NHL.com's projected Panthers lineup highlights major offseason changes

Hours after announcing the 2026-27 NHL regular season, writers at the league’s website continued to roll out their projected lineups with the Florida Panthers on tap for Thursday afternoon. One year after missing the playoffs following three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances, the upcoming season will be a big one in South Florida, with significant turnover in the lineup.

According to Amelie Benjamin, newly acquired Brady Tkachuk will find himself on the top line alongside captain Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. Not only will this be the first time the three have ever skated together, but the Panthers' first game will mark the return of Barkov, who missed the entire 2025-26 season with a knee injury. After scoring 57 goals and 39 goals, Reinhart only managed 29 with a minus-18 rating, looking to reunite with Barkov for a more productive campaign.

Meanwhile, Tkachuk, who will begin a new chapter in his career with a new franchise, will look to bounce back from a 22-goal, 59-point season with the Ottawa Senators. As a former three-time 30-goal scorer, Matthew Tkachuk’s little brother will face high expectations, considering what the Panthers gave up in a trade to acquire him.

On the second line, Carter Verhaeghe will skate alongside Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. Just like the projected first line, these three didn’t play a ton of time together, since Tkachuk played only 31 games while the other two were both minus players despite scoring more than 25 goals apiece. If everyone in the top six remains healthy, there’s no denying that Florida has one of the top lineups in the entire league.

However, the offensive threats don't just end with the top two lines. The Panthers' third line should feature young stars Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell, and the veteran Brad Marchand. Despite the dozens of rumors on social media about Florida acquiring Connor Hellebuyck or another superstar, the team refused to move either Luostarinen or Lundell, instead pairing them with a former captain, Marchand, to continue developing their game.

Just like Marchand, he found himself among legends like Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron. When healthy, he's one of the Panthers' elite players, and the Panthers' third line could be one of the most entertaining to watch.

Regarding Florida’s fourth line, General Manager Bill Zito revamped two-thirds of it, bringing in Stanley Cup winner Lars Eller to team up with one of the league leaders in hits, Garnet Hathaway. They will join 22-year-old Sandis Vilmanis, who brings 19 NHL games of experience to the lineup.

On the backend, only one change took place, as former Anaheim Ducks captain Radko Gudas returned to the Panthers, sliding into a spot on the team’s third pairing. He’ll pair up with Dmitry Kulikov, who finds himself one of five players returning to Florida’s defensive corps, where not a single regular had a positive plus/minus rating last year.

As expected, the Panthers’ top pair will once again be Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad, followed by Niko Mikkola and Seth Jones. These six defensemen will not be playing in front of Sergei Bobrovsky for the first time in seven seasons; instead, they will find themselves blocking shots in front of Jacob Markström and Akira Schmid. Once the former two-time Stanley Cup champion Bobrovsky departed via free agency, the team pivoted and brought back Markström, an original 2008 draft pick.

At 36, the Swedish netminder will look to prove that he can win big games and carry a contending team to the playoffs. He’ll be joined by a younger Schmid, who just came to town from the Vegas Golden Knights, where he had compiled his best season in the NHL last year with a 16-10-6 record.

Overall, the Panthers should be a top team in the league this year, while contending not only for the Atlantic Division title but also for the Prince of Wales Trophy. Even though no one has come out to say “Stanley Cup or bust,” with the stacked lineup in Florida, it would be a disappointment if they did not at least reach the Final and win it all.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow