That Carter Verhaeghe has been an integral part of the Florida Panthers’ run to three straight Stanley Cup finals (and one championship to date) is not a matter of debate.
The gifted left winger has consistently made an impact for the Panthers and has gained a reputation for being one of the most clutch goal-scorers in the game today, having scored seven game-winning goals between the regular season and playoffs this year. He has also scored three series-winning goals and 12 playoff game-winners since 2022, according to NHL.com.
The fact is, Verhaeghe is always thinking about being a difference-maker.
“I always see him talking to himself on the bench,” said teammate Aaron Ekblad. “It’s in his DNA. It’s something he thinks about morning, noon and night, is scoring goals. He’s got the iPad in between shifts, seeing what he can do differently.”
Verhaeghe’s road to NHL glory is fairly well-known at this point. Originally selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round of the 2013 draft, he played a couple of games for the AHL’s Marlies but was dealt to the New York Islanders before going any further. He never put on a New York jersey in a game either, as he was later dealt to Tampa Bay, where he won a Stanley Cup as a bit player in his first NHL season.
The Lightning infamously didn’t qualify him as an RFA, and the cross-state Panthers pounced. All of a sudden, then-coach Joel Quenneville was putting him on a line with Aleksander Barkov.
“I have to credit management and Bill (Zito) for finding me from Tampa,” Verhaeghe said. “I thought I was going back, and it didn’t work out, so Bill gave me an opportunity. ‘Q’ put me with ‘Barky’ almost right away, we developed some good chemistry, and it took off from there. My mindset was to keep on building every day and run with the opportunity that I wanted to get for so long. I wasn’t going to let it slip.”
But before all that, Verhaeghe had made another interesting stop in his pro career: the ECHL. During his Islanders tenure, Verhaeghe played for AHL Bridgeport, but he also suited up for parts of two seasons with the Missouri Mavericks. It wasn’t part of his master plan, but it turned out to be good for the burgeoning young forward.
“My first time there, I wasn’t very happy,” Verhaeghe said. “But after I got down there and settled down, my mindset was really good. I wasn’t focused on making the NHL right away, like tomorrow – it was a process. Trying to get better every day and picking up things from coaches or watching games.”
Verhaeghe put up great numbers for Missouri, putting up 57 points in 36 games over the course of two seasons. Two years later, while part of Tampa Bay’s system, he led the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch in scoring, and the rest is history.
Verhaeghe may not have wanted to go to suburban Kansas City en route to his NHL career, but his time with Missouri ended up being a stepping stone. And being in Kansas City, at least the barbecue was good.
“Yeah,” he said. “They have great barbecue.”
Promo image credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images
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