Carter Verhaeghe's new superpower

Since welcoming his first child, Rory, with his wife Casey, Verhaeghe has been on a tear, stacking goals at a pace that mirrors his smoothest stretches from last season. Florida went 2-0-1 last week, and Verhaeghe scored in all three games, collecting four goals and five points after missing one night for the birth. His return carried a noticeable spark, the kind that tightens a bench and sharpens a team.

The Panthers needed it. December opened with thin margins and long shifts, but Verhaeghe's scoring touch calmed everything around their rush game. His release looks confident, his glide quicker, and his reads in the slot feel instinctive again. Florida's staff trusts him in every situation, and his dad-bump surge arrived at a moment when the lineup needed a steady finisher.

It is hard not to feel uplifted watching him skate right now, because you sense both the joy and the purpose in every shift. The team clearly feeds off it too.

Verhaeghe posted 38 goals last season and remains one of the league's elite even-strength shooters. His recent heater pushed him into the NHL's Third Star of the Week conversation, a well-earned nod for a player carrying Florida through an injury-battered stretch. Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk remain out, which raises the value of Verhaeghe's surge even more as he anchors Florida's most dangerous looks.

His goals have arrived in clutch moments, stabilizing periods that could have swung the other way. That reliability becomes even more crucial on a roster that has leaned heavily on depth while waiting for stars to heal. Verhaeghe's pace and timing restore balance, giving the Panthers their most consistent offensive identity of the month.

If this dad-bump continues, Florida could ride his touch into a momentum run just as the season tightens. The Panthers have found belief again, and Verhaeghe is the spark sitting right at the center of it.