Multiple SURPRISING Panthers updates... This is HUGE

After placing multiple players on waivers the other day, the Panthers have some surprising news. It's huge for the team and head coach Paul Marys has new motivation this year for his team to get back to the playoffs and hopefully have a trip all the way to the finals and raise Lord Stanley's Cup. Guys, this is Panthers Digest. I'm your host Greg Andrews. Comment, like, share, subscribe, hype up the video. I appreciate every single one of you guys tuning in, supporting me, supporting the channel, and supporting the Florida Panthers. So yeah, we're going to talk about, well, what has happened with all these guys on waivers? What is Paul Marys using his motivation? What does he have to say about it? What does Matthew Kuchuk have to say about it this year? We're going to cover all that on a very quick episode before today's game. Now it says 5 p.m., but I believe puck drop is 5 30 ESPN, not on whatever the new channel is. I think it's called Spot down here. In Miami-Dade. I think in Brevard it is still Scripps Sports. But yeah, I hope you guys can find the game. It should be on ESPN for those of you who do get it. So yeah, it's going to be a great one. What a season opener for the third time the Florida Panthers are the opening game of the season in the past three years, I believe. Yeah. So anyways, let's get into this, guys. Here we go. So this is what's going on. What is going on with all these guys that were placed on waivers? More importantly, what happened to Cole Reinhart? Well, every single one of these players have cleared waivers and are assigned to the Charlotte Checkers. The one I've already updated you guys on is Nathan Bastion. He has actually signed a two way deal with the Cats. So that's great news for them. So they're going to have a very solid team for the Charlotte Checkers heading down with Alexander Petrovic, Donovan Sobrango, Cole Reinhart, Cole Schwent, Kai Schwent, John Beecher, Sam Lafferty, and Nathan Bastion. A healthy group of individuals that have NHL experience. And I'm pretty happy about this. We've got a decent set of guys that can be called up at any moment for whatever the reason might be. So everybody breathe a sigh of relief. No one claimed Cole Reinhart off of waivers. This was strategically done, though, for those of us who really want to look at this in the grander scheme of things. Paul Maurice was genius to be playing his opening night roster guys in the first two games, and then the last two games of preseason. Have your AHL guys, even though there are no spots really available except for one, the very few spots that were there, literally, actually two. Belinskis already had one for the seventh defenseman, and then filling the hole in that fourth line that was won by Imama. The move was genius by Zito and Paul Maurice because all of the teams that ended up saying, you know what, we're going to take the first two games, see what our guys in the AHL and prospects Other guys that were just vying for roster spots, let's see how they play, and then the last two games of the season we'll use as tune-ups for our opening day roster spots. For all those guys that will be on the roster, let's see how they will fare in the last two games of the season to kind of get their legs out there and get the blood flowing and get them playing together again. Paul Maurice did the opposite, and it was genius because a lot of the guys that were placed on waivers, some of them were getting snagged up here and there after those first two games of the preseason, and I believe Paul Maurice was like, you know, we're going to wait until the very end because I think all the guys that are going to be claimed off of waivers are going to be filling up roster spots on teams, and they're not going to be looking at us for guys because they're not going to have any spots to actually go after guys on waivers. Now, don't quote me on that, but I'm just saying I feel like that's exactly how this played out, and he knew, hey, we can get all these guys to go down, clear waivers, they'll be on the checkers, and if we need them, we got them. If Yamama for some reason doesn't really work out the way that Paul Maurice is hoping he does, the guy's super strong. Even Alexander Barkov has come out and said that, man, you know, in the weight room, he's in there, and he is super strong. He's like, he's the strongest guy I've ever seen, so he says that he has felt, he feels safer knowing that there's a guy like that on the team. That's huge, but what if they're like, you know, we need a little more boost offensively on that fourth line, you can call up Reinhardt. If something happens defensively, we've got guys that can be called up. Petrovic, Sobrango, I like it. So, everybody breathe a sigh of relief. So, let's keep rolling on here. This is Barkov on the season over. He's very excited, just talking about moving forward again to tonight's game. That's what I'm trying to look at right now. He's very excited to be able to play two games before that. Got to get into his rhythm. Very excited to play a meaningful game. He's been waiting for this for a long time. The funny part is he did say he did have to relearn how to pack a suitcase since he had been stuck in Florida the whole year rehabbing the knee. Love it. I'm glad he's excited. You can see he's eager to get out there. I mean, he just was awesome this summer in Worlds. He was great this preseason. That top line is going to be something to just behold. They're going to be so incredible to watch. The puck