Not Everyone Knows When They Have a Gem: A Carter Verhaeghe Story
By Cameron Kelcey
NIAGARA, ONT – In honour of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft taking place this weekend right across the river in Buffalo, NY, we are adding another installment to our Gem of the Draft series.
The topic of discussion in the previous installment of Gem of the Draft was Vince Dunn, a gem the Niagara IceDogs unearthed in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection. Luckily for the IceDogs, they quickly realized the gem they had in Dunn, and they made sure to hold onto him.
Sometimes teams are not so fortunate, and they let a gem slip right through their fingers.
This was the case with IceDogs alumni Carter Verhaeghe. A gem of the draft in both the OHL and NHL Draft, he was selected in the second round, 38th overall, by the Niagara IceDogs in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection.
It was not immediately evident that Verhaeghe was a gem.
In his rookie season, he was on a star-studded team that boasted IceDogs legends such as Ryan Strome, Mark Visentin and Dougie Hamilton. The team finished first in the Eastern Conference that year and made it all the way to the OHL Championship series.
Due to the team’s strength, the rookie Verhaeghe saw limited ice time and was unable to make his mark on the organization.
Verhaeghe’s play saw significant improvement in his second year, finishing the season with 44 points in 67 games. That summer, he lived many kids’ dreams of being drafted to his hometown team when he was selected in the third round, 82nd overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
Verhaeghe’s play saw another leap in his third season with the IceDogs. He finished the year with 82 points, almost double the amount of points he tallied in his previous season – and he did it in fewer games. He finished his fourth and final season as an IceDog with 82 points for a second consecutive season.
That year, he was also named as the franchise’s seventh Captain and the IceDogs MVP.
Via Niagara Sports report on Newstalk 610 CKTB, Verhaeghe spoke very fondly of his time in Niagara.
“I kind of grew up in St. Catharines, and that area, it’s always kind of been home for me. I made some lifelong friends there, and I still chat with my billet family.”
After playing only two games with the Toronto Maple Leafs AHL affiliate team, the Toronto Marlies, Verhaeghe was traded to the New York Islanders on September 18, 2015.
For the next two seasons, Verhaeghe bounced between the Islanders’ AHL and ECHL affiliate teams. In July 2017, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning organization by the Islanders, a second NHL organization, not realizing the gem they were letting slip out of their grasp.
He had a breakout season with the Syracuse Crunch, Tampa’s AHL affiliate team, during the 2017-2018 season, recording 48 points in 58 games. The following season, he captured the AHL scoring title and broke the Crunch’s single-season total point record with 82 points in 76 games.
On October 3, 2019, over six years after being drafted by the Maple Leafs and after four seasons in the minors, Verhaeghe played his first career NHL game with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He remained in the lineup, and at the end of that season, Verhaeghe was a Stanley Cup champion.
Verhaeghe reflected on this time via Sportnet.
“It was a bit of a whirlwind. The year before you’re playing in the American league, and then you get your first taste of the NHL and go on that kind of run.”
After his rookie season, Verhaeghe signed with the Florida Panthers, who he still plays for at the time this article is published. He has hoisted Lord Stanley twice with the Panthers, and his three total Stanley Cup victories are the most by any IceDogs alumni.
Verhaeghe has earned a reputation as a player who makes the big plays in the big moments.
Teammates, coaches and hockey analysts have all described him as having “the clutch gene.” Via Sportsnet, his Panthers teammate Sam Reinhart said, “When the games get tight and everyone’s kind of feeling the nerves, he’s a guy that seems to elevate.”
In his NHL career, Verhaeghe has scored 13 playoff game-winning goals, which is tied for second all-time among active players behind Panthers teammate Brad Marchand. Of those 13 game-winning goals, five of them were scored in overtime, which is tied for third all-time behind Joe Sakic and Maurice “The Rocket” Richard.
Considering his accolades, it is difficult to imagine that Verhaeghe had to go through three NHL organizations before he was allowed to play a game in the National League. However, he says there was a lot of value in the journey he had to become an established NHL player.
“Everywhere I went, I kind of took something from it, and it helped me adjust and be the player that I am today.”
Verhaeghe is a gem that several teams let slip by them. If any organization could go back to the 2013 NHL Entry Draft knowing what they know now, then Verhaeghe would be selected a lot earlier than the third round.
Just like Vince Dunn, Verhaeghe is proof that where you are selected in the draft is just a number.
