The Florida Panthers 2021 roster: Who makes it, who doesn’t

With an expanded 2021 roster due to COVID-19 protocols, the battle for spots in NHL training camps — and with the Florida Panthers — will not be as pronounced as in past years.

Sure, the fight for who makes the final 23-man roster will be important.

Yet those who do not can be kept around on a limited taxi squad.

So, there shouldn’t be as many sad faces packing their bags for a trip to the minors in the days leading up to the season opener Jan. 14 against the Dallas Stars.

Still, the taxi squad can be a temporary reprieve.

With the AHL Charlotte Checkers not scheduled to start their season until February, some players could stick around initially only to have the team decide they would be better off playing in North Carolina than sitting in the press box (or wherever scratched players will watch games from this year).

The taxi squad, as GM Bill Zito explained, is also not a permanent position.

If someone on the 23-man roster isn’t playing up to the team’s ideal, one of the players from the taxi squad could slide into the lineup.

Best man plays, is the thought.

Now, there are a lot of things that go into moving a player off the taxi squad and into an NHL game from waivers to salary cap expenditures and the like.

But for right now, let us look at the 39 players the Panthers have in training camp and break down who makes the final cuts — assuming Florida will have a 23-man active roster and a six-player taxi squad which includes a third goalie.

To keep things fair, we will not count Scott Darling and Kevin Connauton, players here on a try out.

Those two players are not here to be on taxi squads and, barring a rash of injuries, likely will not make the final 23.

In the case of Darling, however, we definitely see the Panthers giving him a shot in Charlotte to try and get his game back on track and put himself on the road to the NHL.

Connauton could also be headed to Charlotte although he may have other options around the league if this camp works out.

So, with those two out of the equation, we are working with 37 players for 29 spots either with the Panthers active roster or taxi squad.

And that may be too big a number. Florida could most certainly carry 22 and five. We’ll see.

For now, we’ll aim for the max.

The Panthers’ first practice of training camp comes Monday morning at BB&T Center.

Let the battle begin!

FLORIDA PANTHERS 2021 ROSTER PREDICTION

Main roster (23 players)

Fowards (14): Brett Connolly, Jonathan Huberdeau, Vinnie Hinostroza, Grigori Denisenko, Sasha Barkov, Alex Wennberg, Carter Verhaeghe, Eetu Luostarinen, Noel Acciari, Patric Hornqvist, Owen Tippett, Frank Vatrano, Anthony Duclair, Ryan Lomberg.

Defensemen (7): Keith Yandle, Aaron Ekblad, Anton Stralman, Radko Gudas, MacKenzie Weegar, Markus Nutivaara, Riley Stillman.

Goalies (2): Sergei Bobrovsky, Chris Driedger.

George’s Take: When it comes to the seven d-men, there is not much room here. Stillman has shown to be an NHL defenseman and deserves to be one of the top seven.

At forward, I see the final battle for a spot coming down to Luostarinen and Juho Lammikko who is back from the KHL. Lammikko has experience centering an NHL line and could make a push for a role not only on the final 23 but in the lineup.

Taxi squad (6 players)

Forwards (3): Juho Lammikko, Mason Marchment, Scott Wilson.

Defensemen (2): Brady Keeper, Chase Priskie.

Goalie (1): Sam Montembeault.

Off to Charlotte

Forwards: Aleksi Heponiemi, Serron Noel, Henry Bowlby, Cole Schwindt.

Defensemen: Kevin Connauton*, John Ludvig, Jake Massie, Max Gildon.

Goalies: Philippe Desrosiers, Ryan Bednard^, Scott Darling*

(*) — On PTO

(^) — Not in camp, with ECHL Greenville

George’s Take: When it comes to who stays on the taxi squad and who goes to Charlotte, at least right now, I think the Panthers want some of their younger players to get some playing time.

This will be the first pro season for Serron Noel; while he could make the big roster or even stick on the taxi squad with a nice camp, my thought here is the Panthers would rather let him go down and play.

Same for Aleksi Heponiemi who had a decent camp last year but a tough first AHL season. He needs to play.

The three forwards I kept on the taxi squad all have a little playing time in their background and may be better suited to practicing and not playing. We’ll see.

There is a lot of training camp hockey to play out and everyone will get an opportunity to shine.

The Panthers may just go for upside and keep the most talented players in what will be a tough year when it comes to development.

Perhaps it will be decided the best development could come with the big team and not in the minors.

That would be a departure from past years, but this is a strange season.