The Florida Panthers ride into the Four Nations tournament with great momentum and ramping up their playoff style. On the back of a Stanley Cup Championship last season, an NHL-leading eight players were named to teams participating in the Four Nations Faceoff. Aleksandar Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, and Gustav Forsling were all named in the initial six players for their respective countries. Joining Barkov on Team Finland are Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, and Niko Mikkola. Team Canada selected Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett once the full rosters were announced. The Panthers also have a number of staff going as well including GM Bill Zito, Head Equipment Manager Teddy Richards, and Assistant Coach Tuomo Ruutu just to name a few. With the tournament days away, here’s how each player’s season has gone so far.
Aleksandar Barkov:
The Florida Captain is having another excellent season and was named the Team Finland Captain for the first time ever. Through 47 games, Barkov has 14 goals and 38 assists while averaging 18:20 TOI. Of those goals, six have been power-play goals, one short-handed, and two game-winning goals, while his shooting percentage is up nearly 2% from where it’s been in the last two seasons; he’s shooting at 13.2% instead of 11.9% & 11.1% respectively. Of his 38 assists, 14 have been power-play assists and three short-handed ones, and he’s currently on pace to have a top 3 season in power-play assists of his career while the three short-handed assists are a career-high. With the top line currently set at Veraheghe-Barkov-Reinhart, they’ve spent the last six games tearing through opponents with nine goals and 28 points between the three players. Defensively, Barkov has blocked 44 shots and thrown 55 hits and in the faceoff circle, he’s having a career year so far. Currently, Sasha is 59.4 FO%, up from the 57.3% he ended last regular season, but at one point, he was well into the 60% range. Despite missing time early in the season due to injury, Sasha is still having an incredible year, and his playmaking abilities will serve Team Finland well. Projected lines have Barkov paired with Teuvo Teravainen on the left and Patrik Laine on the right, but we’ll see how things shake out at Monday’s practice. Barkov does it all for the Panthers, setting the standard for the rest of the team. His work ethic and leadership mean that no one takes a day off. Whether it’s 5v5, power-play, or penalty-kill, Barkov will be on the ice making an impact for the Panthers.
Matthew Tkachuk:
The emotional leader for the Cats and named an Alternate Captain for Team USA, Matthew Tkachuk is going to cause havoc for opponents. A slower start to the season doesn’t mean anything now as Tkachuk is on a heater at the moment. In his last six games, Matthew has put up 12 points with four multi-point nights as well as seven goals in that span. He’s hitting his stride for the season exactly when the Panthers need him to. If his scoring keeps on pace then he’s set to score more goals than last season where he had 26, he’s currently at 22. Tkachuk’s had 11 power-play goals and two game-winning goals with 12 power-play assists and averaging 18:13 TOI. His shooting percentage is currently the third highest of his career at 14.1% which is up from 9.3% last season or 12.4% the year before that. The second line for the Panthers has struggled in the first half of the year, however, Florida’s found some nice chemistry between Samoskevich-Bennett-Tkachuk, if the Cats can get everyone healthy that line can cause some real problems for opponents. Matthew’s teammates and coaches have spoken about how he’s the emotional leader on the team and is extremely in tune with what his team needs, whether it’s a big hit, a goal, or a fight. He still doesn’t take much of any of the faceoff loa,d having just five on the season and going 1 for 4. Defensively, Tkachuk has blocked 12 shots and thrown 84 hits. His teammates don’t expect him to pull his punches, as the saying goes, and Tkachuk’s spoken about how excited he is to be teammates with his brother Brady; they were just opponents Saturday night in the final game before the break. Team USA practice lines for Monday have Tkahuk playing right wing on the top line, with Jack Eichel at center and Kyle Connor on left wing. Known for his ability to get under his opponent’s skin, don’t be surprised to see Tkachuk getting into more than his fair share of scrums, fights, or drawing penalties, something he led the NHL in last season.
