Chris Tierney may finally be getting his chance to return to the NHL, as the Florida Panthers announced they’ve recalled the forward from the Charlotte Checkers on an emergency basis. No corresponding move was made, but the recall comes a day after the team was forced to play a man short when Anton Lundell was ruled out with an upper-body injury. Florida’s next game comes Tuesday evening in Winnipeg against the Jets.
Last night wasn’t the first time the Panthers were forced to play a man down and is the result of a somewhat risky strategy of carrying a roster of just 18 skaters and two goaltenders most of the time. This strategy isn’t a new analytical experiment or something of the kind, but is instead forced due to the Panthers’ tight cap situation, using nearly all of their available LTIR space before adding in reinforcements.
Because Florida played a man short last game, they’re able to recall Tierney on an emergency basis without carrying his cap hit, per CapFriendly. Tierney will now give Florida an extra skater for Tuesday’s game in the case that Lundell cannot play, or at least someone to draw in should a similar situation present itself.
As for Tierney, the veteran forward signed a one-year, two-way contract with Florida this summer for the league minimum after the Ottawa Senators failed to re-sign him. Once an exciting young piece of the San Jose Sharks, Tierney was dealt in the Erik Karlsson trade and hit a career-high in points with 48 in his first year with Ottawa before seeing his production steadily slip year after year. This will be Tierney’s first time back on an NHL roster since last season, and he’s earned his recall, recording 16 points in 19 AHL games thus far.