Versteeg Wants to Stay with Panthers
Despite having three 20-goal seasons on his resume at the age of 25, Versteeg has been traded four times in his career, including three times in a span of 366 days.
Versteeg doesn’t want to become a hockey nomad. He wants to stay in one place for a while, and his performance this season has given the Florida Panthers every reason to keep him around.
Given an expanded role with the upstart Panthers, Versteeg has responded with a team-high 22 goals, a total that ties him for 17th in the League.
Versteeg has needed only 53 games to match his career high, and he’s on pace to become Florida’s first 30-goal scorer since David Booth had 31 in 2008-09.
“I’ve always expected to be a player that can play good minutes and play in certain situations,” Versteeg said. “I’ve been given the opportunity here, where in the past you haven’t been given it. It’s been fun this year, you’ve been getting a lot of trust put into you by the coach, so that helps.”
Paired with Stephen Weiss and Tomas Fleischmann on Florida’s top line, Versteeg is averaging a career-high 20:33 — almost three minutes more than he averaged last season when he split time between Toronto and Philadelphia.
Versteeg matched his career high with a power-play goal in Sunday afternoon’s 4-1 victory over the Islanders. It was his second goal in two games and his fifth in eight games.
“It’s been fun to play with a guy who’s been hot like that,” Weiss said. “I’m just trying to get him the puck and go to the net and let him and Flash (Fleischmann) do their thing.”
Versteeg’s performance hasn’t been a major surprise for Dale Tallon, who’s been a fan of his since the two were in Chicago together.
