FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers will have a new addition to their lineup Tuesday night when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first time since the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Jack Studnicka will center the fourth line after being called up from AHL Charlotte on Monday.
Paul Maurice said Florida had wanted to bring Studnicka — who has played in 107 NHL games with three teams — up earlier this season, but a lower-body injury prevented that.
Florida wanted to bring Studnicka up when Cole Schwindt got hurt, but Studnicka was injured at the time.
Studnicka played six games with Charlotte before getting hurt; he played in two games upon his return before getting the call to join the Panthers.
“He’s kind of like our team: He’s had some bad luck from the start of the season until now,” Maurice said. “We really liked his training camp and wanted to see him in the middle … then he got hurt as the same time we had lost our center. We kept losing bodies, and he was out of the lineup so he did not get a chance to come up and play. We liked his camp; we like his speed, he’s a right-hand draw man, so we can use that. We hope to spend a little less time on our side of the ice with that line.’’
Studnicka signed a two-way deal with the Panthers in July after spending all of last season playing for the Kings’ AHL team in nearby Ontario, Calif.
During the 2023-24 season, Studnicka split time between the Canucks and their AHL in Abbottsford before being traded to the San Jose Sharks.
Last season was his first since his first year as a professional where Studnicka played for one team and one team only.
He scored 16 goals in 72 games for the Ontario Reign last season.
“It has been a little while since the last time so I am pumped, I am fired up,” he said on Tuesday morning. “Last year was a positive for me, being able to play a full season with one team and get my game back in order. You work hard all summer, and you don’t know if that chance is going to come again. But here it is. And I am excited.”
The Panthers brought Studnicka in thinking he would be a help on the bottom-6 if needed, and he thinks his style of play works well with the Panthers.
He will get that chance starting tonight.
“I love the system, it fits my game and takes all the nerves out of the game because you can just skate as hard as you can and follow the system,” Studnicka said. “I think it is going to be a good fit.’’
NOTEBOOK: MAPLE LEAFS AT PANTHERS
Starting Goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky will be back in net for the Panthers after taking Friday off. The Maple Leafs will go with Joseph Woll.
How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers can only be streamed tonight with a ESPN+ or Hulu account. There is no local over-the-air/cable broadcast nor availability on Panthers+.
NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are pretty solid favorites (-170) on the money line at the local book. To win with the Panthers, a $170 bet pays $100.
ON DECK: GAME No. 25
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
When: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
National Streaming: ESPN+, Hulu
Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
Local Betting Odds — Panthers Favored: MoneyLine (-170); Puck Line -1.5 (+140); O/U 6.5 (-105/-115)
2025-26 Season Series — At Florida: Tuesday, Feb . 26. At Toronto: Jan. 6, April 11
Last Regular Season: Panthers Won 3-1
All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 51-40-7, 7 ties
Last Postseason: Florida d. Toronto 4-3
All-time Postseason (Panthers Lead 2-0): Panthers d. Toronto 4-1 (2023 ECS); Panthers d. Toronto 4-3 (2025 ECS)
Up Next: Thursday vs. Nashville Predators, 7
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (12-11-1) LINES
63 Brad Marchand // 15 Anton Lundell // 13 Sam Reinhart
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 70 Jesper Boqvist
10 A.J. Greer // 17 Evan Rodrigues // 11 Mackie Samoskevich
18 Noah Gregor// 53 Jack Studnicka // 71 Luke Kunin
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones
26 Uvis Balinskis // 2 Jeff Petry
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
40 Daniil Tarasov
Scratched: Donovan Sebrango, Jack Devine
Injured: Eetu Luostarinen (lower body), Sasha Barkov (knee), Matthew Tkachuk (lower body), Tomas Nosek (knee), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Cole Schwindt (broken arm)
PROJECTED TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (11-11-3) LINES
23 Matthew Knies // 34 Auston Matthews // 11 Max Domi
53 Easton Cowan // 91 John Tavares // 88 William Nylander
81 Dakota Joshua // 55 Nicolas Roy // 74 Bobby McMann
18 Steven Lorentz // 24 Scott Laughton // 89 Nicholas Robertson
44 Morgan Rielly // 95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
22 Jake McCabe // 28 Troy Stetcher
2 Simon Benoit //51 Phillippe Myers
60 Joseph Woll
35 Dennis Hildeby
Scratched: Calle Jarnkrok, Matias Maccelli, Dakota Mermis
Injured: Chris Tanev (upper body), Anthony Stolarz (upper body), Brandon Carlo (lower body)
