Verhaeghe plays leading role in Panthers' run to Stanley Cup Final

SUNRISE, Fla. --Carter Verhaeghe pretty much was along for the ride when he won the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020, but the forward's clearly been a driving force for the Florida Panthers.

Verhaeghe signed with the Panthers on Oct. 9, 2020, less than two weeks after Tampa Bay won the Cup.

"That was kind of my goal coming here a little bit," Verhaeghe said after practice Saturday. "I think I wanted to have a bigger impact than I did when I was in Tampa. Obviously, I got a really good experience to play in the Cup Final, but I think when I came here I wanted to be a big impact player and get to this point with this team."

The Panthers might not be in the Stanley Cup Final, which begins Saturday with Game 1 at the Vegas Golden Knights (8 p.m. ET; TNT, TBS, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS) if not for Verhaeghe, who scored the overtime goal in Game 7 of the first round to complete the stunning upset of the Boston Bruins.

It also was Verhaeghe who was the star last season, when the Panthers eliminated the Washington Capitals in six games in the first round to win a playoff series for the first time since 1996. He scored the game-winning goal for Florida in Games 4, 5 and 6, two of which came in overtime.

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Although Matthew Tkachuk and Sergei Bobrovsky have taken up most of the spotlight for Florida this postseason, Verhaeghe has been a major contributor as the left wing on the top line alongside captain Aleksander Barkov and Anthony Duclair. He's second on the Panthers with 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 16 playoff games after he had NHL career highs in goals (42) and points (73) this season.

Just as important, Verhaeghe has developed his all-around game, epitomizing Florida's transformation from a high-flying offensive team to a more well-rounded, grittier group.

"Throughout my career, I kind of try and develop different things," Verhaeghe said. "We changed the whole system this year and tried to play a different way. And I mean, we saw during the year it took a lot of time to get used to the new systems and how to play and where, what to do in order for the team to kind of be successful. And I think that's what's kind of so great. We kind of went from a different style team to everyone changing a little bit of their game and doing it for the team."

Perhaps no one on the Panthers has added more to his game this season than Verhaeghe.

"For me, he was their best player in the playoffs last year, the best forward they had in terms of being dynamic, being on the puck, playing a real good playoff game, all of the things," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "You score 40, phenomenal year, but all of the things that are quiet defensive things, he's a much better hockey player now than he was at the start of this year because he just added a whole bunch of things.

"And that wasn't stuff the coaches had to bring to him. He wanted to learn every day. He asked for it. He asked for video. 'I want to get better on my own and I want to learn and pick up pucks off the wall.' He wants to understand the game better because he understands that he's playing with Barkov or he was playing with (forward Sam) Bennett. You're playing big minutes against the other team's best and the goal for him was, 'I want to be on the ice at the end of the game when when the goalie is out.' Makes sense. … He values the other part of the game. He's worked at it."

And Verhaeghe has been rewarded for his efforts.

He's averaging 20:16 of ice time per game this postseason, almost double the 10:35 he averaged in the eight games he played for Tampa Bay in 2020.

So, yes, Verhaeghe has many reasons to be enjoying this Stanley Cup Final run more than his first.

"It was so much fun getting here and just trying to enjoy the process, and it's fun coming to the rink right now," Verhaeghe said. "... Just having a blast."