Owen Tippett had finally earned another chance with the Florida Panthers _ he just thought it might come next season.
Tippett's first chance came way back in 2017, when he made the Panthers' opening-night roster less than four months after Florida picked him 10th in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. After a seven-game stint, he headed to AHL Springfield and has toiled in the minors ever since. With 40 points in 46 games this regular season, the right wing was poised to get another chance.
It wasn't supposed to come like this, though. COVID-19 struck in March and the NHL abruptly concluded its regular season. Now, it's training camp in July and Tippett is getting another chance on the Panthers roster as they prepare for the expanded postseason.
"Obviously, anytime you get a chance like this it's a great opportunity to just take it all in and learn from it," Tippett said. "Obviously, coming off what I thought was a good year for myself and the team in Springfield, when you come up here you just take the opportunity to be a sponge again and then you take it all in."
The NHL's roster rules for the expanded postseason are giving young players across the league an unexpected opportunity. NHL teams are filling those extra rosters spots with players from their American Hockey League affiliates.
In some cases, those extras are the sort of fringe players who make their living bouncing between the NHL and AHL. In other cases, those extras are top prospects getting their first serious chances to impress NHL coaching staffs. Tippett, the No. 14 overall prospect in ESPN's rankings, is one of five players participating in the Panthers' postseason training camp not to appear at all in the NHL in the regular season.
Four are skaters _ Tippett, center Eetu Luostarinen, and defensemen Brady Keeper and Chase Priskie _ and all four are hoping to help the team in real action once they get to Toronto to face the New York Islanders in the qualifying round next month, even if they face an uphill climb.
Keeper has spent the postseason training camp at the Florida Panthers IceDen working as a fourth-line defenseman. The other three are all on the outside looking in, although they will accompany the team when it travels to Toronto on Sunday. As it stares down an unprecedented postseason, Florida can't rule out contributions from any of the four.
"Things can change quickly in our business," coach Joel Quenneville said. "You could be seeing some of these guys as you go along."
Typically, Tippett, Luostarinen, Priskie, and goaltenders Philippe Desrosiers and Sam Montembeault form a second group, which practices separately on the ice once the first group concludes. Scrimmage days are the exception, as they get a chance to play with the full team and prove they can hang against NHL competition.
On Tuesday in Coral Springs, Luostarinen and Tippett were two of the stars in a scrimmage, as Luostarinen assisted Tippett for one of the three goals of the day.
"They've been handling themselves well, and it's nice to see them handle playing against NHL players the whole time," Quenneville said, "so it's a good experience for them and gives us a better chance to see what they can do against that type of talent."
Keeper is currently the closest to cracking a spot in the rotation. The 24-year-old has typically been paired with fellow defenseman John Brown as the fourth defensive pairing. Teams usually go three lines deep on defense, but the placement leaves Keeper just a step away from regular playing time.
This training camp might be most important to Keeper, too. Keeper signed with Florida as an undrafted free agent late last season and quickly wound up in Quenneville's dog house when he showed up to preseason training camp out of shape. Less than a year later, he could be counted on to contribute in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
"Obviously, I didn't want to make the same mistake, so I took it as one last chance," Keeper said. "I was just eating right, just doing the little things and I feel way better than I did last year."
Even if ice time eludes Tippett and Co., they'll feel more comfortable competing once next season begins.
"You obviously want to keep it all on and keep it a possibility that you're going to play, just because you want to stay sharp and stay ready," Tippett said. "But, obviously, you have to look at it as it's just a great opportunity to learn, whether you're playing or not and it's a great experience to just be in the atmosphere."
