The Florida Panthers have made another splash in the European free-agent class. The team announced the signing of Finnish forward Anton Levtchi to a one-year, entry-level contract. CapFriendly notes that Levtchi’s two-way deal carries a cap hit of $842,500, and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Levtchi, 26, has spent his entire hockey career in his native Finland. Not only that, he’s spent his whole career with the same club — Tappara, all the way from playing with their U16 club starting in 2010-11 up to now, where Levtchi is now a six-year Liiga veteran. Levtchi was the leading scorer in the entire league last season, tied for the league lead in goals (26) and leading the league in points (61) by a margin of two. He had a banner 2021-22 season, guiding Tappara to the league title with 10 points in 14 playoff games as well.
He joins a Florida team that should be complementary to his skilled game. Whether or not he carves out a regular lineup spot on one of the best teams in the world remains to be seen, but he’ll certainly provide cheap, skilled, capable depth for a cap-strapped Panthers squad.