It’s a full-circle moment for Cole Schwindt.

The 24-year-old forward is playing his first game of the season for the Florida Panthers against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, a little less than four years after he made his debut with the franchise in December 2021.

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“I’m obviously pumped getting to come back and play in the arena that I played my first game in,” Schwindt said after the team’s morning skate.

Schwindt, a third-round pick by the Panthers in 2019, played in just three games for Florida during that 2021-22 season. Only his debut — Dec. 16, 2021, against the Los Angeles Kings — came on home ice. The other two were a road back-to-back in April against the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens.

Schwindt was then dealt to the Calgary Flames the following summer as part of Florida’s deal to get star winger Matthew Tkachuk, a move that has helped the franchise reach three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals and win the Cup each of the past two seasons.

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He spent two seasons in the Calgary organization and played four games with the Flames in the 2023-24 season before moving on to the Golden Knights last season. He got his most extensive NHL experience during that campaign, playing in 42 regular-season games and producing eight points (one goal, seven assists). Florida claimed Schwindt off waivers ahead of this season.

“I feel like I’ve definitely learned a lot,” Schwindt said of his evolution since his first Panthers stint. “I think I’ve kind of been around the block a little bit and gotten to play in some different cities and learned a lot about myself, kind of the way that I deal with ups and ups and downs of a year. I try to stay level-headed through everything.”

Schwindt will center Florida’s fourth line, with A.J. Greer and Jonah Gadjovich on the wings. He is replacing Luke Kunin, who will be a healthy scratch after playing in that fourth-line center spot the first nine games of the season.

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“I want to see some speed because I think he has it,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “But more importantly, I want him to play without the concern that first-game guys have the first time they’re playing with your team. They don’t want to make a mistake. I don’t want that game. I want him to go and play with speed, a little bit of freedom, and then we’ll fix the mistakes we don’t like.”

Maurice said he hopes Schwindt playing with a duo like Greer and Gadjovich, who have chemistry from being together since last season, will help in that regard.

“There’s a clear idea of what they should look like, especially as a forechecking line,” Maurice said. “We can articulate that to Cole. It is a speed-based, physical-based quickness, a change-of-possession based forechecking group, and they can tell right it’s consistent when it’s good. Consistency for a player coming in his first game, when you get two guys who you pretty much know exactly what they’re gonna do — what they’re gonna try to do anyway — that’ll help you play faster.”

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In other lineup news, Maurice is flipping the centers on two of his other lines. Evan Rodrigues will center the top line with Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart on the wings, while Sam Bennett moves down to the third line to center Jesper Boqvist and Mackie Samoskevich.