Florida Panthers ‘pure shooter’ Carter Verhaeghe is on pace for another career year
The play unfolded like so many plays Carter Verhaeghe has made during the past few seasons. A loose puck found its way to the Florida Panthers on the left side of the offensive zone. Verhaeghe spins, skates into the left circle and, before anyone could react, fires a wrist shot that goes into the back of the net.
“His release is one of the best in the league,” Panthers center Sam Bennett said. “He’s able to find those holes and and get that shot off. He’s a lot of fun to play with. He makes a lot of really good plays. Whenever you can find them, there’s a good chance that’s going in the back of the net.”
This particular goal, the only one Florida scored in its 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, was Verhaeghe’s 25th of the season through 50 games played. That puts him on pace for 41 goals this season, which would be a career high after scoring 40 last season.
It’s a feat that has flown under the radar in some senses because of so many other factors surrounding the Panthers’ success this season — Sam Reinhart’s offensive breakout top among them.
But his efforts haven’t gone unnoticed around the team.
“It seems to me that he scores meaningful goals,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “There are guys who put up big numbers, who get five or six in an 8-1 rout, but he seems to have always scored very, very important goals. They don’t sneak up on us. ... He’s a unique guy. Wiry, strong on pucks, possibly the best playoff performer for the Florida Panthers over the last three years. He’s hard on pucks and physical in his own way. He’s not really a playmaker. He can make plays at speed, but he doesn’t slow the game down to make plays. He’s a pure shooter.”
Entering play Thursday, Verhaeghe’s 25 goals this season are tied for 12th in the NHL. The Panthers are one of five teams that have multiple players with 25 goals this season, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs (Auston Matthews and William Nylander), Colorado Avalanche (Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen), Tampa Bay Lightning (Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point) and Vancouver Canucks (Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson).
Of Verhaeghe’s 25 goals, 18 have been at even strength — tied for 10th in the NHL. Five of his goals have been game-winning goals, which is tied for ninth in NHL, and a team-high 14 have come in the third period or overtime.
“I’ll take them however,” Verhaeghe said.
One factor to Verhaeghe’s success is continuity and chemistry with his linemates. Every since Bennett returned from an early season lower-body injury, Maurice has kept the line of Verhaeghe, Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk intact even when he has had to shake up lines due to injury or underperformance.
It’s easy to see why. When the trio plays together at full strength, they are outscoring opponents 22-11 and are controlling nearly 60 percent of shot attempts.
“I’m playing with two really good players, and everyone kind of brings different elements to that line,” Verhaeghe said. “We read well off each other and have good chemistry. We know where each other wants the puck, and if you don’t get it there, you’ll hear it, which is a good thing.”
New ice rink coming to Boyd Anderson
Anthony Duclair might not play for the Panthers anymore after being traded to the San Jose Sharks during the offseason, but his ties to South Florida remain strong after playing here for three seasons.
The connection was extended even more on Wednesday when Duclair’s charitable foundation broke ground on on a new synthetic ice rink at Boyd Anderson High in Lauderdale Lakes.
Speaking to reporters at the event, Duclair said the rink should be ready for use in about a month.
“This is a second home for me, and it is great to be back,” Duclair said. “I promised when I started the Foundation that we would build rinks here and it does not matter that I got traded away; I am going to honor that and even go beyond that. South Florida will always have a special place in my heart, everyone was so good to me here. It is a no-brainer to try and grow the sport down here. This is a perfect spot with all the ethnicities and different backgrounds.”
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