SUNRISE, Fla. — The forward line featuring Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, and Carter Verhaeghe perfectly embodies everything that makes the Florida Panthers so formidable in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
This trio relentlessly pressures opponents through forechecking. Their offensive skill is elite, highlighted by the fact that they are three of the top four scorers for the Panthers during this postseason run. They are also highly effective defensively, allowing an average of just 1.98 goals against per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play. Additionally, thanks to the presence of Tkachuk and Bennett, they possess a uniquely antagonistic edge, capable of both delivering and absorbing punishment, and then delivering more.
This combination of attributes arguably makes them the most dangerous line currently playing in the playoffs. They could easily function as a team`s top scoring unit, its primary checking line, or its most irritating pests.
“It`s a deadly combination, all over the ice,” said Florida winger Brad Marchand.
Lethal against opponents. Enjoyable for Tkachuk.
“It`s fun when we`re getting in on the forecheck and finishing hits and playing in their zone and getting good scoring chances,” he commented after the Panthers` 6-2 victory in Game 3 against the Hurricanes, a win that put them just one game away from a third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final. “I thought the building was electric. I credit my linemates for how they played, getting [the fans] going.”
Through 15 playoff games, this line has controlled 65.4% of shot attempts when on the ice at 5-on-5 and accounted for 57% of expected goals. The trio is averaging an impressive 4.6 goals per 60 minutes, and their 70% goals-for percentage ranks third among all lines on teams that advanced past the first round of the playoffs.
Because Verhaeghe has shifted between lines during the regular season, there hasn`t been a formal opportunity for fans or players to officially name this line. Suggestions on social media, some more cynical than others, have included `The Rat Pack,` the `Elbow Grease Line,` and the `Immunity Line,` a nod to their ability to play on the edge while often avoiding NHL discipline.
“We are kind of a line that can do everything,” Bennett explained. “Chucky likes to hold onto pucks down low, he likes to slow the game down a little bit. Then, Carter speeds the game up; he`s using his speed, he`s heavy and fast. And I`m sort of a mix of the two. It`s just a line that we`ve found has been effective in the playoffs. I really enjoy playing with both of those guys.”
Three distinct components, three players, each contributing something unique to their collective dominance.
“The diversity in style is actually a good thing for us,” said Florida coach Paul Maurice.
Sam Bennett: `Definition of a playoff player`
Bennett, 28, was acquired by the Panthers from Calgary in April 2021. At that time, Tkachuk was still with the Flames and wasn`t particularly pleased about the trade.
“He`s always had the talent. He`s always had the work ethic. He`s always had the bite, the jam, everything,” Tkachuk said. “I think a lot of his success is due to opportunity. He didn`t get the same opportunity in Calgary that he has here. I don`t know why that was.”
What Tkachuk has witnessed from Bennett in Florida is someone he believes is “the definition of a playoff player.” Bennett has accumulated 43 points in 54 games over the past three postseasons, all while playing a physically aggressive style that has, at times, bordered on illegal or injurious.
Or as Marchand put it: “He`s got a good right hook.”
Bennett appeared to sucker-punch Marchand during the Panthers` playoff series victory over the Boston Bruins in 2024. The incident knocked Marchand out of the series for two games but did not result in further discipline for Bennett.
At the trade deadline in 2025, they became teammates.
“I didn`t hold a grudge. Again, I understand how this game is played. I played a similar way,” Marchand stated. “It`s something we joke about. I can laugh it off. I joke about it all the time. I joke about it more than he does, but I definitely joke about it.”
However, Bennett does have a sense of humor. That was something Marchand didn`t expect before getting to know him.
“He`s not as serious a person as I initially thought. When you see him on the ice and in media scrums, he seemed quiet and reserved. Once you get acquainted with him, he`s actually quite vocal and genuinely funny, a good person to be around,” Marchand shared. “But on the ice, he`s incredibly intense. He doesn`t engage in much chirping; you rarely hear him during the game. He`s all business.”
Both Marchand and Maurice praised Bennett`s speed and shot, but Marchand was particularly impressed by his truculence.
“He brings a physical dimension to the game that, especially at this time of year, you can`t have enough of,” Marchand said of Bennett. “Those are the players who significantly impact the game, requiring opponents to be constantly aware of their physical presence on the ice and know where they are.”
Marchand speaks from experience.
Carter Verhaeghe: `Shows up in the big games`
Verhaeghe, 29, signed as a free agent with the Panthers in 2020, having won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay the previous season. He has since become one of Florida`s key postseason heroes, consistently elevating his game when the regular season concludes. Over the Panthers` last four playoff runs, Verhaeghe has scored 11 game-winning goals. No other player on the team has more than six during the same period.
“He`s a guy who really steps up in the important games,” Bennett noted.
Last season`s version 1.0 of this line was also highly effective; Bennett and Tkachuk skated with winger Evan Rodrigues, one of the Panthers with strong underlying analytics. However, Rodrigues doesn`t possess Verhaeghe`s offensive firepower. Verhaeghe boasts a 0.90 points-per-game average over his last 70 postseason contests.
Verhaeghe split his time last postseason between Bennett`s line and skating with captain Aleksander Barkov. Maurice felt comfortable moving Verhaeghe around in the past. This season, however, he couldn`t find the right combination to pair Verhaeghe consistently with Barkov.
