The Panthers welcomed back a key player back to the lineup for today’s game against New Jersey as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated center Anton Lundell off IR. The rookie had missed close to a month with a lower-body injury but still sits sixth in rookie scoring with 38 points in 52 games. More importantly to Florida, Lundell will be a big boost to their penalty kill as he leads all of their forwards in shorthanded ice time per game which is an area that the Panthers will be looking to shore up down the stretch. Having their top forward in that regard back should only help their cause.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- At this point, it does not appear as if the Canadiens will be signing college prospect Brett Stapley, reports Mathias Brunet of La Presse. The 23-year-old center will be wrapping up his college career next week with Denver and has picked up 41 points in 39 games for the Pioneers this season, putting him in the top 20 of NCAA Division I scoring. If Montreal doesn’t sign the 2018 seventh-rounder, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on August 16th.
- While Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren has impressed in his first season in North America, there appears to be some hesitance in bringing him up for the stretch run. As Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press points out, Detroit’s farm team in Grand Rapids is still battling for a playoff spot in the minors and it appears the organization may be prioritizing that as being more valuable than a handful of NHL games to finish off this season. The 21-year-old sits second on the Griffins in scoring with 44 points in 57 games.