Winter Classic in Miami will be ‘really special,’ Verhaeghe says

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Carter Verhaeghe has played his first seven NHL seasons in the state of Florida. The chance to play in an outdoor game was always on his bucket list but never really considered.

Until now.

"Yeah, there's no chance," the Florida Panthers forward said, remembering how he'd laugh at the notion. "I grew up watching the Winter Classic, seeing them with the snow coming down, but I never thought I'd be able to play in one, especially playing in Florida. It's pretty special."

Verhaeghe will be one of nine Panthers players who could dress for their first NHL outdoor game when they face the New York Rangers in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot park in Miami on Friday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SNW, SNO, SNE, TVAS). Their other skaters who are eligible to make their NHL outdoor game debut are forwards Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Mackie Samoskevich, Jesper Boqvist and Noah Gregor, and defensemen Aaron Ekblad, Uvis Balinskis and Donovan Sebrango.

Of that group, only Ekblad has played in Florida longer than Verhaeghe. The 29-year-old defenseman is his 12th season with the Panthers, who selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.

"Honestly, yeah, I never would have thought I'd be able to participate in one," Verhaeghe said. "Of course, you're a little jealous and want to be able to play, but I guess it's the tradeoff with playing here.

“But this is really special. You grow up playing outdoors, and it's kind of where you fall in love with the game. To be able to do it in the NHL is really special."

Verhaeghe has the classic Canadian hockey player background. The 30-year-old grew up in Waterdown, Ontario, a community in the city of Hamilton. When he was young his father, Thomas, would build a small rink in the backyard, about half the size of the Panthers' dressing room at their practice facility, Verhaeghe said.

"My dad would set up a couple two-by-fours for boards, and obviously make the rink, flood it, even it out," Verhaeghe said. "It wasn't very big, but it was always fun going back there. I had friends who had big ones with a lot of land, and they made boards and it was cool like that."

Behind his house was a forest, and through there were ponds that would freeze over in the winter months.

"Me and my buddies would spend all day out there from light to dark just having fun, playing hockey," Verhaeghe said. "We would get our sticks, put them on our backs, hang the skates over them and go right down. It would start getting dark and all of our parents would start wondering where we are. We were in the forest. It was some of the best times growing up."

They never thought of how to make ice. It was just there.

"You just think it's cold enough so it's good," Verhaeghe said. "There's been times when you fall through it too."

There will be no falling through the ice at loanDepot park on Friday, and the League's ice crew will work to make sure it is maintained to NHL quality throughout the game.

Verhaeghe isn't thinking about that, though; in fact, he said he doesn't even know how they make the ice for outdoor games, especially one in Florida.

He doesn't care much, either.

On his mind is the experience and what's in store for him in his first outdoor game, which for him is fittingly in Miami, because the kid from Ontario has admittedly become a Floridian.

"I mean, I played a couple years in the minors up north, but now this is just normal," Verhaeghe said. "I love living here. I've gotten accustomed to it too. I don't know, maybe I'm a little soft now to the weather, but I love it. I've been fortunate enough to play for two really good teams in Florida."

Verhaeghe has won the Stanley Cup three times -- with the Lightning in 2020, when he played a small role, and as a key member for the Panthers in 2024 and 2025. He’s been their most clutch goal-scorer with an NHL-high 10 game-winning goals the past three postseasons, three more than teammate Matthew Tkachuk.

And on Friday, Verhaeghe will get to do something he not only has never gotten to do in the NHL. It’ll be something he never thought he’d have the chance to do.

"It's going to be different," he said. "I think those big games in the playoffs, it's more you're focusing on what you have to do out there, you don't really get to enjoy the whole experience. If it's a Game 7, you're not thinking, 'This is great.' You're thinking, 'I've got a job to do.'

“This one, we have a couple days before; you get to see the rink, bring some family down. It's going to be really cool to experience an outdoor game. We have really good fans here, and it'll be really cool to see them all in an outdoor game setting. I'll be having fun, for sure. I'll be taking it in, having fun. Playing outdoors, it's kind of back to your roots a little bit."