SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers are going to be short-handed when they begin defense of their Southeast Division title Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Six regulars from last year’s team will be missing, the latest casualty being wing Kris Versteeg. He sustained a lower-body injury in practice Friday and left the morning skate early Saturday.
Taking Versteeg’s place on the top line with Stephen Weiss and Tomas Fleischmann will be Mike Santorelli, who was placed on waivers Friday.
Also out for Florida are forwards Sean Bergenheim and Marcel Goc as well as defensemen Dmitry Kulikov, Erik Gudbranson and Mike Weaver. All are dealing with injuries, except for Kulikov, who just rejoined the team after signing a new contract.
Here are the Panthers’ projected lines:
Tomas Fleischmann - Stephen Weiss - Mike SantorelliJonathan Huberdeau - Peter Mueller - Alex Kovalev
Scottie Upshall - Shawn Matthias - Tomas Kopecky
Jack Skille - Jerred Smithson - George Parros
Ed Jovanovski - Brian Campbell
Keaton Ellerby - Filip Kuba
Michael Caruso - Tyson Strachan
Jose Theodore
Scott Clemmensen
Here are the projected lines for the Carolina Hurricanes:
Zach Boychuk - Eric Staal - Alexander Semin
Jeff Skinner - Jordan Staal - Zac Dalpe
Jussi Jokinen - Jiri Tlusty - Chad LaRose
Drayson Bowman - Tim Brent - Patrick Dwyer
Tim Gleason - Joe Corvo
Joni Pitkanen - Justin Faulk
Jay Harrison - Bobby Sanguinetti
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