The Florida Panthers have recalled goaltender Chris Driedger from the minor leagues. He’ll fill the Panthers’ backup goalie position after the squad dealt Spencer Knight to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
To clear cap area for the transfer, Florida has positioned star Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body harm, per PuckPedia. Tkachuk suffered his harm within the second sport of Staff USA’s 4-Nations Face-Off event. It’s believed to be a groin harm, although specifics haven’t been revealed.
Tkachuk sat out of Staff USA’s ultimate spherical robin sport then made an effort to seem within the championship sport in opposition to Staff Canada, however solely performed 6:47 of the extra time loss. He has missed 4 video games since Florida returned from break. He was getting second opinions on his harm as current as final week, however will now have to miss as much as a month – per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.
Florida has received three of its 4 video games again from break – however Tkachuk’s absence nonetheless leaves a evident gap on the highest line. He has continued to dominate throughout the board for the Panthers, with 22 objectives, 57 factors, 54 penalty minutes, and 84 hits in 54 video games. He ranks second on the group in objectives and factors, behind Sam Reinhart in each classes.
The Panthers have promoted Mackie Samoskevich and Evan Rodrigues to hardier roles in Tkachuk’s absence.
Rookie winger Samoskevich has discovered his stride as of late, with seven factors in his final 11 video games. That burst has introduced him to 19 factors in 52 video games this season – a quantity that might soar with expanded minutes. Rodrigues had continued his constant two-way influence on the opposite facet, with 27 factors in 61 video games placing him on tempo to only miss the 39 level mark he’s posted in every of the final two seasons. The promotions proceed by means of the offense and into the online.
Driedger signed a one 12 months take care of Florida this summer time and has spent the whole 12 months within the minor leagues. He narrowly leads the Charlotte Checkers with 20 video games performed, another than fellow professional veteran Ken Appleby. Driedger has posted the worser stat line of the 2, with a .878 save share and 10-6-4 document. Regardless of that, it was laborious to think about Florida would flip in direction of anybody else to fill their backup spot. Driedger has 67 video games of NHL expertise, with the majority coming between 2020 and 2022 in tenures with Florida and Seattle. He has a stout .917 Sv% and 31-24-5 document on his profession. Florida will hope he can rediscover these numbers shortly after a down 12 months within the minor leagues.
