The Panthers just got GREAT news...

The Panthers just got some great news, ladies and gentlemen about Brad Marchand and Alexander Barkov coming right from the head coach's mouth, Paul Maurice has made an announcement regarding the two of them I know literally probably about four or five days ago it was said that Marchand is going to be coming back in early December, sometime between the 4th and the 6th. And we should see Alexander Barkov about a week earlier. That has changed. It's great news. I'll tell you all that on this episode of Panthers Digest. And I'm going to tell you a little bit about what is happening in tonight's game. Who's going to be starting in net? What are the lines looking like? Where the hell is Jack Devine? I thought he was playing the last game, but he didn't. We're going to have all those updates in just a moment, along with some other little tidbits to get to. Thank you guys for joining me. I'm Greg Andrews. Comment, like, share, subscribe, hype up the video. I appreciate all you guys tuning in. Take two seconds if you haven't subscribed and you watch these videos down below. Doesn't take a lot of effort. Hit the button and yeah, appreciate your support. So what exactly is going on right now? Head coach Paul Maurice went on the record and has changed the return dates for Brad Marchand and Alexander Barkov. This is what we're looking at right now. They were actually at skate around this morning. That is great news in Columbus, post-skate. And by the way, they say they looked comfortable. They're looking better. Both of them are saying their knees are feeling pretty solid right now. Obviously, Barkov was the one who looked worse for wear when he went down in terms of throwing his gloves, and it looks like it was devastating. Brad Marchand, in terms of the actual knee, looked worse than it really was. Marchand was going to be getting back on the ice later than Barkov, but that has shifted. This is what Paul Maurice had to say. He thinks that they're getting Barkov and Marchand back in about two weeks. That's putting us literally at November 24th. Maybe a few days later, maybe a few days earlier, who knows? But this is tremendous news. I, however, am a little bit... I'm anxious about hearing this because I don't think the Florida Panthers should do anything about rushing this. I know somebody that has been commenting on my videos has said that they're a physical therapist. Listen, I study physical therapy too. I'm not going to say anything about it. I'm going to let the doctors make that decision. All the professionals that are working with the Florida Panthers organization, I mean, yes, you can give your opinion. I appreciate it. I do agree with the person that has been writing, being overly cautious with Marchand, especially Marchand over Barkov, but Barkov as well, if it was the same knee he hurt last year, but it's not. But I still think erring on the side of caution and being like, you know what, I'd rather have him take a little bit longer to be back than rush it. Okay, but if they're saying they're feeling great, if the doctors are like, listen, the strength is there, The stability is there. Everything that all of the doctors have said, listen, if we can get these things checkmarked off, we're good to go. They can get back on the ice. So be it. And if that's the case, hey, put them back on the ice. But, but, I don't know if they should be back in two weeks means this, back on the roster to play in a game. Or back on the ice, doing full practices with the rest of the team, taking checks, getting hit, moving the puck around like they normally do. So I will take what Paul Maurice had to say with a little bit of cautiousness and not say that they're going to be back in their first game in two weeks. I would say we'll probably see them in full practices, not just skating around. Let's hope in a week's time. If we're seeing that, then I'm thinking. They're going to be back on the 24th, ready to play. But if not, I would say, let's take our time with this. Tell me what you guys think down below. In terms of what we will be getting back, this is pretty much it. And I wanted to show you guys just some of the numbers. So this is Alexander Barkov. Obviously not last season, but the prior, when we won our second Stanley Cup. Great numbers. Didn't even play a full season. 67 games, 71 points. Unreal numbers. Look at the face-off win percentage, almost 57%. This is just the regular season. Now take a look at the playoffs. Numbers not overly impressive, but hey, still impressive nonetheless. 