After ‘a great three years,’ Anthony Duclair faces Panthers for first time since trade
Over his three years in South Florida, Anthony Duclair quickly became a fan favorite while with the Florida Panthers. The speedy winger dazzled on the ice with his quick skating and knack for scoring and was active in the community.
And then, his time here ended.
The Panthers traded Duclair to the San Jose Sharks on July 1 for forward Steven Lorentz and a 2025 fifth-round pick. At the time of the trade, Panthers general manager Bill Zito said the move gave the Panthers “long-term flexibility for our club, while also addressing needs of size, speed and depth for our forward group.” Duclair was entering the final year of his deal, due $4 million, and was likely not going to be re-signed given Florida’s cap situation.
For the first time since that trade, Duclair returns to Sunrise and will face his former team on Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena.
“Obviously South Florida is always going to have a special place in my heart,” Duclair said after practice Monday. “I had a great three years here and I’m just looking forward to [Tuesday].”
Duclair’s time in South Florida provided a jump to his career. He was a top-line winger at times for the Panthers and tallied 99 points (43 goals, 56 assists) in 137 games. He missed most of the 2022-23 season recovering from a torn Achilles sustained over the offseason but played in 20 regular-season games down the stretch and was a regular in the postseason during their run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Duclair said the opportunity to play with “some unbelievable players” like Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Jonathan Huberdeau and Sam Bennett during his Florida tenure had a serious impact on improving his game.
“You learn from guys like that,” said Duclair, who has one goal through his first five games with the Sharks. “Even though you’re kind of the same age, you’re just trying to bring that mentality wherever you go. Looking forward to competing with those guys again.”
Added Panthers coach Paul Maurice: “He was good for us. He had such a difficult injury to come back from [last season]. The most important thing he did was put other people in better places to play when he came back. ... He gave us more depth. We loved having him around here. There are guys that get injured that you want in and out of your building so they don’t bring everybody else down. He was the opposite. We just wanted him around so much. What a wonderful joy for the game. That part we certainly miss.”
How Panthers have replaced Duclair
On the other end of the trade, the Panthers acquired Lorentz to be a physical presence on their fourth line and then signed forward Evan Rodrigues to give themselves a top-six winger to replace Duclair’s scoring potential.
Lorentz, 6-4 and 206 pounds, scored 10 goals and had nine assists in 80 games for San Jose last season while leading the Sharks with 133 hits.
He has played all five games so far on the right wing of Florida’s fourth line with Ryan Lomberg on the left wing and Kevin Stenlund at center.
And that fourth line has been steady. They enter Tuesday’s game against the Sharks outshooting opponents 20-8 and have not given up a goal over 32 minutes and seven seconds of ice time at full strength despite 30 of their 38 faceoffs coming either in the neutral zone or defensive zone.
“You need depth to win championships,” Lorentz said. “There’s not always gonna be guys scoring 30 goals on every single line. There are little things that go unnoticed sometimes that don’t show up in the scoresheet like blocking shots and creating momentum swings and stuff like that. That’s what our line takes pride in. We like taking that role on. We’re going to be hard and heavy. It’s not always going to be pretty but as long as we’re getting that energy, we’re on pucks, then you know that we’re doing our job.”
As for facing his former team on Tuesday?
“I’m looking forward to seeing some familiar faces,” Lorentz said, “but at the same time business is business, so I’m not going to be too nice out there.”
Meanwhile, Rodrigues, who signed a four-year deal with the Panthers one day after the Duclair-Lorentz trade, is second on the team with seven points (two goals and five assists) and has built a strong rapport with fellow top-line winger Sam Reinhart.
This and that
▪ Goaltender Anthony Stolarz will start in net on Tuesday. It will be his first start with the Panthers.
▪ Maurice said the tentative plan is for center Sam Bennett to practice with the main group on Thursday with the hope he can return to the lineup Saturday against the Seattle Kraken.
▪ Reinhart was named the NHL’s third star of the week after scoring five goals and adding an assist over Florida’s three games last week — wins over the New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs and a loss against the Vancouver Canucks. Detroit forward Alex DeBrincat (five goals, three assists in four games) and Colorado goaltender Alexander Georgiev (3-0-0 record, .940 save percentage, one shutout) were the first and second stars, respectively.
