George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers welcomed their newest player to the ranks Monday morning as defenseman Noah Juulsen joined the team for his first practice with the team.
Juulsen was claimed off waivers by the Panthers last Monday, but the defenseman had to drive to South Florida from Quebec and also clear up some work visa issues before he could join the team.
“It felt good, everyone has been pretty welcoming so far,” Juulsen said in his first meeting with the South Florida media on Monday.
“Obviously with the game last night, I just kind of got to meet everyone today. It has been great so far. It has been a little crazy what with traveling down here and everything.
“Being on a new team … had a lot of talks with Bill Zito over the past couple of days and he has been making sure everything is good. It has been nice.”
Because he was claimed off waivers, Juulsen will take the 23rd and final spot on the Florida roster.
A first-round pick by the Canadiens at the 2015 draft held at BB&T Center, Juulsen has been hampered by lingering problems stemming from getting hit in the face with a puck against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 19, 2018.
Since that injury, Juulsen has only played in a handful of games and only once since November.
Before that, it looked like he had secured a spot on Montreal’s second defensive pairing and was a rising commodity within the Canadiens.
The Canadiens thought because of his lack of playing time, they would be able to slip him through waivers and either put him on their taxi squad or send him back to their AHL team in neighboring Laval to get some needed game action.
The Panthers appear to have surprised Montreal by claiming him.
“We don’t know what they’re thinking or what they want to do with him,” Montreal coach Claude Julien told reporters per the Montreal Gazette the day Florida claimed Juulsen.
“We were hoping to keep him and, unfortunately, he was picked up by them and maybe for his sake to be an NHL player — if he’s on their roster — it’s an advantage to him.
“You know we’re going to wish him good luck. He’s a good individual and … the last couple of years have been tough on him. So hopefully he finds his game.”
Said Juulsen: “I am just excited to have an opportunity here.”
Because of waiver rules, the Panthers cannot send him to their shared AHL team in Syracuse.
If Juulsen is going to get playing time with the Panthers, it will be at the NHL level.
Monday, he skated with the main group and then took the ice with the remainder of the team.
“It was nice being out with the guys in the first group and then staying out since I haven’t skated a lot in the past couple of days,” Juulsen said.
“It was nice to get out there and get a good sweat in. Right now, I’m just trying to get some practices in.”
A number of members of the Panthers’ front office know Juulsen well from their time with Montreal and the team hopes it found a legit top-four defenseman off the waiver wire.
Shane Churla, Florida’s new director of amateur scouting, spent the previous seven years in the Montreal scouting department and was a big proponent of drafting Juulsen in 2015 — and, one has to think, Florida putting in a waiver claim.
Rick Dudley, the former Florida GM/interim coach who returned to the Panthers as a senior advisor to Zito, was Montreal’s Sr. VP for hockey operations when the Canadiens drafted Juulsen.
Where Juulsen fits in with the Panthers, right now, is unknown.
The Panthers are flush with defensemen although with the compressed schedule, may have to use all of them.
The Panthers are considering using a number of different defensive looks as the games start to pile up.
A number of Florida’s younger players such as Riley Stillman and Brady Keeper could perhaps spell the team’s veteran defensemen in situations in which the Panthers find themselves playing three games in four nights.
The Panthers want to keep their defensive unit as fresh as they can be and that’s one reason why they put in waiver claims for not only Juulsen but Carolina’s Gustav Forsling as well.
Sunday night, Forsling made his Panthers debut on the second pairing with Anton Stralman and played 20:59 off 30 shifts.
Florida currently has eight defensemen on the main roster (including Juulsen) with Keeper and Kevin Connauton on the taxi squad.
Newcomer Markus Nutivaara will likely have to be added to the main roster upon being cleared from COVID-19 protocol later this week.
UPDATE: On Monday night, the NHL announced Nutivaara and Juho Lammikko were on the latest COVID-19 inactive list. The return of either player is unknown.
That is 11 defensemen on the Panthers with prospect Chase Priskie at the ready at AHL Syracuse.
“We have a of defensemen around,” Quenneville said Monday. “Everyone in the organization who has seen him play all talk about what he can do. He hasn’t played a lot of hockey but they say he is capable of doing a lot of good things.
“I like the way he moves, like his size. When he gets into game condition, we’ll get a much better read on him. Right now he’ll get some practices and we’ll have a better assessment. We’re looking forward to getting him into a game here soon and then we’ll go from there.”