It would appear that the final roster for the 2015-2016 season is set, as Lawson Crouse has been sent back to the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. Crouse appeared in three preseason games, and picked up one point. He looked pretty poor by possession metrics, and could likely use a year or two in juniors to improve his game.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Panthers preseason. <a href=”http://t.co/TCpYLB59CZ”>pic.twitter.com/TCpYLB59CZ</a></p>— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) <a href=”https://twitter.com/IneffectiveMath/status/650807250286587904″>October 4, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
(Note Crouse’s location in the bottom left, or “Bad” portion of the graph. He didn’t look good in preseason).
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Had an amazing time with <a href=”https://twitter.com/FlaPanthers”>@FlaPanthers</a> Excited to get things going with the <a href=”https://twitter.com/KingstonFronts”>@KingstonFronts</a> again.</p>— Lawson Crouse (@LawCrouse) <a href=”https://twitter.com/LawCrouse/status/651093792532090880″>October 5, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”><a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlaPanthers?src=hash”>#FlaPanthers</a> waive D Dylan Olsen and F Garrett Wilson. If unclaimed <a href=”https://twitter.com/PortlandPirates”>@portlandpirates</a> for them. Roster at 25. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHL?src=hash”>#NHL</a></p>— Todd Little (@toddlittle827) <a href=”https://twitter.com/toddlittle827/status/651069006510735360″>October 5, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Seeing as the team waived Dylan Olsen and Garrett Wilson earlier today, the roster was at 25 players, with Rocco Grimaldi likely to go on injured reserve. If the team’s first round draft pick is headed back to the OHL, and Grimaldi is going on IR, that leaves the roster at 23 people, the maximum to start the season with.
This 23 man roster includes Martin Havlat, who hasn’t yet signed with the team and is still on a PTO. It will be interesting to see whether or not the 34-year-old veteran ends up in South Florida.