Kris Versteeg has seen better years. The lockout ends, and he is quickly injured on a cheap shot from behind by Alex Ovechkin. After missing 13 games he is then welcomed back by Tampa's Radko Gudas with a leg-to-knee hit that resulted in major ACL surgery.
At first it was thought he wouldn't be available until November, but he is tentatively slated to take the ice Thursday night for the Panthers' preseason game against the Lightning. “We’re tentatively scheduling to have Kris Versteeg and Jonathan Huberdeau in the lineup on Thursday, and I think that is encouraging for us to see them,” Dineen said. “They’re right on schedule, exactly where we expect them to be.”
That is welcomed news in Pantherland, as healthy bodies are just as newsworthy as anything that could happen on the ice after the disaster that was last season. Versteeg definitely contributed to the Panthers leading the league in man-games-lost due to injury, and he's looking to pick up where he left off during the 2011-2012 season.
Back then, he had great chemistry with Stephen Weiss and Tomas Fleischmann on the top line. His 23 goals and 31 assists in 71 games set a career high for points. He also added 3 goals and 2 assists during the heartbreaking 7-game playoff series loss to the Devils.
It is fresh start for Versteeg and his teammates. The pain of last season, both physically and mentally, is now in the past and it can only go up from here.
The interesting question is where does Versteeg fit on this team if healthy? Jonathan Huberdeau-Aleksander Barkov-Tomas Fleischmann are practically penned into the top line. My guess would be Versteeg joins Shawn Matthias and Scottie Upshall on the 2nd line to start the season. Upshall would be on a very short leash. If/when Sean Bergenheim is healthy he would take Upshall's place. Of course this is just speculation, as no one knows what head coach Kevin Dineen will decide on over the next week. But there are certainly a lot of possible combinations after that first line. Whether that is a good or bad thing is up in the air.
Regardless, a Versteeg-less roster puts a lot of pressure on depth for this club. It is widely known offense has been the problem for this team seemingly forever, and AHL players filling holes won't help in the efforts to improve that area.
Hopefully the Panthers will stay healthier in order to see just where this team is regarding their growth and development in the Dale Tallon era.
Dan Spiegel...
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