Projected Lineups for the Panthers vs Blue Jackets – 3/20/25

The Florida Panthers take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena tonight. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.

PANTHERS (41-24-3) at BLUE JACKETS (31-28-8)

7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, SCRIPPS

Panthers projected lineup

Evan Rodrigues — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe — Sam Bennett — Mackie Samoskevich
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer — Nico Sturm — Jonah Gadjovich

Gustav Forsling — Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola — Nate Schmidt
Uvis Balinskis — Tobias Bjornfot

Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek

Scratched: Tomas Nosek

Injured: Brad Marchand (upper body), Matthew Tkachuk (lower body), Dmitry Kulikov (upper body)

Suspended: Aaron Ekblad

Status report:

Bjornfot was recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Tuesday to replace Kulikov, a defenseman out week to week, according to coach Paul Maurice; Kulikov left during the first period of a 4-2 loss at the New York Islanders on Sunday.

More from THW:

• Projected Lineups for the Panthers vs Islanders – 3/16/25
• NHL Rumours: Bennett, Panthers, Rantanen, Avalanche, Maple Leafs, Senators
• Canadiens’ Dvorak Scores 100th Goal in Critical Win over Panthers

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Kent Johnson — Adam Fantilli — Kirill Marchenko
Dmitri Voronkov — Boone Jenner — Yegor Chinakhov
Zach Aston-Reese — Justin Danforth — Mathieu Olivier
James van Riemsdyk — Sean Kuraly — Luke Kunin

Zach Werenski — Dante Fabbro
Denton Mateychuk — Ivan Provorov
Jack Johnson — Damon Severson

Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov

Scratched: Jordan Harris, Christian Fischer

Injured: Cole Sillinger (upper body), Erik Gudbranson (upper body), Sean Monahan (wrist), Jake Christensen (upper body)

Status report:

Merzlikins will start after missing two games for personal reasons. … Fantilli and Kent Johnson swapped lines with Voronkov and Chinakhov.

More from THW:

• Blue Jackets Fall to Devils Behind Jake Allen’s 45 Saves
• Blue Jackets Shuffle Their Top-Six Looking For a Spark
• Projected Lineups for Devils vs Blue Jackets – 3/17/25