Gustav Forsling:
From waiver wire pick up to Stanley Cup Champion, what a story for defenseman Gustav Forsling. Florida’s no. 1 defenseman doesn’t shine on the stat sheet as other superstars do, but racking up points isn’t the type of game the Panthers ask out of Forsling. What he excels in are the things that go unnoticed or the small plays that disrupt scoring chances. If there’s a big scoring threat on the other side, Forsling will be getting that assignment. He led the NHL in +/- last season at +56 and is currently +30 for this year, second in the NHL. Forsling’s defensive IQ is extremely high, and his stick handling is arguably unmatched. Gus has the ability to read and break up plays like few on the ice as well as being able to go unnoticed until he makes a huge play. With eight goals and 13 assists on the season, he’ll never get talked about like Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar, but he’s a defensive superstar. Through 57 games, he’s blocked 64 shots and thrown 54 hits; in the two seasons prior, he’s blocked 102 & 106 shots with 111 & 69 hits, respectively. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him near those numbers this year as well. Forsling is averaging 22:54 TOI, which is the second-highest of his career, and while you won’t find him QBing a power play, he’s a stud on the PK. Often paired with Barkov and Reinhart along with Ekblad for the second PK Unit, it’s one of the strongest penalty-kill units the Panthers have, and they are usually good for 1-2 short-handed attempts as well. Forsling was a big part of the Cats being able to shut down Kucherov, Pastrnak, Zibanejad, Krieder, Trocheck, Panarin, McDavid, and Draisaitl during the playoffs last season. Per reporting from Elliotte Friedman on X, Forsling is sick for Monday’s practice and didn’t participate.
Sam Reinhart:
Someone who needs no introduction and has ripped his way through the NHL in the last year and a half, Sam Reinhart has emerged as one of the most dangerous goal scorers in the league. Reinhart leads the team in goals at 31 with 31 assists, which is third on the team behind Barkov (38) and Tkachuk (35). While around half of Sam’s goals came on the power play last season, this year, he only has 9 PP goals with 11 PP assists. Short-handed, he has five goals, which ties to how many he ended last season with, and he has three game-winning goals. He averages 20:18 TOI, which is nearly identical to last season, and is shooting at 20.8%; while that is down from the 24.5% of last season, it proves that last year wasn’t a one-year fluke. Reinhart’s fared alright in the faceoff circle despite not being a center; he’s got a 40.5 FO%, which is in the ballpark of where he was last year. He’s set to have a career year in hits; last season, he had 78, and this year, he’s at 69 through 57 games. Reinhart’s going to have, at minimum, his second-best season in blocking shots. Currently, he’s at 49 (tied for 2nd best) with his career-high at 66. Team Canada’s practice lines as reported by Chris Johnston on X, has Reinhart at left wing on the top line with McDavid at center and Marner on right wing. Sam is also getting put on to the top power-play unit with Crosby, MacKinnon, Makar, & McDavid. Reinhart’s home office is the slot, but he can score from everywhere on the ice; one of his most impressive goals was when he was below the goal line and banked a shot in off the back of the goalie. I expect teams to try and hound him the slot during PPs, but with a unit like that, there’s not a single player on the ice who can’t execute. Reinhart’s earned the payoff and respect that comes with a top 6 roll for Team Canada.
Sam Bennett:
Known for his playoff-style game, Sam Bennett can be a wrecking ball on the ice, but he’s also a great skater and a playmaker. Bennett went through a stretch of about a month where he wasn’t scoring, but he’s since ended that drought. This season he’s scored 18 goals with 17 assists through 55 games (he missed two games due to illness). Bennett’s scored 3 PP goals and has 3 PP assists with two game-winning goals while averaging 17:05 TOI the third-highest amount of his career. While the second line spent much of the first half of the season, that line has since found its game with the surprising addition of rookie Mackie Samoskevich, adding dynamic play and speed. One of the most physical players on the Panthers roster, Bennett’s thrown 119 hits and could surpass his current career-high of 173 as he’s missed less time this season. In the faceoff circle, he’s sitting at 47.2 FO%, which is the lowest of the Panther centers, but that number’s up from the 45.5% from last season. He’s one of the most penalized players on the Florida team with 62 PIMs this year, last season he had a career-high 100 in 69 games. The Cats take the good with the bad as they play a physically demanding style, which suits Bennett well. Bennett’s shooting percentage is down slightly this year at 10.1% from 11.7% but he’s at least still in his usual ballpark. Monday’s practice placed Sam on the fourth line at right wing with Anthony Cirelli at center and Brandon Hagel on left wing. With the lineup that Team Canada has, he’s not projected to have any power-play time, which is a role he fills on the second PP unit for the Panthers. In a contract year for Bennett, he’s having a great season, and the Panthers have expressed their desire to extend him.
