Carolina Hurricanes host Florida Panthers tonight at Lenovo Center

After Tuesday night’s win in Tampa Bay, the Carolina Hurricanes’ preseason continues this weekend. The Florida Panthers host the Carolina Hurricanes tonight before playing again in Florida on Saturday evening. The defending champions will certainly bring a younger squad to the Lenovo Center and give most of the regular players a break.

Rod Brind’Amour and Co. will compete in front of their home crowd tonight with a strong veteran lineup. In addition to Josiah Slavin, Noel Gunler, Ruslan Khazheyev and Ryan Suzuki, the Canes’ lineup will consist entirely of last year’s regulars and new faces like Sean Walker, William Carrier and Jack Roslovic. Shayne Gostisbehere will also play, but he’s kind of new.

Just as Tuesday was special for the Brind’Amour family as Rod’s son Skyler played for his coach and father, the Slavin brothers will play together for the first time in the Carolina red and black colors.

Frederik Andersen will get his first start of the season and Seth Jarvis will hit the ice for the first time since his big contract extension to stay in Raleigh for the next eight years. It will be interesting to see Brind’Amour’s line combinations tonight with mostly regular players.

Just as the Panthers are shedding a young roster, expect the Canes to do the same tomorrow in Florida. I would have liked to have seen Jackson Blake and Bradly Nadeau get a chance to play with the starters, but they will have a lot of ice time tomorrow night.

After this weekend, the squad in training camp is likely to become thinner. With a roster already established, Brind’Amour wants the starters to get more minutes in the final two preseason games to prepare for opening night.

Three preseason games remain after this weekend, starting on Wednesday against the Nashville Predators. The home season schedule will conclude next Friday when the Canes host the Tampa Bay Lightning. The next day, the preseason ends with another contest against the Predators in Nashville.