“I got it wrong the entire year. The first two years, I thought I was brilliant. Every time I made a change, the lines took off,” Maurice admitted. “This year, I was a dummy.”
Despite Maurice`s struggles to keep him with Barkov, Verhaeghe truly clicked with Bennett and Tkachuk in the playoffs.
“I think our line works because we all bring different elements. We read off each other really well,” Verhaeghe explained. “Chucky makes excellent plays, is so smart, so physical. Benny is similar, making plays incredibly fast up the middle. We just stay on pucks and like to stay close together.”
With Bennett and Tkachuk creating space and making plays, Maurice views Verhaeghe as the finisher who can capitalize on the chances they generate.
“It`s Carter`s speed and his release, along with their collective ability to jump on broken plays,” Maurice said.
Verhaeghe is a name familiar to any NHL fan who has followed the playoffs in recent seasons. Bennett is gaining notoriety through memorable moments – just ask a Toronto Maple Leafs fan about his collision with Anthony Stolarz – as well as his performance for Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off and his impending unrestricted free agency, where he is expected to significantly increase his average annual value.
However, neither of them has yet been a guest on `The Tonight Show.`
Matthew Tkachuk: `He`s a wonderful human being`
Tkachuk is a superstar. That was evident when the Panthers acquired him in 2022, trading away star winger Jonathan Huberdeau and top defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, before signing Tkachuk to an eight-year, $76 million contract extension.
His superstar status was reinforced by his performance in 2023, when he led the Panthers in a stunning first-round upset of Boston and throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, before suffering a broken sternum in the Stanley Cup Final against Vegas.
It was true again last postseason, when Tkachuk recorded 22 points in 24 games and famously took the Stanley Cup for a celebratory swim in the Atlantic Ocean. And it was true at the 4 Nations Face-Off, where he and his brother generated significant buzz by dropping the gloves against Team Canada.
Tkachuk and Bennett have been linemates for multiple seasons, forming a formidable second line behind Barkov`s trio.
“He and Sam have similarities. They are fearless in how they play. And yet, they are exact opposites,” Maurice observed. “But that`s truly how they complement each other.”
Tkachuk has tallied 14 points in 15 games this postseason, but that only tells part of the story. He has been his typically antagonistic self both on and off the ice. This included slamming a ball against a wall repeatedly during a Hurricanes news conference in Raleigh, with the media area separated from the Panthers` workout space only by a curtain. On the ice, he slammed Carolina`s Sebastian Aho to the ice in Game 3, after Aho had delivered a controversial hit on Panthers forward Sam Reinhart in Game 2.
“I don`t really view it as having intent or being intimidation. It`s simply standing up for teammates,” said Tkachuk, who was assessed a roughing penalty and a 10-minute misconduct for the play. “We are a family in that locker room. It could happen to anyone, and there would probably be 20 guys racing to be the one to stand up for a teammate like that. That`s just how our team is built. That`s why we are successful. I don`t think any of us were happy about that play in Game 2.”
After the game, the Hurricanes expressed frustration that they didn`t retaliate to Tkachuk`s retaliation, worrying that Tkachuk would have succeeded in goading an opponent into taking another penalty.
“They are very good at provoking you into penalties,” Carolina`s Taylor Hall commented.
It is undoubtedly frustrating. But Tkachuk has that effect on people. Even his coach.
“I disliked Matthew intensely when I was coaching in Winnipeg,” Maurice, who coached the Jets from 2013 to 2022, admitted. “And then you meet him, and you think, `Oh my God, he`s a wonderful human being.`”
Maurice shared a story from after Game 3, when one of the Panthers invited a young fan who was battling cancer and his parents into the locker room area. Tkachuk left the team`s postgame celebration specifically to greet and chat with the boy.
“You need to see that side because that`s the real person,” Maurice emphasized.
Their on-ice personas can be vastly different from their personalities away from competition. Maurice also highlighted “Benny`s Buddies,” a program Sam Bennett initiated with the Humane Society of Broward County. Every time he scores a goal, it raises money to cover pet adoption fees.
“They are genuinely, genuinely nice people. Then, the puck drops,” Maurice said of his Panthers players. “They are tough on guys. They absolutely are. And most of that intensity is driven by how they feel about each other. They don`t want to let their teammates down.”
Marchand suggested there is a duality to hockey players. Their actions on the ice largely define their public image, how they are portrayed in the media, and their reputation around the league. However, when they share a locker room, no longer opponents but teammates like he and Bennett, you encounter a person who contrasts with their on-ice counterpart.
“I think it`s simply the respect we have for one another, understanding that what we do on the ice is our profession. We are competing for the same objective,” Marchand stated. “Ultimately, you are willing to do things on the ice that aren`t typical of you as a person off the ice.”
Maurice, in his characteristic style, compared this duality to – of all things – shotgunning a beer in church.
“Have you ever shotgunned a beer? Have you ever been to church? Would you shotgun a beer if you were in church? No, and that doesn`t make you a hypocrite,” he remarked. “There is a context for everything.”
Regardless of the context, Bennett, Tkachuk, and Verhaeghe form one of the NHL`s most compelling trios – and they are a primary engine driving the Panthers towards potentially repeating as champions.
