Eyebrows were raised when the Florida Panthers announced presumptive backup netminder Spencer Knight would start the 2023-24 campaign with AHL Charlotte. However, head coach Paul Maurice said it’s not a performance-related demotion.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Knight missed the last two months of the regular season and all of the Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, which he later said was to get treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). After missing significant time, Knight still managed to churn out an incredibly strong postseason performance — one that influenced the organization to want to give him a chance as a true starter out of the gate this season in order to maintain his positive momentum.
“This was something we looked at from the start (of training camp),” Maurice told NHL.com. “He’s made great progress in his program. He feels good, he looked fantastic in training camp. But we need to put him in kind of a No. 1 position, a No. 1 role, and then run his program and work on what he’s been working on. But he’s been good.”
The 22-year-old is beginning the first season of a three-year deal carrying a $4.5M cap hit, meaning he’ll still carry a significant cap penalty while in the AHL, as that’s far above the buriable threshold — $3.35M, to be exact. Veteran Anthony Stolarz will sit behind undisputed starter Sergei Bobrovsky to start the season after the latter guided Florida to its second Stanley Cup Final in franchise history last season.
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