Hear from Marc Staal, Justin Sourdif and head coach Paul Maurice following Tuesday's practice at the Panthers IceDen.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - With his 16th tour of duty in the NHL on the horizon, Marc Staal knows better than most the best way to gear up for the 82-game grind of the regular season.

"You want to get yourself feeling the best you can for Game 1," Staal, who inked a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers in July, said following Tuesday's practice at the Panthers IceDen. "I've been starting to get my legs back under me here in this last week and hopefully I keep trending in the right direction. I've done it enough times, so I should have it figured out by now."

For head coach Paul Maurice, it's Staal's consistency that has really stood out in training camp.

"He runs the same program every day on the ice," Maurice said. "He's a big guy, covers enough ice, and has a great stick. His experience has let his game change as he ages in the league."

Originally selected by the New York Rangers with the 12th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, Staal, who stands an imposing 6-foot-4 and 208 pounds on the blue line, arrived to the Panthers with 214 points (49 goals, 165 assists), 1,162 blocked shots and 1,308 hits over 1,019 career regular-season games.

Also appearing in 107 career playoff games - including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final with New York in 2014 - it's Staal's deep hunger to hoist the Stanley Cup that drew him to South Florida.

With two weeks of camp in the books, he's liked what he's seen thus far.

"With the overall skill and talent that this group has, the practices are at a very high level with very high speed," Staal said. "It's been a lot of fun to work with these guys. … It's been a hard camp. As we get close to the end [of camp] here, I'm looking forward to the last exhibition games, getting more comfortable and starting to work more as a team. It's exciting to get closer to the season."

A steady hand on the back end for the Detroit Red Wings in 2021-22, Staal, who's known for his reliable stay-at-home approach on defense, registered 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) - his best offensive season since 2014-15 - while averaging 17:25 of ice time per tilt over 71 games.

During this morning's practice, he was paired up with Brandon Montour .

"We've got in some work with each other the last week and a bit," Staal said of Montour, who notched a career-high 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 2021-22. "Hopefully we can get another game or two in before the season starts. It's more getting a feel for each other, communication, all that stuff. We'll continue to work at it."

That's what camp is all about.

With camp starting to wind down, the Panthers are spending more time on special teams.

Dedicating the majority of the second half of this morning's practice to the power play, Maurice said the team's approach on the man advantage this season will center around two key words.

"Cadence would be a word that they hear, and attack rate," Maurice said.

Using those words as a foundation, the Panthers are hoping to spend more time this season putting pucks on net and less time waiting for the perfect opportunity while on the power play. For although they ranked fifth in the NHL on the power play at 24.4% in 2021-22, they also ranked 19th in shots on goal per 60 minutes with the extra attacker, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

"We want to make sure that we're taking every opportunity to take the puck to the net and not spend an inordinate amount of time around the outside trying to set up the perfect play," Maurice said. "When you get into the playoffs and the shots get blocked and the routes get closed faster and the desperation level goes up, it's very difficult to change your style of play. That cadence, that attack rate, the number of times we try to put the puck on net is important."

There were several regulars missing from this morning's practice as Matthew Tkachuk , Carter Verhaeghe , Patric Hornqvist , Colin White and Nick Cousins are all currently nursing bumps and bruises.

According to Maurice, none of the injuries are considered serious.

"For all of these guys, they're all healthy and they're all close," Maurice said. "We've kind of moved out of the part of camp where nobody wants to come off the ice even for a minor issue."

Better safe than sorry, as they say.

"We've got to be smart and manage these guys," Maurice said. "If we can take a day or two off with each of them, then we don't have to deal with it the rest of the year. Anyone that's got anything nagging, we're trying to clean that up right now. … Because we have some players getting maintenance, there's another look for guys."

One player getting another look is Justin Sourdif .

After missing the start of camp due to an injury suffered in last month's Prospect Showcase, the 20-year-old forward has been given some extra time to show the coaching staff what he can do.

"I'm just trying to get my cardio back and get my legs underneath me," said Sourdif, who is entering his first season in the pros after being selected by the Panthers in the third round (87th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. "Hopefully I get into a preseason game here before I head down to Charlotte. I'm just trying to work my hardest here every day."

For a prospect only just exiting the junior ranks, time in an NHL camp is invaluable.

"You're always worried when you get hurt," said Sourdif, who helped the Edmonton Oil Kings claim the 2022 WHL Championship. "Camp is short and the season is starting pretty soon. I just wanted to get a chance to work my hardest out there and try and see what I can do."

The Panthers will continue their preseason on Thursday with a matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning at FLA Live Arena.

Speaking of prospects, check out two slicks goals from Aleksi Heponiemi from this morning's practice in the tweets below.

more goals for 🦛! pic.twitter.com/ufX0PDi7HR

The Florida Panthers will celebrate their 2022-23 Home Opener at FLA Live Arena against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 19, 2022. The first 10,000 fans through the doors will receive a commemorative magnet schedule courtesy of Bally Sports Florida. Click HERE  to purchase your tickets today!

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