The Florida Panthers put MacKenzie Entwistle on waivers Wednesday afternoon, and the 27-year-old winger now waits to see if anyone bites.
Elliotte Friedman posted the news at 2:04 p.m., right after confirming that Tuesday's waiver names from Tampa Bay and Columbus had cleared.
The timing is awkward for the winger. Florida opened 2-0-2 on a four-game road swing, and the depth spots up front are hardly carved in stone.
Entwistle's NHL résumé runs entirely through Chicago. He logged 193 games with the Blackhawks and collected 35 points across that stretch.
The final Blackhawks season left a mark. He went minus-29 in 67 games in 2023-24, a number that follows a depth forward from camp to camp.
Since then, it's been Charlotte. The right shot posted 11 points in 49 AHL games with the Checkers last season and finished +7.
Paul Maurice trims his depth chart before the home opener
Florida finally plays at home Saturday against Minnesota, riding a 2-1 win in Los Angeles that closed out the trip.
Paul Maurice doesn't need to reinvent anything for that one. Bokondji Imama carries the same $850,000 cap hit as Entwistle and has dressed in all four games, held scoreless.
Lars Eller already has three assists. Garnet Hathaway hasn't found the scoresheet yet either, but his $2.4 million deal buys a patience a waiver-wire winger never gets.
So who was going to give first? The answer was always the guy whose contract runs through 2026-27 before he hits UFA.
This is the right call by Bill Zito, even if it's a cold one. Entwistle has been a tweener for a while now, and Florida's fourth line isn't a waiting room.
He's the spare key in the kitchen drawer. Nobody throws it out, and nobody reaches for it.
The case for a claim isn't nothing. He stands 6-foot-3 and 203 pounds, the frame teams still chase for a fourth-line right side.
There's playoff history, too. With the Checkers in 2024-25, he put up three points in eight postseason games.
Go back to junior and he piled up 21 points in 24 playoff games with the Guelph Storm in 2018-19.
A club thin on bottom-six bodies could grab him for a roster spot. If nobody does, Entwistle stays Florida property and goes back to waiting on a quiet phone.
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Should Bill Zito have kept MacKenzie Entwistle over Bokondji Imama?
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