Panthers Agree to Terms with Casey Fitzgerald on a One-Year, Two-Way

SUNRISE, Fla. - Florida Panthers General Manager Bill Zito announced today that the club has agreed to terms with defenseman Casey Fitzgerald on a one-year, two-way contract.

Fitzgerald, 26, appeared in four regular season games and two playoff games with Florida in the 2022-23 campaign after being claimed off waivers from the Buffalo Sabres.

The 5-foot-11, 188-pound native of North Reading, Mass., has skated in 63 total NHL regular season games between Buffalo (2021-22 to 2022-23) and Florida (2022-23), registering nine points (0-9-9).

Fitzgerald appeared in 79 games with Buffalo's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans, amassing 34 points (9-25-34) and 107 penalty minutes from 2018-19 to 2021-22.

Prior to his professional career, Fitzgerald skated four seasons (2015-16 to 2018-19) with Boston College (NCAA), collecting 82 points (17-65-82) in 151 games. Fitzgerald was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team (2015-16), the Hockey East Second All-Star Team (2017-18) and named Best Defensive Defensemen that season. He served as captain of the Eagles in his junior and senior seasons.

Originally selected by Buffalo in the third round (86th overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft, Fitzgerald earned gold medals representing the United States at the 2017 IIHF U20 and 2015 World U18 Championships.

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