Carter Verhaeghe is a Playoff Performer for the Florida Panthers

To quote the late great Bob Cole, “There is a new bunch on the block.” The Florida Panthers knocked out their in-state rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in five games in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Leading the way for the Panthers was Mr. Playoff himself, Carter Verhaeghe.

And you say to your say, Carter Verhaeghe. That is right, Carter Verhaeghe. All this player has done is step up for the Florida Panthers when they need a big goal. The Toronto Maple Leafs originally drafted Verhaeghe in the 3rd round of the 2013 NHL Draft. He never played for the team and was traded to the New York Islanders.

However, the Islanders kept him in the AHL for development. Then, when the Islanders traded him to the Tampa Bay Lightning in July 2017, the Lightning sent him to the AHL to the Syracuse Crunch. Verhaeghe learned to season his game in the minors. In his second season, he became an offensive force with the Crunch, recording 82 points and 32 goals.

When he debuted with the Lightning in the 2019-20 season, Verhaeghe started slowly in the NHL, recording just 13 points with nine goals in 52 games. However he did win a Stanley Cup with the Lightning, but in the postseason, he had just two assists.

He left Tampa and headed south for Sunrise, where he signed with the Panthers. Carter Verhaeghe became an integral part of the offense with the Panthers. Each season, his point totals only went up in the regular season. In his first season (2020-21) with the Cats, Verhaeghe recorded 36 points (18 goals and 18 assists) in 43 games. That year, it was the COVID-shortened season.

Florida fell to his former club, the Lightning, in the first round in six games. In that series, he recorded three points (two goals and one assist), but nobody knew what was to come. The following seasons saw Verhaeghe become the dominant offensive force he was in the AHL.

In 78 games during the 21-22 season, he recorded 55 points (24 goals and 31 assists). But Verhaeghe made a name for himself in the playoffs and got his name Mr. Playoff.

Florida won the Presidents’ Trophy in 21-22, and there was some controversy off the ice with the coach. But the Panthers were the favourites against the Washington Capitals in their first-round playoff series in 2022. However, the Panthers trailed 2-1 and probably should have lost in the first round, but that is when the legend of Carter Verhaeghe was born.

In Game 4, Verhaeghe scored the overtime-winning goal, his second of the game, to tie the series at 2-2. Then, in Game 5 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoff first-round series, Verhaeghe set a Panthers franchise record for points in a playoff, scoring five goals in a 5-3 victory. Then, in Game 6, he sent the Florida Panthers to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1996. He finished the 2022 playoffs with 12 points (six goals and six assists).

The following year, Verhaeghe continued his torrid pace. He set career highs with 73 points, 42 goals and, at the time, 31 assists. Verhaghe would set a new career high in assists with 38 in the 23-24 season. Then, in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he put up 17 points (seven goals and 10 assists), including the overtime series-clinching winning goal against the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the first round.

Carter Verhaeghe became the first player in the Panthers’ history to have multiple series-clinching goals. When he scored in Game 1 4-2 victory of the 2023 second-round series against Toronto, that was Verhaeghe’s 11th playoff goal, passing Ray Sheppard and Dave Lowry for the most in Panthers history.

Verhaeghe’s play only carried into this season and the playoffs. He recorded nine points (five goals and four assists) in five games against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. In seven series-clinching games, Verhaeghe delivered nine points (five goals and four assists). When it matters most, he delivers for the Panthers.

In the series-clinching game, Verhaeghe, along with Aleksander Barkov, each scored two goals. They became the first Panthers teammates to each score twice in a playoff game since Tom Fitzgerald and Dave Lowry in Game 1 of the 1996 Eastern Conference Final.

When the Panthers need a big goal, Carter Verhaeghe comes up clutch. There is a reason why he has become a playoff performer.