Panthers winger Eetu Luostarinen suffered significant burns as a result of a barbecue accident and will miss a few weeks, head coach Paul Maurice said (via George Richards of Florida Hockey Now). He also informed reporters that depth forward Cole Schwindt requires arm surgery and will miss two to three months, per the team’s Jameson Olive.
The two-time defending champions are now facing even more significant strain on their top-nine forward group. They were already down Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk to start the season. In their absence, they were relying on Luostarinen heavily – essentially bumping up last year’s third line of him, Anton Lundell, and Brad Marchand, into first-line minutes.
Given the aggressive increase in deployment and the quality of competition, the experiment has largely gone well. Luostarinen has been the definitive third wheel on that line but was still on the best point pace of his career with 10 points (three goals, seven assists) through 18 games. The versatile 6’3″ forward has been the checking conscience of that line with 42 hits and is still tied for fifth on the club in scoring, a solid feat after back-to-back seasons in the 20-point range. He’s helped Lundell along to a strong 5-11–16 start in 19 games as he temporarily assumes Barkov’s role as Florida’s No. 1 center and has added fuel to Marchand’s resurgent 13-10–23 start in 18 games as the Cats’ leading scorer.
Understandably, relying on that trio for more offensive responsibility has come at the expense of defense. After they allowed only 1.14 goals against per 60 minutes in last year’s playoffs, that figure has spiked to 3.07 so far in the regular season. Their 47.8% share of expected goals is the worst among the Panthers’ five lines to play at least 50 minutes together this season, per MoneyPuck.
Regardless, Luostarinen’s absence will force even more line-shuffling from Maurice and even less support for struggling veterans like Sam Bennett, who’s been limited to four goals and seven points in 19 games and has a team-worst -7 rating. As for who replaces him in top-line duties with Lundell and Marchand, it’ll be 2021 first-rounder Mackie Samoskevich getting the first crack, according to Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. Considering he’s put up similar point production (a 2-7–9 scoring line in 19 games) to Luostarinen this year in less ice time, it’s a logical bet for him to be able to elevate his game.
Florida also loses a fourth-line option in Schwindt, who had played in 10 straight games after sitting as a healthy scratch for the first nine. The former Panthers draft pick returned to the organization via a preseason waiver claim after intermediate stops in the Flames and Golden Knights organizations. He first entered the lineup in place of the injured Jonah Gadjovich in late October and managed two goals on seven shots to kick off his second stint in Sunrise. His minutes were limited at 8:38 per game, but the 24-year-old was still among the Cats’ most freshly experienced options for fourth-line minutes after he made a career-high 42 appearances for Vegas last year.
His absence means more consistent deployment for Noah Gregor, who didn’t make his season debut until Oct. 28 but has now played in six of the last nine. It’ll also mean an extended runway for top prospect Jack Devine, who has 12 points through 13 games with AHL Charlotte this year and was formally elevated earlier Wednesday.
