It’s time to turn our attention back to the wonderful world of goaltending.
This week is NHL Goalie Week and the tendy content has been coming fast and furious.
Here at THN Florida we’ve already touched a bit on Panthers starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, so this time we’re going to take a look at the goalies behind Bob on the depth chart.
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Florida’s top goaltenders behind Bob are Spencer Knight and Chris Driedger.
When Training Camp arrives in a few weeks, the second goalie spot on the Panthers will seemingly be Knight’s job to lose.
After leaving the Panthers to join the NHL/NHLPA joint player assistance program during the spring of 2023 due to issues with obsessive compulsive disorder, Knight returned to the team last summer and began the process of working his way back.
The young netminder was once considered one of the top goalie prospects in the world, leading Florida to selecting him 13th overall at the 2019 NHL Draft.
After returning to the Panthers, Knight spent almost the entirety of last season with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, Florida’s top minor league affiliate, in order to get re-acclimated to the demands of a professional goaltender’s schedule.
Knight, with the help of Checkers goaltending coach Leo Luongo, slowly but surely regained his form and by the second half of the season, was playing near the top of his game once again.
He closed out the regular season on an incredible run, allowing one or fewer goals in six of his last eight starts and picking up three shutouts in a four-game span.
Knight also had a front row seat to the Panthers Stanley Cup run, spending almost the entirety of the postseason working with Florida as their third goaltender.
The question now will be if Knight can pick up where he left off and resume what should still be an extremely promising NHL career.
In Driedger, Florida is well aware of everything that the veteran brings to the table and is happy to have him back in the fold as an extremely capable NHL goaltender.
During his first stint with the Panthers, Driedger played in 35 games over two seasons, earning a 34-21-8 record to go with a an impressive .931 save percentage and 2.07 goals against average.
After being snatched up by the expansion Seattle Kraken, a knee injury hindered Driedger’s ability to gain much traction at the NHL level.
He was excellent last season for the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds to the tune of a 24-7-7 record, .917 save percentage and 2.26 goals against average during the regular season.
Driedger and the Firebirds marched all the way to Game 7 of the Calder Cup Final, where they lost in overtime to the Hershey Bears.
Now he’s back with the Panthers, fully healthy and ready to be the best goaltender of his career, whether that’s with the big Cats in Sunrise or at the AHL level in Charlotte.
Driedger knows how quickly things can change and understands the importance of being ready to rise to the occasion and take advantage of an opportunity that could come at any moment.
All three goaltenders will be front and center when the Panthers kick off training camp at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale in a few weeks.
We’ll see you there!
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