After a pair of seasons in the minors, Panthers prospect Logan Hutsko has opted for a change of scenery. The forward has signed a two-year contract with IK Oskarshamn of the SHL, per a team release.
The 24-year-old was a third-round pick by Florida back in 2018 (89th overall) but only has a couple of years of pro experience under his belt since he played a full four years at Boston College. Hutsko had a good first season in the minors last year with 38 points in 71 games but injuries limited him to just 43 appearances in 2022-23 where he was fairly productive with 27 points. That makes his decision to leave a little surprising but the fact that he wasn’t among Florida’s ‘Black Ace’ promotions earlier this month probably didn’t help things.
Florida can still control Hutsko through 2026 and with this deal running through the end of the 2024-25 campaign, it seems likely that they will still tender him a qualifying offer this summer to retain his rights. In the meantime, they’ll hope that Hutsko can take another step in his development in Sweden and then assess if he’s worth bringing back in a couple of years.