Florida Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Dale Tallon announced today that the Panthers have loaned forwards Anthony Greco, Owen Tippett and Dominic Toninato and defenseman Riley Stillman to the franchise’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.
The biggest surprise among the final players cut was Owen Tippett, who scored three times during the preseason and appeared to have won himself a roster spot.
Greco had been previously sent down, but was recalled to play in the preseason finale for Frank Vatrano.
Waivers probably played a big part in the decision, as did experience, as Tippett, Stillman and Toninato were not subject to the process while other bubble players like Denis Malgin, Jayce Hawryluk, Dryden Hunt and Josh Brown were.
While some fans are sure to be upset by the decision there is nothing wrong with Tippett and Stillman getting more pro experience in the AHL. We will see them soon.
This is Florida’s initial 22-man roster to start the 2019-20 season:
Goaltenders: Sergei Bobrovsky, Sam Montembeault
Defensemen: Mike Matheson, Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle, Anton Stralman, MacKenzie Weegar, Mark Pysyk, Josh Brown
Forwards: Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Evgenii Dadonov, Vincent Trocheck, Brett Connolly, Frank Vatrano, Denis Malgin, Mike Hoffman, Henrik Borgstrom, Noel Acciari, Colton Scevior, Jayce Hawryluk, Dryden Hunt