The Florida Panthers did not lose many players off their 2025 Stanley Cup championship but two who did move on will be facing them tonight as members of the Utah Mammoth.
Both Nate Schmidt and Vitek Vanecek parlayed success with the Panthers into new deals with Utah — much like center Kevin Stenlund did the summer before.
On Tuesday night in Salt Lake City, the Panthers gathered to celebrate both Schmidt and Vanecek, presenting them with their Stanley Cup rings.
Schmidt, as expected, seemed to have a joke for every player who greeted him upon arrival.
“They are part of that group, of that history,’’ Paul Maurice said.
The Panthers play their second-ever game at the Delta Center tonight, and come in with wins in its past two; the Mammoth has dropped two straight.
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) December 10, 2025
NOTEBOOK: PANTHERS at MAMMOTH
Starting Goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky is back in net for the Panthers after a rough go in his previous start against the Blue Jackets. The Mammoth are expected to roll with Karel Vejmelka.
How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are on local TV today; the game can be streamed at Panthers+ and ESPN+.
NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are slight favorites (-115) on the money line at the local book. To win with the Panthers, a $115 bet pays $100.
ON DECK: GAME No. 29
FLORIDA PANTHERS at UTAH MAMMOTH
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (14-12-2) LINES
27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 13 Sam Reinhart
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 63 Brad MarchandÂ
10 A.J. Greer // 17 Evan Rodrigues // 11 Mackie Samoskevich
70 Jesper Boqvist // 53 Jack Studnicka // 18 Noah Gregor
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: Jack Devine, Luke Kunin, Donovan Sebrango
Injured: Sasha Barkov (knee), Matthew Tkachuk (lower body), Tomas Nosek (knee), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Cole Schwindt (broken arm)
PROJECTED UTAH MAMMOTH (14-14-3) LINES
9 Clayton Keller // 8 Nick Schmaltz // 77 JJ Peterka
19 Daniil But // 27 Barrett Hayton // 11 Dylan Guenther
53 Michael Carcone // 22 Jack McBain // 67 Lawson Crouse
38 Liam O’Brien // 82 Kevin Stenlund //13 Brandon Tanev
98 Mikhail Sergachev // 6 John Marino
88 Nate Schmidt // 50 Sean Durzi
28 Ian Cole // 10 Maveric Lamoureux
70 Karel Vejmelka
41 Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Nick DeSimone, Kailer Yamamoto
Injured: Logan Cooley (lower body), Alex Kerfoot (lower body), Olli Maatta (upper body)
