After appearing destined to be a scratch, Yandle will play in Panthers’ season opener

For the better part of the final week of training camp, all signs pointed to Keith Yandle being a healthy scratch when the Florida Panthers opened their season Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks. He skated with the team’s taxi squad for consecutive practices, a sign that he would probably not be used on game day.

And then, with about 30 minutes left in practice on Saturday, there was Yandle, joining the main group for their final full practice before Opening Night and working on a new-look power play unit.

And there he was again on Sunday morning, full-go during the Panthers’ morning skate, splitting time with Radko Gudas and Anton Stralman for final preparations before the season starts.

And there he will be on Sunday night, part of the 20-man roster that will be active when the Panthers open their season at 7 p.m. against the Blackhawks at the BB&T Center.

Coach Joel Quenneville confirmed after Sunday’s morning skate that Yandle will be part of the lineup.

This decision was anything but a certainty on the eve of the 2021 season There have even been reports about if the Panthers might ask Yandle to waive his no-trade clause and put him on the trade block.

But for now, Yandle is playing, even if it didn’t look that way until nearly 24 hours ago.

The Panthers have had eight defensemen getting regular time on the ice during practice. Four defensemen were inevitable to be active: Aaron Ekblad, MacKenzie Weegar, Stralman and Gudas. Riley Stillman, Yandle and Gustav Forsling were the final three competing for the final two spots on Sunday.

(Markus Nutivaara has gotten looks during the final three practices but has a non-roster designation to start the season).

Yandle and Forsling are getting the nods for Opening Night.

“I commend everyone in the situation,” Quenneville said of Yandle. It’s Probably a tough situation, not getting an opportunity. Everywhere, we have to make some tough decisions along the way and sometimes, I think whether it’s his teammates or himself, he handled it to move forward. He controlled what he could control and that’s make himself his best and as ready as possible.”

Power play roles

A factor that potentially played into the decision of Yandle and Forsling playing and Stillman being the likely healthy scratch: The power play.

Yandle, who recorded 60 points on the power play the last two seasons, seemed to be out of the picture in the man-advantage during training camp. Aaron Ekblad quarterbacked the top unit that originally had Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Patric Hornqvist and Anthony Duclair as the four forwards.

But on Saturday, when Yandle joined the main group on the ice, a new-look, two-defenseman power play unit with Yandle, Ekblad, Barkov, Huberdeau and Hornqvist emerged.

“It’s an opportunity for him to play,” Quenneville said. “You know, we didn’t give him any chance prior to that, and it was a pretty effective power play as well, so that’s something that we want to make sure gets off to a positive start. Hopefully we can take a break from the beginning here and have some consistency in it. We know the importance of power play structures. It creates a lot of offense and really helps your team game as well.

Forsling, who the Panthers claimed off waivers on Monday, has been running the Panthers’ second power-play unit, which now features Alexander Wennberg, Owen Tippett, Anthony Duclair and Carter Verhaeghe.

The iron man streak continues

And with Yandle set to play on Sunday night, his iron man streak remains alive for at least one more night.

Yandle, 34 and heading into his 15th NHL season, has played in 866 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NHL and fourth-longest streak in league history. He has played in every single game of his career since March 26, 2009.

Should Yandle play in all 52 regular-season games this year, he would move to second-place all time with 918 consecutive games played. The NHL record is 964, set by Doug Jarvis.