Panthers Pulse: A.J. Greer to Inject Physicality, Personality into New-Look Fourth Line
With the Florida Panthers losing a large bulk of their fourth-liners from last season, A.J. Greer looks to bring in some physicality.
Photos via A.J. Greer (Instagram)
Leading up to the beginning of training camp, Pucks and Palms will be previewing each of the key pieces of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers in a series called ‘Panthers Pulse’ heading into the 2024-25 season. A.J. Greer is next.
2023-24 Stats: six goals, 12 points, 59 GP (Calgary Flames)
With five of their six regulars on the fourth line from their run to the Stanley Cup gone, the Florida Panthers needed to go shopping in free agency. A.J. Greer was the only one of the four players they brought in to plug those holes that they signed to a multi-year extension.
In seven professional seasons, Greer does not have a whole lot of NHL experience under his belt.
He has played in 167 total games — only two seasons of over 50 games coming in each of the past two years — and has tallied 13 goals and 32 points. He has scored 12 points in each of the past two seasons, doing so in 61 games for the Boston Bruins in 2022-23 before doing it in 59 games after the Calgary Flames claimed him off of waivers days before the start of the 2023-24 season.
The Panthers did not sign Greer to light up the scoresheet, however.
Florida lost a lot of physicality and personality on the wing with Ryan Lomberg heading to Greer’s (and his) old stomping grounds in Calgary and Nick Cousins signing with the Ottawa Senators.
Greer certainly packs a punch.
He threw over 100 hits in his two full seasons in the NHL — 101 in 2022-23 and 100 this past season — and added 49 total takeaways and 35 total takeaways in that span. He also played sparingly on the penalty kill for the Flames last season, logging 15:43 of total shorthanded time-on-ice last year.
“I’m looking forward to it, just to add some pace to that locker room,” Greer said when he first spoke to the South Florida media on Zoom. “I'm a big power forward, but I can play both ends. I take care of the defensive side of things, but I can also play offensively, and I'm great on the forecheck.
“That's something I pride myself on. The thing that I pride myself on the most, though, is my hard work, and you guys are going to see that. It's what got me to where I am today, and that's not going to stop. I'm going to give my 110 percent every time I'm out there.”
Greer has already shown flashes of his personality since arriving in South Florida, too.
When he first inked the deal with the Panthers he posted two things on his Instagram story: a picture of Kodak Black at a Panthers game and a picture of him and Florida legend (and now member of the front office) Roberto Luongo.
The Quebec native also spent summers in Pompano Beach — attending the occasional Panthers game — so he will surely endear himself with the locals soon after his arrival.
Up Next in Panthers Pulse: Sam Reinhart
Previously: Matthew Tkachuk, Gustav Forsling, Sam Bennett, Evan Rodrigues, Eetu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskis, Anton Lundell, Sergei Bobrovsky, Spencer Knight, Aleksander Barkov, Adam Boqvist