Carter Verhaeghe

**Carter Verhaeghe** (born on August 14, 1995 in Waterdown, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who currently plays for the Florida Panthers of the NHL.

Carter was drafted in the third round (82nd overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

## Playing Career

Carter played minor midget hockey with the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs before he was drafted 38th overall in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection by the Niagara IceDogs. Following his second season with the IceDogs in 2012–13, posting 44 points in 67 games, he was selected in the third round, 82nd overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

At the end of the 2013–14 season with the Ice Dogs, he was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs on April 2, 2014. He immediately joined AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, signing an amateur tryout contract to play out the remainder of their campaign.

Matching his scoring totals from his previous season with the IceDogs, he scored 82 points as captain in his final season of junior in the 2014–15 season.

Prior to his first professional season, Carter was included in a multi-player trade prior to training camp by the Maple Leafs to the New York Islanders in exchange for Michael Grabner on September 18, 2015. He split the following two seasons between the Islanders affiliates' the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL and Missouri Mavericks of the ECHL.

With one-year remaining on his entry-level contract, he was traded by the Islanders to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Kristers Gudļevskis on July 1, 2017. In the 2017–18 season with the Syracuse Crunch, Verhaeghe in his first full year in the AHL, secured a top six scoring role scoring a breakout 48 points in 58 games.

In the following 2018–19 season, Carter captured the first AHL scoring title ever by a Crunch skater, claiming the John B. Sollenberger Trophy with 82 points in 76 games. His 34 goals tied Crunch teammate Alex Barré-Boulet in league scoring to share the Willie Marshall Award. He holds the Crunch's single-season total point record with 82 points.

On July 5, 2019, Carter was signed to a one-year, two-way contract extension with the Lightning. On September 30, 2019, the Lightning announced that Verhaeghe had made the team's opening night roster.

On October 3, 2019, he appeared in his first career NHL game, which came in a 5–2 Lightning win over the visiting Florida Panthers at Amalie Arena.

On October 5, 2019, he recorded his first career NHL assist and point in a 3–4 loss to the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center. On December 7, 2019, he recorded his first career NHL goal and first career multi-point game in a 7–1 Lightning win over the visiting San Jose Sharks at Amalie Arena. He scored his first NHL hat trick on January 7, 2020 in a 9–2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

On August 15, 2020, Carter skated in his first career NHL playoff game. In that game, he recorded his first career playoff assist and point. Tampa would go on to win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Dallas Stars in six games and he would become the second Sound Tigers player to win the Stanley Cup.

As an impending restricted free agent with arbitration rights and due to salary cap constraints, Carter was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Lightning and was released to explore free agency. On October 9, 2020, he remained in Florida, agreeing to a two-year, $2 million contract with the Florida Panthers.