The Panthers’ future will be on display at NHL Prospect Tournament. So will their present
Spencer Knight can insist all he wants that he’s not guaranteed a spot on the Florida Panthers’ roster, but he already got a place in Las Olas for a reason.
It’s the same reason Anton Lundell is planning to get his Florida driver’s license soon, and why Matt Kiersted and Grigori Denisenko are trying to do more than just get their feet wet at the Panthers’ development camp in Coral Springs.
Rookies will be a big part of Florida’s success in 2021.
“These guys have had some experience and they’ve stepped up,” said Gregory Campbell, the team’s vice president of player personnel and development. “They’ve showed their leadership qualities at this level and it’s good to see.”
Knight, Kiersted and Denisenko all played in games last year for the Panthers. Lundell, who signed his entry-level contract with Florida in June, is a virtual lock to make the team. Defensemen John Ludvig and Max Gildon, and right wings Logan Hutsko and Serron Noel could also get the call up to the NHL at some point next season.
On Tuesday, they all wrapped up rookie camp at the Florida Panthers IceDen and will head across the state later this week to play in a four-team Prospect Showcase Tournament in Wesley Chapel. As talented and veteran-laden as Florida’s roster is, the Prospect Tournament, which begins Saturday, will give a real glimpse at likely contributors.
“Games will highlight their talents and their strengths,” Campbell said.
The Panthers’ rookie NHL locks
The most important rookie to the Panthers’ puzzle is Knight. He’s also the most proven of the group, despite only having played in six NHL games.
Knight and Sergei Bobrovsky will be Florida’s two goaltenders to start the season, and they will likely split time in net. By the end of last season, the Panthers trusted Knight most, though and had him start their final two games of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. He became the youngest goalie to ever win his postseason debut and he would be a preseason frontrunner for the Calder Memorial Trophy if he wasn’t splitting duties with Bobrovsky.
Florida knows how good he can be, and he will elevate its ceiling if he delivers on the hype. The Prospect Showcase will be more of a preseason tune-up for him, rather than a chance for the organization to evaluate him.
It puts Lundell in the spotlight as a player likely to make the NHL roster despite no professional experience in the United States.
The 19-year-old center has been a star in Finland since he made his professional debut in the 2018-19 Liiga season, and he arrived in Florida earlier this month after the Panthers took him with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He figures to slot in as a third- or fourth-line center and is another potential Calder Trophy candidate.
For both, it’s their first NHL camp after the COVID-19 pandemic severely altered the league’s calendar in 2020. It’s a chance for both to acclimate themselves within the organization before their rookie seasons.
“Obviously, Billy [Zito] talks a lot about culture of the organization and in the room that we have here with the Panthers,” Campbell said. “But our job is to start that with these kids and kind of have them all on the same page, and the expectations of the management crew and the coaching staff when they arrive at camp every year.”
The Panthers’ fringe roster candidates
Knight and Lundell are ultimately exceptions, even among the NHL-ready contingent. They’re ready to be NHL stars. Players like Denisenko and Kiersted are still early on in their development, which means they’ll only be in Florida if they’re ready to contribute every day to the Panthers.
This weekend is their chance to prove it.
Kiersted proved to be serviceable in his limited playing time last year after he signed with Florida as an undrafted free agent, just days after his career with the North Dakota Fightning Hawks ended. Now he’s fighting to potentially be the Panthers’ seventh defensemen.
Denisenko scored four points in seven games with Florida last season and is still regarded as one of the best prospects in hockey. Now he’s in a crowded competition to for a spot as perhaps a fourth-line left wing.
The Panthers will almost certainly need them at some point in the next year, but they want to force the team’s hand and they’ll get to start making their case now.
“There’s a lot of enthusiasm and it’s been a very competitive camp,” Campbell said. “It’s about trying to give these players good values, trying to prepare them as best we can to be pros, trying to evaluate them at the same time.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 5:06 PM.
