The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have gotten off to a strong start this season to the tune of a 4-2-1 record which becomes more impressive when considering the team has been without forwards Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk for five games. The latter has been out for more than a week with an illness but should return tomorrow night against the Minnesota Wild according to David Dwork of The Hockey News.
Tkachuk managed two assists in two games for the Panthers to start the season before exiting the lineup on October 14th. He’s expected to slot in on the right wing next to familiar linemates Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe.
He should have been a popular candidate to replace Eetu Luostarinen on Florida’s first line but their production over the last few games leaves little room for upgrade. According to Hockey Reference, the combination of Luostarinen, Sam Reinhart, and Anton Lundell has produced 23 points through seven games with an even more impressive E +/- of 8.1.
Other Atlantic notes:
- The Ottawa Senators’ most notable unrestricted free agent signing from this past offseason, David Perron, will be away from the team for the foreseeable future due to personal reasons (X Link). Perron joined the Senators on a two-year, $8MM pact to take on a similar role to his tenure with the Detroit Red Wings. He’s gone scoreless through his initial five games with the organization and will look to rebound upon his return.
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Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reported earlier that forward Jordan Greenway has returned to practice for the Buffalo Sabres after suffering an upper-body injury and Mike Harrington of Buffalo News Sports later added he could feature in the lineup tomorrow. Greenway was a surprise scratch in the team’s most recent game against the Chicago Blackhawks a few days ago as it took until after the contest to learn about his upper-body injury. He currently sits tied for fourth on Buffalo in scoring with two goals and four points through the first six games.