Panthers Pulse: Eetu Luostarinen Key in Penalty Kill Resurgence in Florida

The Florida Panthers saw their penalty kill rise from the doldrums from 2023 to 24, and Eetu Luostarinen will be key for its continued success.

Photo by Colby Guy

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. Eetu Luostarinen is next.

2023-24 Stats: 12 goals, 27 points, 82 GP (Playoffs: two goals, eight points, 24 GP)

Eetu Luostarinen was an unsung hero for the Florida Panthers throughout their run to their 2024 Stanley Cup victory.

Luostarinen logged the second-most shorthanded time-on-ice (54:58) out of any forward in the playoffs, only trailing penalty-killing partner Kevin Stenlund in that department.

That duo helped turn around a penalty kill unit which ran at an abysmal 70.4 percent clip in the 2023 playoffs to an 88 percent clip en route to the 2024 Stanley Cup. Only the Edmonton Oilers (94.3 percent) had a better penalty kill during the playoffs.

But the penalty kill woes which plagued the Panthers in the 2023 Cup Final — where they gave up six power play goals in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights — did not follow them in 2024. And a lot of it was because Luostarinen was back and healthy.

Luostarinen immediately came in and helped settle things down on Florida’s penalty kill following the broken tibia which ended his 2023 playoff run prematurely in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. His chemistry with Kevin Stenlund was apparent, but he was a key piece in rebuilding that penalty kill with his reach, hockey IQ and his versatility.

Even with Stenlund gone, Luostarinen will be a key contributor on the penalty kill. He just needs a new partner.

The Panthers ran Luostarinen and Lundell together on the penalty kill at times — mainly when one of Stenlund or Barkov was in the box — and they worked well together. They have been tied at the hip for a large portion of the past two seasons at 5-on-5 and they’ve clicked.

Jesper Boqvist and Tomas Nosek could also emerge as options to use next to Luostarinen down the middle.

As far as offensive production goes, 2023-24 was a down year for Luostarinen — seeing his goal total drop from 17 to 12 and point total go from 43 to 27 — but a lot of that had to do with the departure of Sam Reinhart from the third line.

For a large chunk of the season, Luostarinen and Lundell had to learn how to carry their own line and they hit a snag up until the acquisition of Vladimir Tarasenko allowed for players like Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues and eventually Tarasenko himself to rotate in on that line.

Luostarinen finished the final two months of the season with two goals and 11 points in the final 22 games of the regular season.

With Tarasenko gone, the Panthers will need to find a new option from within.

It could be Mackie Samoskevich or it could be one of four new offseason acquisitions: Boqvist, Tomas Nosek, AJ Greer or MacKenzie Entwistle. Competition is wide open there.

Regardless, he will be a key pillar to the Panthers’ success both at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill again in 2024-25.

Up Next in Panthers Pulse: Uvis Balinskis

Previously: Matthew Tkachuk, Gustav Forsling, Sam Bennett, Evan Rodrigues