With ‘room to grow,’ Florida Panthers’ Carter Verhaeghe looks to build on 40-goal season
There’s a lot to like about Carter Verhaeghe’s game. The Florida Panthers’ winger is a threat any time he has the puck on his stick or is rushing down the ice.
“The speed, the shot, but really the tenacity on the puck are all great strengths,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
But even after a season in which he scored a career-high 42 goals — matching his output from his first two seasons with the Panthers combined — Verhaeghe knows he’s still not a finished product.
“There’s always room to grow,” Verhaeghe told reporters after practice Thursday.
Such is the life of a hockey player who had to weather through a long journey to get to the NHL.
That part of his story has been told many times during the past couple years, but for a quick refresher:
Verhaeghe was third-round pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft but was traded to the New York Islanders before he even played a professional game. After finishing his junior hockey career in the 2014-15 season, he spent parts of the next two years shuttling between the ECHL and American Hockey League — the NHL’s two minor-league levels — before being traded again to the Tampa Bay Lightning in July 2017.
Verhaeghe then spent another two years in the AHL before making the Lightning’s opening night roster for the 2019-2020 season. He played 52 games and tallied just 13 points while playing a small role on the Lightning’s run to a Stanley Cup.
“Carter Verhaeghe is a guy that is a product of how he got into the league,” Maurice said. “He had to scratch and claw and prove himself over and over again.”
And prove himself he did.
The following offseason, Verhaeghe signed a two-year, $2 million deal with the Panthers before re-upping for a three-year, $12.5 million extension that went into effect last season.
It turned out to be a bargain.
Verhaeghe immediately became a fixture on Florida’s top line, scoring 18 goals and adding another 18 assists in 43 games during the 2020-21 season, which ended with a first-round loss in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Lightning.
His encore? How about 24 goals and 31 assists in Year 2 and some heroics to help the Panthers win their first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals with six goals, including three game-winners, and another six assists.
And then last season? Verhaeghe led the Panthers with his 42 goals — tied for the ninth most in the NHL — and added 31 assists. The winger also had 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in the Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final.
“It’s really good to see the progression,” Verhaeghe said. “Even my first year when we got here, we had a really good team. We’ve just kind of built on it every year.”
His comments were centered on the Panthers’ growth as a team, but they apply to Verhaeghe individually as well. Maurice noted how Verhaghe “spent a lot of time working with the other coaches on individual defensive video last year.”
“He improved his game drastically in my mind there,” the coach added.
It’s just the latest evolution in Verhaeghe’s game.
“Every day I’m coming to the rink with something new to work on,” he said. “The coaches are keeping me honest and I’m keeping myself honest. Whether it’s skating or shooting or different areas of the ice, like in the D zone, different positioning, there’s always something. There’s never a dull day.”
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