New Florida Panthers Numbers: Who Wears Them Now, Who Wore Them Best

Florida Panthers forward Mackie Samoskevich changed his number from 25 to 11 this season. // Photo courtesy @FlaPanthers

The last time we broke down the new members of the Florida Panthers, it was in August a few weeks before the start of training camp.

Then, the only players who looked like solid hits to make the team were Jeff Petry, Daniil Tarasov, and Luke Kunin.

All three did make the team, but many others did too.

Mackie Samoskevich even changed his number.

We did not know about that one in August.

With the Panthers wrapping up the season with two home games this week, what better time to break down the numbers assigned/requested from all of the new members of the Panthers.

Some, of course, have been here a lot longer than others.

As we do at FHN whenever new players arrive is to look at the numbers they will wear with the Panthers, comparing them to players of the past who have previously worn that number.

So, here is a a look at which Florida Panthers player wore the number first, and, who wore it best.

Jay Bouwmeester Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 4

• Who Wears It Now: D Marek Alscher
• Who Wore It First: Keith Brown
• Who Wore It Best: Jay Bouwmeester
• Who Wore No. 4: Brown, Per Gustafsson, John Jakopin, Bouwmeester, Dennis Seidenberg, Keaton Ellerby, Dylan Olsen, Olli Juolevi, Casey Fitzgerald, Matt Kiersted
• Breaking It Down: This one is not to hard to pick a winner. It’s Bouwmeester, whether he wants it or not. Bouwmeester was not always happy to be playing for the Panthers, but he was one of the top young defensemen in the league after being Florida’s top pick (third overall) in 2003. He ended up winning the Stanley Cup and Gold with Team Canada during his standout career.

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 6

• Who Wears It Now: D Donovan Sebrango
• Who Wore It First: Peter Andersson
• Who Wore It Best: Jason Wooley
• Who Wore No. 6: Andersson, Greg Smyth, Wooley, Jeff Norton, Peter Ratchuk, Dan Boyle, Andreas Lilja, Noah Welch, Magnus Johansson, Ville Koistinen, Dennis Wideman, Ryan Whitney, Alexander Petrovic, Chris Wideman, Anton Stralman, Colin White, Mike Reilly, Jaycob Megna
• Breaking It Down: Megna was the last to wear No. 6 and was part of a Stanley Cup championship last season — but Wooley was a big part of the Panthers going to the Stanley Cup Final three years out of expansion in 1996. He was part of the infamous trade in which the Panthers sent Wooley and Stu Barnes to Pittsburgh for Chris Wells and helped facilitate the breakup of the Miami Arena Panthers.

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 11

• Who Wears It Now: F Mackie Samoskevich
• Who Wore It First: Evgeny Davydov
• Who Wore It Best: Jonathan Huberdeau
• Who Wore No. 11: Davydov, Billy Lindsay, Kevyn Adams, Mikael Samuelsson, Jon Sim, Gregory Campbell, Niclas Bergfors, Huberdeau
• Breaking It Down: There are a few strong candidates here — Lindsay topping the list — but there is no doubt this goes to Huberdeau. At the time he was traded to Calgary for Matthew Tkachuk, there was talk of this number being retired for him since he owned all of the major franchise records and all. It still might be retired one day, but it will be a shared honor.

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 18

• Who Wears It Now: F Noah Gregor
• Who Wore It First: Mike Hough
• Who Wore It Best: Hough
• Who Wore No. 18: Hough, Alex Hicks, Cam Stewart, Marcus Nilson, Ville Peltonen, Shawn Matthias, Reilly Smith, Micheal Haley, Robert Hagg, Marc Staal, Steven Lorentz
• Breaking It Down: There have not been many players who have worn this number with distinction, although Peltonen had his moments as did Matthias, Smith, and Cup champion Lorentz. Hough was part of the original Panthers and spent four years here which is longer than anyone else.

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 20

• Who Wears It Now: D Mike Benning
• Who Wore It First: Brian Skrudland
• Who Wore It Best: Skrudland
• Who Wore No. 20: Skrudland, Val Bure, Craig MacDonald, Josh Olson, Kamil Piros, Joel Kwiatkowski, Ed Belfour, Richard Zednik, Ryan Carter, Sean Bergenheim, Reto Berra, Aleksi Heponiemi, Jesse Puljujarvi
• Breaking It Down: There certainly have been some characters to wear this number (we’re looking at you, Eddie the Eagle) but Skrudland helped bring legitimacy to the expansion Panthers as their first captain who helped lead them to the Final in their third year.

Brian Skrudland in the 1996 Eastern Conference FinalCredit: RVR Photos-Imagn Images

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 22

• Who Wears It Now: D Toby Bjornfot
• Who Wore It First: Bob Kudelski
• Who Wore It Best: Shawn Thornton
• Who Wore No. 22: Kudelski, Scott Levins, Steve Washburn, Dino Ciccarelli, Todd Simpson, Kristian Huselius, Sean Hill, Jassen Cullimore, Jeff Taffe, Matt Bradley, George Parros, Mike Mottau, Thornton, Troy Brouwer, Chase Priskie, Zac Dalpe
• Breaking It Down: This is one of a few numbers in Panthers history to be worn by a Hall of Famer, but Ciccarelli was at the end of his career here. So, too, was Thornton, but he added a lot to a Panthers team that needed some juice helping Florida win the Atlantic in 2016. He also was the originator of the ‘Spacey in Space’ phenomenon which we’re still not talking about. Bjornfot, it should be noted, once wore No. 2 but changed to No. 22 when Jeff Petry joined the team. Hey, it’s available again.

