Spencer Knight Enters Players’ Assistance Program

Via Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP

Florida Panthers goaltender Spencer Knight will be out indefinitely while he is receiving care from the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, the NHL and the players’ association announced on Friday.

The NHL and the NHLPA began the program back in 1996. It gives all NHL players access to a confidential phone line and counselors in each city in the league. The group is there to assist players and their families with various matters including mental health and substance abuse.

Knight will continue to be paid while he is absent from the Panthers’ organization and will be allowed to return to on-ice competition by the program’s administrators.

Florida selected Knight with the 13th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and after going back to college at Boston College, he signed an entry-level contract with the Panthers on March 31, 2021. This is Knight’s second full season in the NHL. He was backing up Sergei Bobrovsky appearing in 21 games, starting 19 of them, and put up a record of 9-8-3 with a goals-against-average of 3.18 and a .901 save percentage. He had been sent down to the AHL earlier in the week, so that Florida could clear some cap for Anthony Duclair’s return from an Achilles injury.

The Panthers will return to action on Tuesday against their cross-state rival, Tampa Bay Lightning.