22 points, 58% win percentage in the face-off circle. I said this morning, we have been horrendous in the face-off circle against the better teams. Here is the reason why that number jumps way up. He is unreal. As a guy who can win in the face-off circle, set up his teammates, the best two-way player in the game. I've said it time and time again. Cannot wait to get this man back. He is going to put some extra energy into this lineup, and he's going to just reinvigorate everybody. I know that's what's going to happen. And his... His personality, just his physical presence on the ice is a boost to this team, period. Same thing goes with Brad Marchand. This is Brad Marchand last year in the regular season. Obviously not stifling numbers. I don't know why it's not popping up, but great. Okay, well, whatever. I'll show you his numbers in the playoffs, at least. Here you go, guys. Oh, there's the regular season numbers. I don't know why the last one didn't pop up correctly, but there you go. 54 points in barely any games. Amazing numbers. This guy we need. I think everybody can agree. So that was his last season, regular season numbers. I don't know why the other one wasn't popping up. So my apologies on that. But we all know what he did in the playoffs. He was great there as well. I believe it was 10 and 10 in the playoff, 10 goals and 10 assists. I believe that's what it was. But he is a difference maker as well. Playmaker, we all know that. We know what he's capable of doing. Don't look for him to be, I mean, I was shocked the first game he had this season. He looked great. Especially after having the off-season surgery on his groin and everything. He looked awesome. That first game, I was like, I don't know. We'll see how it is. But he said he was tired. He said he'd get his legs underneath him and everything. That second game played so much better. I mean, he's just an awesome player, great playmaker, really gets under the skin of the opponents and knows what he's doing, man. I cannot wait to see him, Luster Enan, and Lindell back on the same line. It's just going to be a breath of fresh air for these guys to be back. And I know every single one of you guys is going to agree with me when you say these two guys are so critical to this team, just the comfortability on the ice to get everything to be fluid. Go back to what they do. They are so critical in terms of those two key pieces that make it happen. And I just cannot wait to see what's going to go down once they do return. So let me know what you think, guys. How excited are you about Brad Marchand and Alexander Barkov getting back in what they think is two weeks, according to Paul Maurice? Do you think they should take a little more time? Or are you just going to trust the process and say, hey, if they're thinking they're going to be back, then they're going to be back. Who cares? Let's not question it. Let's not say what ifs, ands, and buts or anything. Take it as it is. They're going to be back in two weeks. Anyways, let's keep rocking and rolling here, guys. Moving forward to the next thing. Markstrom in net. Don't have any word on Vilminus in terms of what is going on. We'll know on Thursday when they're back down here. But he did not skate. So that's not good news. Like I said, probably one of these concussion things. He did hit his head in the wall. So, yeah, into the boards. Excuse me. But, yeah, looking good. He could be probably missing another week or two being on concussion protocol. Let's hope not. Let's hope not, but we'll see how things fare tonight with, here you go, the lines, Jack Devine being on the third line with Luostrin and Lundell. You know, it's going to be interesting to see how that line fares. I'm a little hesitant because it just feels like with Vilmanis is not on the Verhaage Reinhardt line. They've had a setback a little bit. Eller is not a terrible player. He's a little older, but I think he's still got tons of gas in the tank. He's been trying to make some plays. I think he'll improve tonight. We'll see something happen there. But I'm really, I'm going to say excited, but a little apprehensive about Devine because when we saw him last season, it's just like he just didn't, he didn't show up the same way that Vilmanis did. I mean, the effort was there, but it was not anywhere near what Vilmanis was doing last year. Devine always seems to be a little bit overly cautious, not willing to put so much out there. If we see him attack a little bit more, be aggressive with the puck, try to set up Lundell, Luostrin, I would say, okay, I feel a little bit better about Devine being on here and taking Vilmanis' spot for the time being. But if we don't see much in tonight's game against a team that's got some talented players, if we don't see much from him making any sort of an impact on that third line, I'm going to say we're in a little bit of trouble. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. I still think this team is in good shape going up against the Columbus Blue Jackets team that has been playing well at home. But I think the Cats have the edge. They just need to get their head out of their you-know-whats after the last two games. Not playing up to par. Not playing Panthers hockey. Turning the puck over in the most inopportune places and most inopportune times. Just terrible. They've got to stick with their game. They've got to be smarter with the puck. They've got to set each other up. They've got to move. They cannot try to do lackadaisical passing, especially in the defensive zone or in neutral ice, moving into their half. But that's it, guys. Comment, let me know what you think about Barkov, Marchand, the lines, Vilmanis, all this stuff, who you got tonight. That's it, guys. Go Cats.