Where Florida Panthers Wingers Tkachuk, Reinhart and Verhaeghe Rank

NHL Network unveiled its top 20 wingers in the league right now and two members of the Florida Panthers were ranked within the top 10.

Carter Verhaeghe, despite averaging 33 goals and 67 points over the past three seasons, was left off the list.

The NHL Network rankings — which had Sergei Bobrovsky as the No. 7 goalie last week — put Matthew Tkachuk second and Sam Reinhart ninth.

Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning was the top-ranked winger in the NHL.

Tkachuk, obviously, is worthy of his praise as the second-best winger in the league although players such as Artemi Panarin (fifth), David Pastrnak (fourth), and Mikko Rantanen (third) make strong arguments.

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As NHL Network analyst Stu Grimson noted, the Panthers have been a franchise on fire ever since general manager Bill Zito pulled off the Tkachuk blockbuster in 2022.

“There is no question, the moment he arrives in Florida, he helped redefine what this team is all about,” Grimson said on the NHL Network show Wednesday night.

“It all starts with the acquisition of Matthew Tkachuk. That moment sets this team on a different trajectory. He is equal parts tough and talented. He will play through anything; scratch, claw, scrape his way to offense or to keep the other team off the page.’’

Tkachuk has been a machine for the Panthers over the past two seasons.

In his first season with the Panthers, Tkachuk eclipsed the 104 points he had with Calgary during the 2021-22 season with 109 with his new team.

Tkachuk also won MVP honors at the All-Star Game held in South Florida, finished second in MVP voting, and helped lead the Panthers to their first berth in the Stanley Cup Final since 1996.

Last season, Tkachuk got off to a slow start likely due to his recovery from having surgery to repair a torn labrum sustained in Game 3 of the 2023 Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Tkachuk finished strong, however, scoring 21 of his 26 goals from Jan. 1 on.

In the playoffs, Tkachuk’s 22 points tied Sasha Barkov for the team lead.

None of that matters to Tkachuk, of course.

“I don’t put any pressure on myself to score goals or to create offense,” Tkachuk said during the playoffs.

“I guess that’s just part of my game. At the end of the day, it’s not about me around here. There is a way bigger goal ahead. There were guys who were our best players tonight who didn’t score. It can be someone different every night. There is so much buy-in, no one cares who is doing the scoring, or the hitting; we’re here for wins, that’s it.’’

Reinhart, ranked No. 9, has an argument for being ranked a little low on this list especially based off the season he had.

With 57 goals, Reinhart came within two of tying Pavel Bure for the franchise record and he ranked second behind Auston Matthews (69) for most in the NHL.

In three seasons with the Panthers, Reinhart has had his top three statistical years — with last year completely blowing up.

Going into last year, Reinhart’s career high in goals was 33 set in 2021-22 with 31 goals the following season with the Panthers.

Reinhart scored 10 goals in the playoffs which ranked second on the Panthers — Verhaeghe had 11.

His biggest one, obviously, was the game-winner which came in the second period of Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers which earned Florida its first Stanley Cup.

Reinhart signed an eight-year contract with the Panthers a day before he could have become a free agent.

“It’s unbelievable,’’ he said after Game 7. “No sweeter place to do it than South Florida. We love it here. … It’s incredible. I mean, that definitely hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s incredible.”

As for Verhaeghe, he comes into this season in the final year of his contract after four terrific seasons with the Panthers.

Verhaeghe is also Florida’s all-time leader in playoff goals with 26. Reinhart is second with 21.

“He’s is definitely an elite player,” Barkov said of Verhaeghe. “He has elite speed and goal scoring ability and he works on it every single day. There’s no not surprise in that. He has a goal-scoring mindset where he wants to shoot the puck, and he knows how to shoot it. He’s been working on it every single day. That’s why he’s had success.”

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UP NEXT FOR THE FLORIDA PANTHERS

• NHL Free Agency: Opened July 1
• Nashville Predators Rookie Showcase: Sept. 13-16
• Florida Panthers Training Camp, Fort Lauderdale: Possible start Sept. 17-19
• Florida Panthers Preseason: Sept. 22-Oct. 5
• Florida Panthers Opening Night/Banner Unveiling: Oct. 8 vs. Bruins