the best player was who formerly had those digits.

— I was back at Channel 7 last night talking about the Panthers on SportsXtra. Check it out HERE

— Anthony Duclair will be placed on long-term injured reserve sometime today so the Panthers will cut $3 million of the cap — at least temporarily.

When Duclair comes back from his Achilles tendon surgery, Florida will have to make some other moves to stay cap compliant.

On Sunday, Colby Guy penned a nice piece on all the work Duclair does to try and help make sure racism finds its way out of hockey.

— The Panthers had a very busy final week of the preseason and if you missed anything, we brought all our stories into one place in The Wrap.

— Check out the FHN YouTube channel RIGHT HERE — and hear from Paul Maurice, Brandon Montour and Sergei Bobrovsky after Thursday night’s preseason win. More to come each day.

NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW

The big news around the hockey world Sunday was a tweet which accused Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ian Cole of grooming and sexually abusing a minor while she was still in high school.

Cole has played for a number of teams including St. Louis, the Pittsbugh Penguins, Columbus, Colorado and Minnesota.

The Lightning announced Sunday night that Cole is suspended pending an investigation per the Tampa Bay Times.

— The Boston Bruins raised some eyebrows with their roster moves on Sunday as they work to get under the cap.

Those waived by the Bs include veterans Nick Foligno, Chris Wagner and Mike Reilly.

There are a lot of players available to be claimed right now.

— The Calgary Flames were pretty busy this weekend, signing coach Darryl Sutter to a two-year deal while signing MacKenzie Weegar to an eight-year deal worth $50 million. Good on Weegs.

— The Washington Capitals made a number of cuts including Henrik Borgstrom, Lucas Johansen Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Brett Leason with all headed to the AHL Hershey Bears.

— Owen Krepps breaks down 10 things he is looking forward to this season with the Vegas Golden Knights.

— Looks like Pete DeBoer’s first roster with the Dallas Stars is set.

PANTHERS ON DECK

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT NEW YORK ISLANDERS

• When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: UBS Arena; Elmont, N.Y. 
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM/SiriusXM
• Last season: Florida won 3-0
  
• All-time regular season series: Panthers lead 54-32-11, 8 ties