George Richards, FHN Publisher
SUNRISE — When the Florida Panthers made the blockbuster trade for Matthew Tkachuk in July, the immediate assumption was he would start up on the top line alongside star center Sasha Barkov.
Yet when Florida opens its 2022-23 season tonight on Long Island, Tkachuk will be on the second line next to former Calgary teammate Sam Bennett and fellow newcomer Rudolfs Balcers.
Barkov, of course, remains Florida’s top center and will see plenty of time — the Panthers hope — with Tkachuk on the power play.
But Florida is going back to the top line if started last season when Sam Reinhart was the prize offseason acquisition and started up top with Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe.
The trio only lasted a few games before the Panthers made some changes.
It may last a lot longer this time around.
“I love him,” Barkov said of Reinhart.
“He is an elite player, an elite playmaker. He sees the ice so well and does so many things with the puck. He is great with the stick, he sees plays before he gets the puck. It is easy to play with those kind of guys. I just need to get open, get him the puck. It’s going to be fun.”
Florida breaking up the top line so early last season — it lasted into the second game — was not as much an indictment of Reinhart’s play but to the quick start from Anthony Duclair.
Although it did take Reinhart a few games to get into his rhythm being in a new city with a new team and all, Duclair’s two goals in the first two games all but forced a move up from his start on the fourth line.
Reinhart ended up landing on a line with Anton Lundell and Mason Marchment which was a pretty potent trio in its own right.
”I am so much more comfortable this year than last,” said Reinhart, who had two goals and seven points in his first nine games but ended up being Florida’s second-highest goal scorer (33) and finished third on the team with 82 points in 78 games.
“Even coming in early before camp, you know what to expect; you know the guys, where everything is. There is a certain comfort level that translates on ice. It took me a while to fully get comfortable last year and now I’m ready to hit the ground running.
“Early on we started with this line but it took me a while to get acclimated and comfortable with the systems. But Barky, so far, our games do mesh off each other when it comes to puck movement and finding the right spots. Hopefully we can build off that. We want to find some success early.”
The Panthers have found plenty of success over the past two seasons with Verhaeghe playing on the left side of Barkov with alternating players on the right.
Duclair saw plenty of time there in 2021 and again last season, but the Panthers have tried out other players in that position as well.
Verhaeghe, however, has pretty much been the constant although Jonathan Huberdeau was mixed in there a few times when the Panthers needed a quick jolt.
New coach Paul Maurice experimented with a number of different line combinations especially during the early days of training camp, even trying second-year center Anton Lundell on the right side.
And while using Lundell next to Barkov sounds intriguing — and we may see it down the line — Reinhart seems a natural fit there right now.
“It’s going to be pretty good no matter who we get, right?” said Verhaeghe, who had 24 goals and 55 points last season — not counting his incredible series against the Capitals in which he has six goals and 12 points in the six games.
“Both Lundell and Reino are such good players with so much skill. We have so much skill up front as a team, it’s fun playing with any of those guys. Last year it took a while for Reino to adjusted to the systems and how we play but now he is totally comfortable and familiar with all of us.
“There wasn’t much time last year. We all know how we play and I think it’s going to be awesome. It may take some time for all of us to get going with the new faces and systems, but it’ll be good. It’s a challenge and it’s going to be fun.”
Last summer, the Panthers went into training camp drooling over the thought of putting Reinhart and Barkov together with Verhaeghe, taking advantage of the size and hands of the latter two with Verhaeghe zipping around burying whatever those two track down.
“We have lots of confidence in the pairing of Verhaeghe and Barkov because they have had so much time together,” Maurice said. “After that, it’s brand new and we’re going to have to give it some time. When I say I don’t think I’m going to move the lines around too much early on, it probably won’t wait too long because it is all new.
“We think Sam Reinhart had to come in and learn a whole new style when he started here last year, the first 20 games didn’t bring a lot of production. But that was not a chemistry hole; it’s just a different style of play here offensively. … You’re going to put up numbers.”