Panthers' Carter Verhaghe steps away from the team for family reasons
Photo credit: ECHL
Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaghe is stepping away from the team for a brief period of time to deal with a family situation, the team announced, but the reason is a happy one as his family is getting bigger.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in town to take on the divisional foe Florida Panthers, who have eliminated them from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in two of the last three years.
But the Panthers, who are already very shorthanded, will be even more so for tonight's game. The team announced that forward Carter Verhaghe, who has been one of the most important players in each of their three straight runs to the SCF, won't play.
He'll be with his wife, who is expected to soon give birth to their child.
So far this year, Verhaghe has 16 points (4G, 12A) in 24 games played for the two time defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers.
Per analyst Jameson Olive, the Panthers are going to proceed with the following line combinations:
Marchand - Lundell - Reinhart
Greer - Bennett - Samoskevich
Gregor - Rodrigues - Boqvist
Kunin - Studnicka - Devine
Forsling - Ekblad
Mikkola - Jones
Balinskis - Petry
Bobrovsky
Tarasov
Greer - Bennett - Samoskevich
Gregor - Rodrigues - Boqvist
Kunin - Studnicka - Devine
Forsling - Ekblad
Mikkola - Jones
Balinskis - Petry
Bobrovsky
Tarasov
The Florida Panthers Have Been Severely Shorthanded So Far This Year
The Panthers are paying the price for success, as multiple players are unavailable right now because of various injuries.
Assistant captain Matthew Tkachuk, who played the postseason with several injuries, underwent surgery during the summer and wasn't expected back until the new year. Additionally, captain Aleksander Barkov tore his ACL during training camp and may not play at all this year.
The Panthers have also been without Dmitry Kulikov and Eetu Luostarinen, the latter of which was hurt in a freak accident during a BBQ.
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