Keith Yandle's ironman streak expected to remain alive.

The Panthers appear to have buckled.

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HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Keith Yandle's ironman streak expected to remain alive.
Greg M Cooper/USA TODAY Sports

There was quite a bit of backlash this week when it was rumored that the Florida Panthers would be making veteran defenseman Keith Yandle a healthy scratch, a move that would end the longest running ironman streak among active players in the National Hockey League.

It seems as though the backlash against the Panthers has had some effect however as on Saturday Yandle was spotted practicing with the main roster, and now according to NHL insider Frank Seravalli it sounds like Yandle will suit up for the Panthers tonight and keep the streak alive.


Although no one appears to know the full details of how we got to this point, there is a strong belief that Yandle has fallen out of favor with Panther's management. When you consider he carries a cap hit of $6.35 million, on a contract that comes with a full no movement clause, at this stage of his career it's not hard to see how the two sides could have potentially butted heads. 

That being said Yandle's incredible run of 866 consecutive games is not something you simply toss away over disagreements, and upon learning that the Panthers intended to do just that the NHL fan base let the Panthers hear about it. Although I do feel the team should have the right to put whomever they want on the ice, I think the kind of sacrifices Yandle has made to keep that streak alive should also be factored in here.

Sacrifices like this one he made while playing for the Panthers, never missing a single game in spite of the gruesome injury:

Update: According to the official lineup announced by the Florida Panthers just moments ago, we can now confirm that Yandle will in fact be in the lineup tonight and that hsi ironman streak will go to 867 consecutive NHL games. This seems like the right move from the Panthers at this time, although I do wonder where they will go from here. I suppose how well Yandle performs will play a huge role in that decision.

For those of you wondering, Yandle will be paired up alongside veteran NHL defenseman Radko Gudas this evening and it looks like they will be used at the Panther's third pairing.


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