Brandon Caputo
@BCaputo_AGM
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Carter Verhaeghe is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and tied for third all-time in the National Hockey League for overtime playoff goals but the Waterdown native is the epitome of grit and determination, having spent the better part of five years scratching and clawing to make it to the show; following a memorable junior hockey career with the Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League.
Verhaeghe, now 29, spoke about signing an eight-year extension with the Florida Panthers worth 56 million dollars back in October 2024, which will keep him in South Florida for the foreseeable future and beyond.
“I’m really proud, feels like I never took the easy route on a lot of things and was always hard on myself,” Verhaeghe said in a recent road game trip to Buffalo, New York; close to where he grew up playing junior hockey across the border in St. Catharines, Ontario.
“Grinding through the American Hockey League, trying to stay in the NHL, and now getting to this point it took a lot of hard work. My time with the IceDogs were a great four years and a lot of good things to say about that time in my life.”
Verhaeghe is one of the few players who can say their junior hockey experience in Niagara was spent at the former iconic Jack Gatecliff Arena and also at the new state of the art Meridian Centre built just down the road and that opened for the 2014-15 season, Verhaeghe’s final year in the OHL.
“The Jack was awesome, the fans were on top of you and there was so much history there, I loved playing there and was so much fun,” Verhaeghe said. “It was a tight rink, I don’t think it did many favours to my skating being so small, we had some great memories there.”
“I went to the finals in my first year there, all the guys, and people over the years were amazing. Going back to Niagara to this day still feels like a second home.”
Memories that will stick
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Verhaeghe spoke about what made playing in Niagara so special from the rink, the playoff atmosphere and buzz around the region and what his teammates mean to him although life gets busy once you graduate from junior hockey into adulthood.
“I see some guys a little bit and text them here or there,” Verhaeghe said. “Guys that you’ll talk to forever and it’s pretty cool to see where all the guys go on their separate paths. Everyone has their own way in life but reconnecting and reminiscing about the days in Niagara are always a lot of fun.”
“There were so many things, playing at the Jack was special first and foremost,” Verhaeghe reflected. “It was a lot of fun having my parents at every game and having friends or family come down.”
Verhaeghe played for the IceDogs from the 2011-12 season until the 2015-16 season, the entirety of his OHL career and thinks back fondly of the time spent on and off the ice. An assistant captain and eventually named the captain for his final season, Verhaeghe had back-to-back 82-point seasons and amassed 83 goals and 224 points in 262 regular season games, including 25 more points in 41 playoff games; which would help prove his playoff value later in his pro career.
“The tight arena, that was probably the biggest thing, hanging out with all of the guys doing everything together when you’re in junior. Going to school, working out, eating dinner together it was 24 hours with that group. Those are the memories I’ll cherish the most is spending time with all of the guys.”
A work ethic like no other
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While Verhaeghe had to put in the work to earn opportunities at the next level, whether that be working his way up from the East Coast Hockey League to the American Hockey League and eventually the NHL with Tampa Bay in a depth role to start, before evolving into a top line player with Florida, a past junior coach of his admires just how much preparation went into improving his craft.
“His progression has been fantastic,” said Marty Williamson, who coached Verhaeghe with the Niagara IceDogs during his entire OHL career. “I was kind of baffled because I remember following him when he was in the East Coast, so he got in with the Kansas City (then Missouri) Mavericks and he was getting two points a game. I couldn't figure out why he couldn't crack through because, again, for me he was just such a complete player here in Niagara.”
“I remember that series when he got that high ankle sprain and we were going to knock off North Bay as a heavy underdog. We were up 3-1 and we lost Carter there until game seven and he kind of played on one leg; he's just a very complete player and it's great to see what he's done over the years.”
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Now the General Manager and Head Coach of the OHL's Barrie Colts, Williamson talked about the honest style of play Verhaeghe would bring on a day-in and day-out basis at the rink.
“He was a real honest player; you could be tough on Carter and he really knew he never backed away from that,” Williamson said. “He never backed away from challenges and he always wanted to get better. I think one of the things he worked on is skating hard too because he was a good skater but he's got himself almost into the elite level, finding ways to be effective every night.”
Williamson finished with a story from Verhaeghe’s draft year which showed just how much of an impression he made on others as a player and a person, even as a young minor hockey player looking to make the jump to the OHL level.
“In his draft year, obviously he was talented in that, but you just the quality of a person he was and one of the things we kept coming back to,” Williamson said. “John Neville was our head scout at the time and he kept saying to me, this is the kid you win with and I just remember that vividly as a quote from him."
“We took Carter and John was 100% right. He's a guy that has proven in the NHL but also as an outstanding teammate on top of being a high-quality hockey player. He's the type of guy you want in your dressing room and on your bench.”
Admiration from a well-respected colleague
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Current Florida Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice has coached over 1900 games in the NHL over 27 years in the highest level of professional hockey in the world but the Stanley Cup winning coach said that Verhaeghe is one who sticks out to him as a one of a kind worker.
“He is an incredibly unique player, I don’t think I’ve ever coached anything like him,” Maurice said. “He’s not a playmaker, he is a pure shooter but for a guy that scores at the level he does, he’s not a perimeter seam player. He’s not looking for open ice, doesn’t play an easy game. He would be a bit of an identity player for us because he’s been able to take a skillset that say you could probably play around the outside and decided not to do it.”
Maurice added that Verhaeghe’s bumpy journey to becoming a back-to-back 70 plus point player and one of the most clutch playoff performers in recent NHL history, has helped him not take any opportunity for granted in trying to get better every day, never getting complacent and always wanting more out of himself.
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“That may be just scratching and clawing to get into the National Hockey League, he’s had to maximize everything that he has,” Maurice added. “He’s turned himself in some ways into this prototypical playoff grinder, he’s not physically heavy but he’s on the puck as hard as anyone who we have. He has this incredible instinct and set of hands, to get the puck off his stick.”
“The one thing you wouldn’t know about him is that he watches video just about every day and constantly needs to get better, those are words that he’s used. He’s just trained himself to do that because he had to in order to get to the league.”
Verhaeghe had a lasting message to players currently trying to find their footing in hockey, whether that be in junior hockey or early in their pro careers that it may not come right away but that determination will give them the best chance to achieve their professional hockey goals, having lived through the grind experience for many years before earning his flowers.
“I’d just say keep it going, have fun, enjoy it, and it’s four great years you don’t get back,” Verhaeghe said. “Looking back now, those are some of the best memories and I made some life-long friends.”
“It’s never over. As long as you go to the rink every day with the intention of getting better, I don’t think there’s an age where you stop developing. Even today where I’m at I still try to get better every day and learn new things. Sticking with it with the right attitude of going to the rink to get better and things aren’t always as bad as they seem when you’re in a slump, we’re playing hockey at the end of the day.”
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Verhaeghe enters the NHL Four Nations break with 15 goals and 43 points in 57 games this 2024-25 season, on pace for roughly 22 goals and 62 points. A bit behind for his recent high standards but his biggest impact has always been as a playoff performer, looking for another deep run with the Panthers, who will hope to go back-to-back as Stanley Cup champions. Being back on the top line left wing spot will definitely help going down the stretch and always as a powerplay threat with other elite forwards to compliment alongside.
The former IceDogs captain's 26 goals and 55 points in 69 postseason games is something to keep an eye on as we approach the playoffs, maybe he scores one more overtime goal to tie the great Maurice Richard for second place all-time in that mind-blowing statistic.
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