Sunday Bulletin Board

A number of things have happened over the last few days in Pantherland. In lieu of writing a monster sized Pre-Game Skate for tonight’s game in Dallas, I have elected to post this collection of thoughts and information. We will post a more regular sized Pre-Game Skate closer to game time tonight. Without further adieu…

• The Panthers made their second round of cuts prior to Friday’s game in Tampa, cutting the camp roster down to 31 players.

• No real surprises among the cuts. The biggest names among the cuts are Jayce Hawryluk and Kyle Rau. Hawryluk was never long for the Panthers this year, though not through any fault of his own. He is poised to join a powerhouse Brandon Wheat Kings team in the Western Hockey League, a team among the favorites to contend for the Memorial Cup this season. The chance to be on such a powerful team, and be a leader too, could be a great formative experience for the speedy agitator.

• Rau on the other hand, while talented, is entering his first full professional season. Asking him to make the jump to the NHL after just a handful of AHL games was always going to be a tough order. Some extra seasoning in the AHL is probably what is best for his development at this stage.

• You will notice that some of the players placed on waivers Friday were part of the first round of Panthers cuts earlier in the week. This is so because Friday was the first day teams could place players on waivers. Per Article 13.2 of the CBA, the playing season waiver period opens on the 12th day before the season begins. Though we were 15 days from the Panthers season opener on Friday, the NHL season opens three days prior on October 7.

• One player who appears determined to make the team is Connor Brickley. He is following up his breakout AHL season with a very solid showing so far in Panthers training camp. He put in time on a line with Derek MacKenzie and Shawn Thornton on Friday night in Tampa, and he was certainly present. He most notably leveled one of the Triplets, Nikita Kucherov, with a clean hit. For what its worth, the Brickley-MacKenzie-Thornton line was the top line by Corsi in Friday night’s game according to HockeyStats.ca. That’s unlikely to be a regular occurrence with that group, but for just one preseason game it definitely perks your ears up. Stay tuned for what’s next in camp, the competition between Brickley, Shayne Harper, Quinton Howden, and Garrett Wilson for one or two roster spots is sure to fierce.

• Dale Tallon also told the Miami Herald’s George Richards that one of veterans Martin Havlat and David Booth should make the team, but likely not both.

• The competition on defense is down to just Steven Kampfer, Mike Matheson, and Mackenzie Weegar. One would have to think Kampfer is likely to win this battle for a couple reasons. First, he would have to pass through waivers in order to be sent to the Portland Pirates, where Matheson and Weegar are exempt. Second, the roster spot available is as the 7th defenseman. These young defensemen need regular top 4 playing time, it does them no good to sit in the press box and play bottom pair minutes when they do get game action. Unless they just completely rock the world (and we would love that, as a Mike Matheson Appreciation Blog), they are likely heading for Portland.

• Keep an eye on Rocco Grimaldi’s situation. He remains in camp, however his ankle injury comes at an unfortunate time. If the original week timeframe holds, he could appear in Saturday’s preseason finale at home against Tampa Bay. However, Dale Tallon told George Richards he could be out up to two weeks. If true, that would take him out of Saturday’s game, and cause him to miss the biggest week of camp. Could this could mean some AHL time to start the season for the bombastic forward? It could, though only time will tell if he heals quickly. However, if he does go down it should not be construed as a negative. A prospect has never been hurt by a little extra AHL seasoning.

AJ can be reached for contact on Twitter.