Florida Panthers Cut Roster to 35 Players, Carlsson on Waivers

The Florida Panthers have cut their training camp roster to 35 players ahead of their final three preseason games.

Additionally, Lucas Carlsson, Rasmus Asplund and Gerry Mayhew  have to go through waivers before returning to Charlotte.

Carlsson, 26, was the most notable cut from the roster after a highly-potent season in the AHL.

The 6-foot defenseman scored 20 goals and 54 points in 61 games for the Charlotte Checkers and was expected to contend for a roster spot this season.

Carlsson was an NHL regular for a large portion of Florida’s 2021-22 Presidents’ Trophy-winning season, registering nine points in 40 games.

“I don’t know what happened, to be honest,” Carlsson told FHN when talking about his 2022-23 AHL campaign in April.

”I’ve been playing on the first unit, obviously that helps. And then we’ve been scoring a lot of goals as a team. I’ve been given the freedom to make plays offensively. We’ve been playing a lot of minutes with the first line up front and [John] Ludvig takes care of the defense. We’ve been playing great as a team, especially offensively.”

“I obviously watched this team last year and saw them go deep into the playoffs. I knew a bunch of them, whether I had played with them or grew up playing against them. I sort of had a good feel of the way they play and I felt my style played into their style. That is what drew me here versus other places,” Ritchie said.

“I am not trying to forecast what’s going to happen. I am just try to go out there and do my thing, let the chips fall.“

Additionally, Panthers have sent Riley Bezeau, Ryan McAllister, Jake Wise, Mike Benning, Santtu Kinnunen, Evan Nause, Calle Sjalin, Zachary Uens and Ludovic Waeber to the Checkers as AHL training camps open up on Monday.

Liam Arnsby returned to his junior club, the OHL’s North Bay Battalion.

FLORIDA PANTHERS 28-MAN ROSTER

FORWARDS: Sasha Barkov, Anton Lundell, Evan Rodrigues, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Nick Cousins, Ryan Lomberg, Eetu Luostarinen, Mackie Samoskevich, Steven Lorentz, Kevin Stenlund, Zac Dalpe, Justin Sourdif, William Lockwood, Grigori Denisenko, Jonah Gadjovich, Alexander True, Brett Ritchie

DEFENSEMEN: Aaron Ekblad (IR), Brandon Montour (IR), Gus Forsling, Josh Mahura, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Mike Reilly, Dmitry Kulikov, Niko Mikkola, Casey Fitzgerald, Matt Kiersted, Uvis Balinskis

GOALIES: Sergei Bobrovsky, Spencer Knight, Anthony Stolarz

UP NEXT FOR THE FLORIDA PANTHERS (3-2)

PRESEASON VS. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (3-1)

• When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amway Center, Orlando
• TV/Radio: None
• Streaming: FloridaPanthers.com
• Previous Exhibition Games: Florida 5, Nashville 0 (Sept. 25); Florida 5, Nashville 2 (Sept. 25); Carolina 4, Florida 1 (Sept. 27); Florida 4, Carolina 2 (Sept. 29)

LOOKING AHEAD FOR THE PANTHERS

• Thursday: Preseason at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
• Saturday: Preseason vs. Tampa Bay, 6 p.m.
• Oct. 12: Start of 2023-24 Regular Season at Minnesota Wild (BSF)
• Oct. 19: 2023-24 Home Opener vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (BSF)