Projected lineups for Hurricanes, Panthers

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 Santorelli

Jonathan 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

Cam Ward

Dan Ellis