Carter Verhaeghe Has Shown Up At the Right Time

It's been a weird season for Carter Verhaeghe. Things were looking great for the 29-year-old heading into the 2024-25 campaign. The Florida Panthers were coming off their first Stanley Cup title in franchise history. It was a championship that was years in the making. Verhaeghe is one of the most critical pieces to that championship core, as he's grown into one of the NHL's most dynamic goal scorers since his arrival to Sunrise.

To reward his brilliance, general manager Bill Zito gave the winger a lucrative 8-year, $56 million contract extension that kicks in at the start of next season. It was an extension that had to get done and was well worth it. Verhaeghe hasn't just been one of the top scorers in the league. He's arguably also the main face of Florida's deep playoff runs over the last few seasons.

Who scored the overtime winner in Game 7 against Boston in 2023? He did. Who notched the overtime winner in Game 3 of the 2023 Final against Vegas? He did. In Game 2 against Tampa Bay in the first round last year, who played the hero's role? He did. That's three signature overtime winning goals he has his fingerprints on.

And that's not counting the two winners he had against the Capitals in 2022. In games 4 and 6, he scored overtime goals to prevent a 3-1 series deficit and clinch Florida's first postseason series win since their magical run to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final. Needless to say, he is a clutch performer, arguably the most clutch player in the league. Not to mention, he also scored one of the Cats' two goals in Game 7 of last year's Stanley Cup Final.

However, this past regular season was not up to the standards that 'Swaggy' has set for himself. He only scored 20 goals in 81 contests this season. Now, that's nothing to sneeze at. However, the last two years saw him score 42 and 34 goals, respectively. If you take away the shortened 56-game 2020-21 season, Verhaeghe scored the lowest amount of goals he has tallied in his last four seasons with the Panthers.

Verhaeghe was always put in great spots. Verhaeghe always found himself in prime scoring seasons, but the puck just never found its way in the back of the net. There have been times when the winger got robbed. There have been instances where he missed the net entirely. During this regular season, the sixth-year veteran had six streaks of going five games or more without scoring a goal.

However, despite his regular-season struggles, the man who has affectionately been called 'Swaggy' has stepped up his game when it matters most, again. He has appeared in all nine games thus far in the postseason. He has posted four goals and four assists up to this point. Typical of his standards, Carter has had his signature moments.

They might not be dramatic overtime winners, but he has lit the lamp at the right times in the games in which the Panthers have won. In the series-clinching Game 5 against Tampa in the first round, the offensive juggernaut scored Florida's only power-play goal in the first period. Of course, this would help keep the Cats in pace to win the game, as both teams traded goals until the halfway point of the middle frame. The Panthers would eventually put the game and series away with a 6-3 triumph.

Over the last two games in their second-round series against Toronto, Verhaeghe came through again in some big spots. With Florida trailing 0-2, they needed to pick up two big home wins to avoid a daunting challenge of being down 0-3 and 1-3, respectively. At the 5:17 mark of the middle period, he finished a nice cross-ice feed from Sam Bennett to tie the contest at three.

He also recorded the secondary assist on Brad Marchand's overtime winner to turn the series around.

A few nights ago, in Game 4, Florida won a tight 2-0 affair. The first goal scored in the series-tying victory was scored by Verhaeghe as well. He once again finished a beautiful feed, this time from Matthew Tkachuk. Quick passing and "off-puck movement" always work well, and it worked to perfection here.

There's no doubt that Carter Verhaeghe has been a guy that you can always rely on during crunch time. He's always looming and waiting to strike. More often than not, he will. For as much credit as other players get for showing up in the playoffs around the league, this guy hasn't gotten as much attention as necessary. But that may work in his and the Panthers' favor.

Without him, Florida wouldn't be in the position they are in. Another great find by Bill Zito. He will look to continue his clutch play as the Panthers look to take a 3-2 series lead in Toronto after Wednesday night.