The Florida Panthers are coming off their third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers now look for a third straight Cup victory, and being the first team since the early 1980s to go to the Final four years in a row. Injuries have already begun to pile up for the Panthers, which has led to some major camp battles in 2025.
The injuries started with Matthew Tkachuk. Tkachuk missed 30 games in the 2024-25 regular season due to a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia that was sustained at the 4 Nations Face-Off. This injury required surgery over the summer. Now the star forward is expected to be out until December at the earliest. This takes away one of the top line forwards for the team, resulting in a ripple effect further down the lineup.
In training camp, the injury bug struck once again. This time, it was to the captain, Aleksander Barkov, as he tore his ACL and needed surgery. This could lead to the center being out for the year. This created another ripple effect further down the roster. Sam Bennett, the second-line center, is expected to join Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart on the top line now. It also moves Anton Lundell up to the second line. Still, with the loss of Nico Sturm in the offseason, it leaves the question as to who the other two centers will be.
Who will be the bottom-6 centers?
With Lundell and Bennett now taking the top two lines due to the injury to Barkov, there is the question of who will take the bottom two line center spots, making it one of the more intriguing battles in camp. Players such as Reinhart, Verhaeghe, and Brad Marchand have all played some center in the past, but are likely to take spots on the wings on the top two lines.
This leaves the most realistic option being Evan Rodrigues as the third-line center. Rodrigues has played center in his career, including taking 282 faceoffs in 2024-25. Still, he had just a 45 percent win rate last season. Only twice in his NHL career has the Canadian forward primarily played center, and both of those were early in his career with the Buffalo Sabres. Further, he has just one full season where his faceoff percentage reached 50 percent, which was when he went 29 for 58 in 2023-24 with the Panthers.
If the Panthers choose to keep Rodrigues on the wing to open the season, assuming he returns from an undisclosed injury, another option is Tomas Nosek. He was fourth on the team in faceoff wins in 2024-25, playing in just 59 games. The center sustained a significant knee injury and is now also expected to miss several months.
This leaves the Panthers in a bind for the bottom two centers. Jesper Boqvist is another option, and was expected to be a bottom-six forward. He may now get to move into the third-line center spot. The Swede played primarily on the fourth line last year. He had a career high of 12 goals while adding 11 assists last season. Meanwhile, Tyler Motte could make the roster. He is currently on a PTO with the Panthers, but does not have a contract. He also has not been productive in recent seasons. Motte has not scored over 10 points since the 2021-22 campaign with the Vancouver Canucks.
Regardless of who gets the bottom two center spots, it will be a new combination of players leading those two lines.
Can Jack Devine make the roster?
With the movement at the center position, plus injuries to Barkov, Tkachuk, and Nosek, there could be some surprises on the roster when opening night comes. Assuming Boqvist or Rodrigues takes the third line center spot, with the other playing the wing on that line, this still leaves the fourth line center spot open. Players such as Motte, Luke Kunin, and AJ Greer could fight for that position, but they will also be fighting for roster spots in general.
With openings on the bottom two lines, Jack Devine could make an impact on the roster. Devine is not a center and would likely play the right wing if he makes the roster. Still, depending on who takes the center spots, there could be an opening on the wing on the fourth line. He was a seventh-round pick of the Panthers in the 2022 NHL Draft. After four years at the University of Denver, he joined the professional ranks in 2024-25. His time at Denver was highly successful, scoring 56 or more points in each of his last two seasons.
Further, Devine had two assists in three regular-season games with the Charlotte Checkers. Then, in seven playoff games, he put up two goals and three assists. Devine does not yet have a point this preseason, but has played well. He could make the roster as a former seventh-round pick and make an impact this year with injuries opening up space for him. Regardless, him making the roster could come down to the biggest battle in camp, and that is who will play center on the bottom two lines.
