The most pleasant surprise of the offseason will not be making his NHL debut on Saturday.
With Saturday's opening night game against the Philadelphia Flyers looming on the horizon, head coach Gerard Gallant appears to have his roster set.
FYI: Sounds like Connor Brickley, Steven Kampfer and Dylan Olsen will be Panthers?src=hash">#FlaPanthers scratches for opening night v #Flyers on Saturday
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) October 8, 2015
— Harvey Fialkov (@hfialkov) October 7, 2015
Of course, anything can happen between now and puck drop, but all the signs point towards veteran enforcer Shawn Thornton starting on the team's fourth line instead of Connor Brickley.