Paul Maurice has a very interesting take on why the Bennett line works
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Jonathan Ouimet
Jan 13, 2026 (0:04)
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Photo credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
A.J. Greer has the Florida Panthers buzzing, and the Sam Bennett line with Carter Verhaeghe is suddenly nasty again.
Paul Maurice basically gave Greer the ultimate compliment, work first, ego never. He went back to a brutal early camp practice and said Greer has played that hard every night.
Monday in Buffalo, that praise matched the scoreboard in a real way. Greer scored twice, Verhaeghe logged three assists, and Bennett chipped in two in a 4-3 win that cooled off a red-hot Sabres building.
What Maurice keeps pointing at is the balance, and it's easy to see. Bennett and Verhaeghe can play fast and mean, but Greer keeps the shifts simple, get in, finish checks, put pucks on net, and hunt rebounds.
''Well, the speed and the size, for sure. And then I think in some ways he's got the simplest game of the three of them, and they need that balance. So he'll shoot a puck like he did on his first goal, but finishes his checks, skates hard, battles for pucks, and he creates a lot of loose pucks, kind of creates that chaos that I think Sam and Carter are so good at using'' Maurice said.
With Matthew Tkachuk on injured reserve lately, Florida has needed someone to complete that trio without getting cute. Greer has been that straight-line piece, and Maurice loves the loose pucks and chaos he creates for the other two to pounce on.
A.J. Greer fuels the Florida Panthers forecheck
As a fan, it's the kind of shift-by-shift honesty that makes you trust the line even when the puck is bouncing.
Greer's best plays aren't always the goals, they're the retrievals that turn broken entries into slot looks. He takes a hit to make a play, then is the first guy back on the puck, and that's where Bennett and Verhaeghe feast.
There's also a big-picture angle here, because Greer's contract expires at the end of this season. He's on a two-year deal with an $850,000 cap hit, and he'll be a UFA when the schedule ends.
Greer has talked like a guy who'd happily stick around, calling Florida the best place he's been treated in his career. That doesn't guarantee anything, but it tells you the fit matters to him, not just the next cheque.
For a 29-year-old, second-round pick who was 39th overall in 2015, this is a pretty clean late-blooming value story. If he keeps driving that line with pace and hits, Bill Zito is going to have a real decision to make, and soon.
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| POLL | ||
JANVIER 13 | 23 ANSWERS Paul Maurice has a very interesting take on why the Bennett line works Should Florida extend A.J. Greer after this Sam Bennett line surge? | ||
| Extend A.J. Greer | 22 | 95.7 % |
| Walk A.J. Greer | 1 | 4.3 % |
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