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 24

• Who Wears It Now: F Vinnie Hinostroza
• Who Wore It First: Brent Severyn
• Who Wore It Best: Robert Svehla
• Who Wore No. 24: Severyn, Svehla, Darcy Hordichuk, Ruslan Salei, Bryan McCabe, Ryan Carter, Brad Boyes, Jiri Hudler, Seth Griffith, Justin Sourdif
• Breaking It Down: Svehla wins this one by a pretty good margin as he remains one of the top players in franchise history. But you have to admit, some pretty fun players wore this one from Hordichuk, the late Ruslan Salei, former captain Bryan McCabe, and the popular Justin Sourdif. But it’s Svehla — and it’s not close.

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 25

• Who Wears It Now: F Nolan Foote
• Who Wore It First: Geoff Smith
• Who Wore It Best: Viktor Kozlov
• Who Wore No. 25: Smith, Kozlov, Joe Nieuwendyk, Jarred Smithson, Jacob Markstrom, Henrik Haapala, Derick Brassard, Brady Keeper, Mackie Samoskevich
• Breaking It Down: Samoskevich gave this one up to get No. 11 and it is another one of those numbers worn here by a future Hall of Famer. Nieuwendyk spent his final two NHL seasons here and played well, only his chronic back forced his retirement. Kozlov was part of the original Sunrise Panthers, playing for the team from 1998-2004.

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 29

• Who Wears It Now: F Cole Reinhardt
• Who Wore It First: Jeff Greenlaw
• Who Wore It Best: Tomas Vokoun
• Who Wore No. 29: Greenlaw, Johan Garpenlov, Ryan Johnson, Mike Vernon, Anders Eriksson, Lukas Krajicek, Darren Van Impe, Igor Kravchuk, Jeff Toms, Jamie McLennan, Vokoun, Bill Thomas, Harri Sateri
• Breaking It Down: Vokoun may be one of the most underrated players to ever suit up for the Panthers. He was fantastic in net, yet played on some pretty bad Panthers teams over the years. Not his fault. Vokoun was good. In his first season after coming over from Nashville, Vokoun faced a whopping 2,213 shots in 69 games. He had a .919 save percentage that year.

Tomas VokounCredit: James Guillory-Imagn Images

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 32

• Who Wears It Now: F Wilmer Skoog
• Who Wore It First: Richard Shulmistra
• Who Wore It Best: Kris Versteeg
• Who Wore No. 32: Shulmistra, Mike Vernon, Ryan Jardine, Stephane Matteau, Grant McNeill, Michal Repik, Versteeg, Lucas Carlsson
• Breaking It Down: One would think more players would have picked a cool number like 32 but alas, not so when it comes to the Panthers. Versteeg gets the nod here because he was part of the big Dale Tallon spending spree in 2011 and he helped the Panthers end their long playoff drought. Versteeg was not here long, but at least he got to go back to Chicago.

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 54

• Who Wears It Now: D Ludvig Jansson
• Who Wore It First: Kamil Kreps
• Who Wore It Best: Kreps
• Who Wore No. 54: Kreps, Givani Smith
• Breaking It Down: Kamil Kreps spent part of four seasons with the Panthers and scored 18 goals with 60 points in 232 games. But his nickname was the ‘Krepper.’ That alone wins this competition.

FLORIDA PANTHERS No. 79

• Who Wears It Now: F Cole Schwindt
• Who Wore It First: Schwindt
• Who Wore It Best: Schwindt
• Who Wore No. 79: Schwindt
• Breaking It Down: Let’s see; it’s Cole Schwindt. The forward played in three games during the 2021-22 season wearing No. 79 then was traded to Calgary in the Matthew Tkachuk deal. He comes back when the Panthers claim him off waivers before the season starts and he asks for his old number. Got to love that.

ON DECK: GAME No. 81

NEW YORK RANGERS at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Monday, 7 p.m.
• **Where:**Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 931 or 932, NHL App
• **Last Season vs. Rangers:**Panthers Won 2-1
• This Season vs. Rangers (NYR Leads 2-0) — At Panthers: Rangers 5, Panthers 1 (Winter Classic, Jan.2); Monday. At Rangers: New York 3, Florida 1 (March 29).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Rangers lead 64-36-8, 6 ties
• Postseason History (Tied 1-1): Rangers won 4-1 (1997, 1st round); Panthers won 4-2 (2024 ECF)
• **Up Next for the Panthers:**Wednesday v Detroit Red Wings, 7 p.m. (SEASON FINALE)

This article: New Florida Panthers Numbers: Who Wears Them Now, Who Wore Them Best originally appeared on Florida Hockey Now.