Anton Lundell:
The young Finnish center is having a breakout season after signing an extension with the Cats over the summer. Lundell is on pace for a career year in goals and assists; currently, he has 13 goals and 23 assists; his career high is 18 goals with 26 assists from his rookie season. Anton’s had two power-play goals, four power-play assists, two short-handed goals, and one game-winning goal. When there were players out of the top six early in the year, Lundell got the opportunity to move into a bigger role on the team, and boy, did he run with it. Florida put back together the Luostarinen-Lundell-Reinhart line from a couple of years ago and they had great chemistry together, one of the best lines the Panthers had run at that point in the season. The Cats’ coaching staff expected him to take on a bigger role with the team, and he’s earned that by being a dependable all-around player. His TOI is at 16:45 this year, up from 15:22. Florida fans took to nicknaming him “Baby Barkov” on social media while it’s meant to be a big honor to compare him to Barkov, HC Paul Maurice was quick to point out that Lundell’s game does differ from Sasha’s even with the many similarities and that the Cats don’t expect him to be a carbon copy. Anton’s shooting at his second-highest percentage at 11.4 up from the 7.8 he was at a year prior; his career high is 14.4% in his rookie season. Lundell’s having a career year defensively with a career-high 89 hits and 42 blocked shots, second only to the 56 in his rookie year, so he’s likely to set a new career high there as well. One of Florida’s best penalty killers he’s usually paired with Eetu Luostarinen on the PK and they’ve been impactful even when their unit does the heavy lifting; he’s currently projected for PK time on the second unit with Joel Armia, Juuso Valimaki and Olli Maatta. Lundell’s stepped up in a big way for Florida this season and continues to get better year over year.
Niko Mikkola:
The big defenseman is having a career year offensively while keeping his strong shutdown game at the forefront. With no Brandon Montour in the lineup, Mikkola has stepped up to be more of a factor in the offense. On the year, he’s had 4 goals and 13 assists, tying his career-high of 17 points from last year and over 20 games play. With 20:06 TOI he’s thrown 88 hits and blocked 74 shots. In a full 82 games last season, Mikkola had 198 hits and 124 blocked shots, so it’s likely that he’ll be close to those numbers again this season. Like Forsling, the strengths of his game don’t usually show up on the stat sheet, but he’s been great at covering zone entries this year and battling along the boards. On a Finland team that’s had its defense rattled with injuries, it’s unclear where in the defensive pairings he’ll end up. Line projections do have him slated for PK Unit 1 time with teammate Aleksandar Barkov in addition to Teuvo Teravainen and Esa Lindell. He’s plenty capable of handling a bigger role on the team and he’s been a steady defensive presence for the Cats all season long.
Eetu Luostarinen:
An unsung defensive forward for the Panthers, Eetu is one of their best defensive players on the offense. For the season, he’s scored seven goals with 12 assists and averaging 15:19 TOI. While that TOI is down a small bit from the last two seasons, some of that is due to all the line changes that Florida’s ran throughout the year and the team not being able to just roll four lines like they can when the whole team is on. Luostarinen did get some time up on the second line with Bennet and Tkachuk while there was a bit of experimenting with pairings when the offense was stagnant. Eetu doesn’t see any power play time, but he does log plenty of minutes on the PK, where he has one short-handed goal and a short-handed assist. Two of his goals this year were game-winning ones, and he’s been good in the trenches along the boards. This year, he’s also shooting at his second-highest rate at 11.5%, up from the 10.1% he was at last season. Luostarinen is on pace for a career year defensively, as he has 42 blocked shots and 120 hits; he set career highs in both stats last season at 56 blocked shots and 129 hits. He’s not a big faceoff guy for the Panthers but he does alright when needed, he’s at 42.6% down from his career-high 53.6% but that 42% is well within his normal average given that he takes less than 200 faceoffs at the moment. With so many injuries to Team Finland, Monday’s practice only featured 11 players, but line projections currently have him set for a fourth-line left wing role with Lundell as his center and Joel Armia on the right wing.
ITR 25: Break Time – Inside The Rink
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