movement, the shooting by everybody on that line is going to be just outrageous. The talent level on there is just incredible. I'm not going to say they're the best top line in the league, but I'm going to say they're probably one of the ones that's going to be, hey, you got a bruiser in Brady Kachuk. He's a big man that can skate. He could shoot. He proved it this preseason. He's ready to rock and roll. I think they're going to be one of the more formidable lines. Am I saying, are they the best one in the league? No, not for the top line. There are other teams that have better top lines, but in terms of cohesion, what they're looking for, passing, physical style of play, defensive minded work, they are the team. If you could give a Silky trophy that actually was about the line and not the player, this could be the line because you got three times Silky award winner Barkov runner up a couple of years ago, Reinhardt. And then you've got Brady Kachuk, who's a very solid defensive forward as well. And I think it's just going to get better being on that line. So awesome. Next, let's keep on rocking and rolling here. Here we go. Barkov on Boko. This is what I was just saying to you. He says he's really fast. He's a really good, good guy to have on your team. He's funny guy too. He works really hard. He's always at the gym, like strongest guy I've seen. It's good to have that type of guy on your team. It brings you that kind of safe feeling. I love it. I love this move. I get why they kept him on the opening day roster over Cole Reinhardt. I get it. That says it all. It really does. Like I said, I'm gonna try to get through this as quickly as we can because game is on and I actually have other things to do today. There's a lot going on. Matthew Kachuk on the team's mindset heading into this season now. And I like that he's not looking past just making the playoffs. I think teams that get a little bit overzealous and are saying, oh no, we're going to get to the Stanley Cup finals and we're going to win it. Anything can happen in the NHL. When we were going and battling against the Boston Bruins who had set a regular season record for points, we were heavy underdogs. We came out, we ended up taking the series, knocking them out. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. So I like his mindset saying make the playoffs. You can't look too far ahead. You have to have a good start. We've just talked about that you worry about just making the playoffs and that's your only goal. That's what we build our game for each year. And I think he's actually said this exact thing a few years ago. So I like that their mindset is just let's get to the playoffs. Let's get enough points to get there and just get in and then we'll see what happens when we get there. And we already know they're going to pick up so much more energy and steam once they do get into the playoffs. Especially if they're really healthy. If every single person on this team is healthy by the time they get to the playoffs, the rest of the NHL better look out. And this, this, I love seeing this. These are the lines finally. These, the opening day roster right there. This is who's going to be on the bench at game time. Or should I say on the ice. I'm not going to even read this to you because I've already gone through this. I love the way the lineup is. The question's going to be when Marchand comes back, where will Vilmanis go? Will he be sent down? Will he go to the fourth line? I have a feeling it's going to be Vilmanis to the fourth line. And obviously Marchand on the third. If Vilmanis is having a really good season, he deserves to stay there. If a mama, I mean, who knows? Maybe a mama has a phenomenal season. They say, no, you've got the chemistry with Eller and Hathaway. We're going to keep you there. Vilmanis, we're going to put you back at the AHL. Charlotte Checkers for now. But what if they're both in a push? What if Vilmanis has better stat lines, but a mama's doing more physical play, better defensive numbers. Crazy thing to see. So anyways, let's talk about tonight. Here we go. After a long summer, the Panthers open new NHL season tonight against the Hurricanes. Here's what Matthew Kachuck has to say about that. It's been a long off season. We're happy to start the year, happy to be the first game of the NHL season. We've been there. I've been the first game of the season, the last three years, but we're on the other side of the celebration this time. Paul Maurice is using that as motivation and a lot of other things as motivation. I think this team is more hungry than they've ever been. I think this is the year that everyone should be super excited about this team. Not just because the roster is so unbelievably talented and so unbelievably deep and stop worrying about our five guys. They're going to be in front of our goaltenders all season long. If it's first line with the first defensive pairing or the fourth line with the third defensive pairing, it doesn't matter that every player on this team is so talented. They're going to be just, the goaltenders are going to be fine. Don't expect nine, 20 safe percentages, night in and night out. Like I've said, all we got to do is get the W and there is a big difference between a goaltender only having to face 15 shots, which means your defense is incredible in front of you, and maybe letting two goals go by, then giving up 40 shots and two or three goals. The safe percentage is different. Don't let it affect everybody's mindset about, is that mean he's a good goaltender? Does it mean he's a