The Florida Panthers have signed free agent forward Carter Verhaeghe. The deal is for two years with an average annual value of $1 million. Bob McKenzie announced the signing Friday morning.
$900K in the first year; $1.1M in the second years. $1M AAV. They said there would be no math. 🤪 https://t.co/0tmqLsYPVE
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) October 9, 2020
Panthers Sign Carter Verhaeghe
Verhaeghe was a productive depth option for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019-20. The 6’1″, 181-pound skater scored nine goals and 13 points in 52 games while averaging just 9:22 per contest. He also chipped in 29 hits despite the low playing time. This was Verhaeghe’s first year in the NHL but he was excellent in the past two seasons with Tampa’s AHL affiliate in Syracuse. There he scored 51 goals and 130 points in 134 games.
The Toronto Maple Leafs originally selected Verhaeghe in the third round of the 2013 Draft but traded him in 2015 to the New York Islanders in a big deal for Michael Grabner. The Isles then traded Verghaeghe to Tampa Bay in 2017 in exchange for Kristers Gudlevskis. Verhaeghe looks like the ultimate winner in all of those deals after a fine rookie season where he posted very fine numbers and helped win a Stanley Cup. He wasn’t a big part of the team’s success but he looks like a quality middle-six option for the Panthers moving into 2020-21.
What This Means for the Future
This is a fantastic opportunity for Verhaeghe to seize control of a big role in the next season. Florida is not nearly as deep as Tampa Bay was in 2019-20 so there should be plenty of opportunity. He might be the perfect second or third-line centre on his new team.
This moves leaves Florida with $15.54 million in cap space. The recently traded for Markus Nutivaara and signed Radko Gudas as blueline reinforcement but the team is far from finished making moves. They are in position to sign a big name if they want to. There are a few internal options to re-sign but nobody that should eat heavily into the current cap space.
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