Florida Panthers Training Camp: Few Lineup Changes Projected

It’s that time of year again, with the Florida Panthers officially opening training camp Thursday morning in Fort Lauderdale.

This will be Paul Maurice’s fourth training camp with the team.

As much as the players admire Maurice, they dread his tough training camp regimen.

The results, however, speak for themselves.

Three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances and back-to-back championships are rare in the salary cap age.

The big difference between this season’s cast and the past two is that the Panthers’ opening day lineup is almost already determined.

There are only a handful of new faces, the most important perhaps new defenseman Jeff Petry and backup goalie Daniil Tarasov.

Depth spots may be up for grabs.

Last season had a much greater turnover.

When training camp began, the new faces slated for varsity slots included Nate Schmidt, Jesper and Adam Boqvist, AJ Greer, and Tomas Nosek.

There were also a few earlier acquisitions, such as defenders Uvis Balinskis and Toby Bjornfot who competed for positions.

Balinskis was a regular until the acquisition of Seth Jones but stayed in the lineup because of Aaron Ekblad’s 20-game suspension. Bjornfot spent most of the year in Charlotte.

This year’s off-season acquisitions include Petry, well-travelled veteran forward Luke Kunin and depth winger Nolan Foote.

Kunin was a first-round draft pick by Minnesota in 2016 and has played 434 regular season games with four teams. He has been limited by injuries of late, but when healthy, is an effective defensive forward.

Foote, a first-round pick by Tampa Bay in 2019, has a handful of NHL games with New Jersey but spent most of the past five seasons in their farm system.

Training camp invitees on tryout agreements include forwards Daniel Wolcott, Tyler Motte, and Noah Gregor along with defenseman Ben Harpur.

Motte is a jack-of-all-trades veteran who has been a role player for seven previous NHL teams. Gregor, most recently with San Jose, played 293 games over the last six years and would love to hang on to his NHL career.

Wolcott, at 31, has but one game of NHL experience, with Tampa Bay, but has been a mainstay with their Syracuse Crunch farm club for 10 seasons and could bring a lot to the Checkers.

Harpur has bounced around the NHL and AHL for 10 seasons. With Balinskis the probable seventh defenseman, Harpur will be competing with Bjornfot as the first injury callup.

The most recent invitee is center Josh Lopina, who has spent the past four seasons in the Anaheim Ducks minor league system.

Roster space is super tight.

With Matthew Tkachuk out to start the season, the probability is that Mackie Samoskevich will get a middle six spot and the fourth line, which was so vital to the Cup run, will be intact with Greer, Nosek, and Jonah Gadjovich.

This leaves Jesper Boqvist as the first swing man.

When Tkachuk returns things will get much tighter.

While it is unlikely that the PTO invitees will make the almost etched in concrete roster, in hockey one never knows. Those who earn a contract will most likely find themselves in Charlotte on the very extensive depth chart.

If Florida can squeeze out cap space to retain a few spares as additional healthy scratches my guess is that the very experienced and versatile Motte and Kunin have the best chances to gain a spot.

Stay tuned.

Bill Zito and his scouting staff have been able to find gold in underperforming players. It can happen again.

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2024 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS 2025

FLORIDA PANTHERS

ON DECK

• NHL Free Agency: Opened June 1
• Prospect Showcase @ Tampa Bay Lightning: Monday, Wesley Chapel
• Training Camp: Starts Thursday, Fort Lauderdale IcePlex
• Exhibition Games: Starts Sept. 21 @ Nashville (doubleheader)
• Championship Ring Celebration: Oct. 6; Time/Site TBA
• Opening Night: Oct 7 vs. Chicago Blackhawks, 5 p.m.
• Complete Florida Panthers 2025-26 Schedule