bad goaltender? I say, I think it says more about the defense in front than it is about the goaltender. Goals against average, that's a little different. But anyways, here's Paul Maurice on the motivation. That's been really good for us. Not saying that's always been by design, but after the first championship, we had a number of players hit a home run. Sorry, he's talking about players that have left. He's talking about turnover. I'm sorry. That's the other quote that I have here is talking about motivation. So he's talking about the turnover. It's inevitable. It's going to happen. We all know that you can't keep the same 20 players under contract for the same period of time. It happens every year. So he says it's been really good for us. Not saying it's always by design, but after the first championship, we had a number of players hit a home run. They got the contracts, and they left us, and we left cheering for them on the way out the door. Well, guess what? You brought back Gutis. You brought in Brady Kachuk, who's a new face on the team. You got Markstrom. You got Schmid that are there. You got Hathaway. You got Eller. You've got Boko Emama. And then everybody else are the same faces that we've already seen for years, and that's the genius behind what Bill Zito has done. And we're going to have 14 players by the season. 14 players. And that's the whole idea about building a, I'm not going to use the word, but you guys know what I'm going at. Building the camaraderie, the chemistry, having a lot of guys signed under contract for the same period of time is critical if you want to build that kind of roster that's going to be winning for a long period of time. You guys know what I'm trying to say. I'm not going to ruin it. And here's Paul Maurice on motivation. We wish they could have stayed. He's talking about the guys still, and he talks about motivation. He says, we wish they could have stayed, but we understand they're trying to be a good thing for us because it happened each year. Seven or eight guys go out. You get some new guys that come in. Ratko comes in as a new guy. That's a little bit different. Brady comes in as a new guy, but he knows another guy. So it's a little bit different, but we felt like we had to have some turnover. You can't just sit with the same group. You need to bring in some really hungry people. What does this mean? Well, he's using the new faces as motivation to say, all right, a lot of these guys have already won two championships with the Florida Panthers. Now we've got new faces. Let's win it for them. Let's also use the fact that we sat in our couches this summer, watching the finals, watching the playoffs in the spring. Let's use that as motivation. Let's use the injury plague season we had last year as motivation to get out there. He's ready to go. The cats are ready to go. Tonight is a massive game. The Carolina Hurricanes better look out. It's going to be physical. It's going to be a battle. I think the cats are going to take it out there. I think they're going to win this one. I'm not going to give you a score. I think they're going to win this one. I think they're going to spoil the celebration because they know they've had Carolina's number over the last several seasons, last year excluded. But the three seasons, four seasons before that, it has been all Panthers in the playoffs whenever they've met. And they've gotten better. Their roster's better. I know people are like, well, the Carolina Panthers, sorry, the Carolina Hurricanes team is so deep. The Panthers are deep as well. I think the Panthers are more talented, to be honest with you. The only difference is the goaltending, I think, is a little bit more in favor of Carolina. But I think we're a better defensive team. Now that Barkley's healthy, now that we got our fourth line that's going to go out there and just be kicking some butt and be super physical. I mean, I can't wait to see what happens. And will we see the Kachuck brothers with Bennett on the ice? Maybe. I think we'll see that more in like the Tampa Bay game. If things get a little too rough in terms of physical, physical style of play, they might put that line together to go out there and kind of be the Bash brothers with all three of those guys. But anyways, that's it for this episode. Let me know who you got tonight. What do you think the score is going to be? Do you like the moves that have been made? Are you happy that all of these guys cleared waivers and are now going to be on the I love it. I'm happy. I'm stoked. I just hate the fact that the game is at 530 today. But it's kind of nice that it'll be ending around probably eight o'clock before the sun's actually completely down. But what a game. I can't wait. Record for all of you. For those of you who cannot see it, I will have updates tomorrow. A little look back at that. What are we looking at? And by the way, I saw a video on the Big C's podcast on YouTube yesterday. I was a guest on there. It was an awesome experience. Thank you. Big shout out to JP and C's. Thank you guys for having me. He had a great video of Brad Marchand practicing. He looked really good. He looks like he's comfortable on the ice. He was by himself, skating around with the puck, taking a couple light shots at the at the net with no goaltender or anything in there. So he's out there practicing. He looked good. But don't let it fool you. He's going to be out for the whole month of October. Anyways, that's it guys. Comment down below again. Don't forget to subscribe. Appreciate all you guys. And go cats. Enjoy.