Game Preview: Lightning Prepare for Panthers; Waive Johanssen
By Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports
The Tampa Bay Lightning spent Wednesday's training camp session preparing for another round of the Battle of Florida against the Panthers. While the Bolts expect to play most of their veterans Thursday night, Florida will bring a roster of prospects to Tampa. The Lightning also placed backup goalie Jonas Johanssen on waivers Wednesday.
Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that began last week. veterans with over 100 NHL games played can participate in only two of the four preseason games. Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper played most of those game-restricted players on Sunday in their home game against the Predators.
The Lightning core group, which includes Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Brandon Hagel, will play Thursday night. Other notables include Conor Geekie, who scored the game-winning goal Sunday evening, Ilya Mikheyev, and prospects Sam O'Reilly and Benjamin Rautiainen.
Both Andrei Vasilevskiy and Dennis Hildeby will dress Thursday night. It remains to be seen who will start, whether one plays the entire game, or whether they will share time in the crease.
A select few, including Gage Goncalves, Emil Lilleberg, and Zemgus Girgensons, were held back on Sunday to make the trip to Tennessee earlier this week.
Lilleberg will play at home tonight, as will forward Jakob Pelletier, who also played Tuesday. Center Jansen Harkins will also get a look with the core group tonight.
Goncalves and Girgensons, along with veterans Pontus Holmberg and Jeffrey Viel, are expected to play in Sunrise on Saturday.
Viel scored twice Tuesday night in the 3-2 OT loss in Nashville, leading Cooper to praise one of his newest forwards.
"He walks around here very comfortable, very personable, listens, works," Cooper said of Viel Wednesday. "But he's got a swag to him that you can tell that he's been in a couple back alleys before."
"He creates space for himself out there, and I thought their line (with Girgensons and Holmberg) was exceptional last night."
This will be the final preseason game for most of the core Lightning players, meaning Tampa Bay will head to Sunrise on Saturday with many prospective players in tow.
Florida Decides A Different Route
The Panthers chose a different direction and started most of their key players in the first two preseason games against Boston, which means the Lightning will not see them until the regular-season Thanksgiving weekend.
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said he played his regular veterans early in the preseason to maximize conditioning, build line chemistry, and work on special teams before a heavy stretch of practice and the regular-season opener.
“We’ve got some new people here, we had a big chunk of time off this summer, we thought…get our returning players into games,” Maurice said. “When we come off this (road trip to Carolina) we’ve got four days of practice, a day off from practice, and we’re gone, so we have to get special teams time on the ice, and it’s difficult to do that when you run a split group.”
Speculation has suggested Maurice made the move to avoid a repeat of last year's preseason matchup at Benchmark International Arena. On October 2, 2025, both teams combined for 186 penalty minutes (Florida had 104 PIM, Tampa Bay had 82 PIM) in a 5-2 Lightning win.
Cooper downplayed the possibility of another game similar to last year's fisticuffs.
"I expect guys to go out there and try to make the Tampa Bay Lightning," he said. "And I expect guys to go out there and try to make the Florida Panthers. That's what the last two (games) are for."
"It's just how those games are."
Bolts Waive Veteran Backup Johanssen
When the Lightning traded Nick Paul to the Toronto Maple Leafs for goalie Dennis Hildeby on July 1st, Jonas Johanssen knew his days in Tampa were numbered.
When Bolts General Manager Julien BriseBois announced the trade for the new backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy in Hildeby, he emphasized that he would do whatever he could to find Johanssen a new home.
Unfortunately, it appears BriseBois' efforts went for naught right through training camp, and the seven-year veteran was placed on waivers Wednesday.
Johansson is entering the final year of a two-year deal worth $ 1.5M. The 31-year-old spent three seasons with Tampa Bay, playing 70 games and starting 65 (32-23-10) with a 3.26 GAA and a .890 SV%.
The Lightning will open up cap space if another team picks him up and absorbs his upcoming salary. If not, Johanssen could be reassigned to AHL affiliate Syracuse.
His 32 wins place him 8th all-time in Lightning history. He is scheduled to practice with the team while the waiver is pending.
Up Next
The Florida Panthers come to town this evening to face the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena. Puck Drop is at 7 pm.
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