Paul Maurice may have to do a little rearranging with the Florida Panthers as the team heads into the 2025 Stanley Cup finals this week against last year’s rivals, the Edmonton Oilers. While players like Sam Reinhart and Niko Mikkola are back on the ice, AJ Greer, who sustained a lower body injury during the Carolina series, is still on a day-to-day recovery basis as the team heads into the finals. Greer, who suffered an undisclosed lower body injury in game 3 of the series against the Canes, missed game 4 and came back for game 5 only for a short period, so it is uncertain as to whether his current status is due to the original injury or a follow-up one.
In a recent interview, Paul Maurice was asked if there had been any updates on Greer as the team heads into game 1 against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Thursday. While confirming that nothing was concrete when it came to that plan, with Maurice saying, “Yeah, he’s still day-to-day so that hasn’t changed,” the coach was then asked to comment on what the backup plans were for the occasion.
“Would you likely go back with Sturm, um on that spot, if he could not go game one?” The reporter continued to question Maurice, to which the coach replied, “I don’t know; I think I would probably look at a winger more, because we don’t have any, uh, concerns with our center ice right now, so I don’t feel that we would necessarily need another centerman. Uh, I’ll put a guy in, I think probably a winger.”
Credits: Instagram / @flapanthers
It’s true, Florida’s center is really doing ok right now, with three-time Selke trophy winner and captain Aleksander Barkov in the center with Bennet, Marchand and Reinhart; that side of things is looking really strong at the moment! So, like Paul Maurice said, another winger might really be the sort of thing to pull it all together if, at all, the Panthers start to flail without Greer, but who could be the replacement?
What could the Florida Panthers’ lineup look like without Greer as they head into the Stanley Cup finals as per Paul Maurice’s statement?
Based on Paul Maurice’s recent statement on the new state of the lineup without Greer, the other wingers on the roster are Gadjovich, Nosek, Samoskevich and Tkachuk, so Maurice will have to figure out a configuration that best works for the team. Considering this was Greer’s first playoff run, it’s incredible that he’s made such an impact on the team! To think that he was only brought onto the ice in the fourth game against Tampa Bay, where he came in for Samoskevich, is a commendable feat!
The truth is, once AJ Greer was brought in, him Nosek and Gadjovick started to work together as a unit in a really special way, with Maurice saying of the chemistry, “They play a different style of game. They’ve been good. … I thought that if Tomas was coming in or A.J. was coming in, then all three of them needed to come in. There’s something there with the line.” The question now is, how will Paul Maurice recreate this unit with Greer?
Hopefully Greer can make it back in time for the final run, considering he really seems to have given his all to this tournament. In game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes, it was Greer who scored the winning goal and knocked the opponents out of the tournament. Greer himself has spoken openly about how he’s felt he’s been received by Florida. “Knowing that identity and knowing that the guys were so welcoming to the guys who are in and out,” the winger said, “you know what your job is. The more I get into it, it just becomes another game. It’s the best time of year and it’s stuff that you dream about. I’m very grateful.” So, fingers crossed the Panthers can bring the winger back before they potentially lift the Stanley Cup again!
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