The Florida Panthers made its final round of personnel moves on Monday to get under this year’s $82.5 million salary cap and set its initial roster for the 2022-23 NHL season.
Goaltender Alex Lyon; defensemen Michael Del Zotto and Lucas Carlsson; and forwards Chris Tierney, Gerry Mayhew and Aleksi Heponiemi all cleared waivers at 2 p.m. and were loaned to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League.
The Panthers claimed 24-year-old defenseman Josh Mahura from the Anaheim Ducks. Mahura appeared in 38 games with the Ducks during the 2021-22 season and produced three goals and four assists. A third round pick (85th overall) in 2016, Mahura has 79 games of NHL and 112 games of AHL experience under his belt. He will slot into the Cats lean roster and be on the ice in Thursday’s season-opener against the New York Islanders.
To get under the cap, the Cats placed Anthony Duclair on LTIR and forwards Zac Dalpe and Justin Sourdif and defenseman Matt Kiersted on season-opening injury reserve, leaving the club with just 20 active players and very little wiggle room financially. Florida was unable to sign Eric Staal to a contract.
The roster on Thursday in Elmont, NY will be as follows:
Forwards (12): Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Anton Lundell, Rudolfs Balcers, Sam Bennett, Eetu Luostarinen, Ryan Lomberg, Colin White, Nick Cousins, Patric Hornqvist
Defensemen (6): Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Brandon Montour, Radko Gudas, Marc Staal, Josh Mahura
Goaltenders (2): Sergei Bobrovsky, Spencer Knight
After opening the season with a pair of games between the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks in Prague, Czechia, regular season action on North American soil begins with tonight’s ESPN/ESPN+ double-header that sees the New York Rangers host the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7:30 p.m. and the Vegas Golden Knight visit the Los Angeles Kings in the late game at 10 p.m.