The Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The 25-year-old is the Panthers third-leading scorer this year with 17 goals, 18 assists for 35 points in 42 games. He won’t play Tuesday’s game against the Dallas Stars.
FLA announces Anthony Duclair back from injury, but the bad news is another of this season’s good stories (Carter Verhaeghe) is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 13, 2021
Carter Verhaeghe Injured
Carter Verhaeghe is enjoying a breakout season on the Panthers this year. After spending four years in the minors, Verhaeghe played his first full NHL season last year with the Tampa Bay Lightning, scoring 13 points in 52 games. He signed with the Panthers in the offseason and has been one of their best offensive players. Verhaeghe is second on the Panthers in Corsi For percentage at even strength. He has the highest Expected Goals For on the team at 32.58 and has been on the ice for 36 actual goals. He has spent most of this season on a line with Aleksander Barkov.
Verhaeghe was drafted 82nd overall in the 2013 NHL draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, Toronto traded him to the New York Islanders after his junior career ended along with a few minor league players for Michael Grabner. He spent two years in the Islanders system, splitting his time between the ECHL and AHL. Verhaeghe scored 57 points in 36 ECHL games and scored 44 points in 75 AHL games. The Islanders traded Verhaeghe to the Lightning in July of 2017. He spent two seasons playing for their AHL team, the Syracuse Crunch. In the 2018-19 season, Verhaeghe scored 82 points for Syracuse to lead the league in points. The following season he was in the NHL.
Verhaeghe is not the first Panther to have a breakout season after coming from the Lightning. In the 2015-16 season, Jonathan Marchessault scored 18 points in 45 games for the Lightning. The following season he scored 30 goals and 51 points as a Florida Panther.
What This Means For the Panthers
Verhaeghe has been an important reason as to why the Panthers are third in the Central Division. His emergence as an offensive force has helped make up for the loss of Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman. Anthony Duclair who returned from injury today can take his place on the top line. Thankfully for the Panthers, Verhaeghe is only out week-to-week, so it isn’t expected he will be out long term.
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