Florida Panthers Announce Opening Night Roster
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SUNRISE (CBSMiami) – The NHL season kicks off on Wednesday night with eight teams beginning their latest campaign to win the Stanley Cup.
The Florida Panthers' season gets started on Saturday when they host the Philadelphia Flyers at the BB&T Center.
All NHL teams were required to submit their opening night rosters to the league by Tuesday afternoon.
The Panthers, who are expected to compete for a playoff spot, have a roster that is full of guys under the age of 25.
Those players are the future of the franchise, but as general manager Dale Tallon will tell you, the future is now.
Here is the Panthers opening night roster.
Forwards: Aleksander Barkov, Nick Bjugstad, Dave Bolland, Connor Brickley, Quinton Howden, Jonathan Huberdeau, Jaromir Jagr, Jussi Jokinen, Derek MacKenzie, Brandon Pirri, Reilly Smith, Shawn Thornton, Vincent Trocheck.
Defensemen: Brian Campbell, Aaron Ekblad, Erik Gudbranson, Steven Kampfer, Dmitry Kulikov, Willie Mitchell, Dylan Olsen, Alex Petrovic.
Goalies: Roberto Luongo, Al Montoya.
Injured: Rocco Grimaldi.
The Panthers did waive defenseman Dylan Olsen but instead of assigning him to the AHL's Portland Pirates, he will stick around with the team and work on his conditioning as an eighth d-man. Once Rocco Grimaldi comes back from his ankle injury, it will likely be Olsen's spot that is given to him.
Grimaldi has been seen around the practice arena without a walking boot so the ankle sprain didn't appear to be serious. He was finally allowed to resume skating on Tuesday.
The Panthers will face the Philadelphia Flyers in their season opener at the BB&T Center on Saturday, October 10th at 7 p.m. You can hear every game on Sports Radio 560 WQAM, the radio home of the Florida Panthers.
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