Florida Panthers Reassign Justin Sourdif
Dec. 19: It was a quick stay for Sourdif on the NHL roster, as David Dwork of The Hockey News reports he’s been returned to Charlotte this morning. Sourdif was a healthy scratch in last night’s 3-1 loss to the Flames.
Dec. 18: The Florida Panthers recalled forward prospect Justin Sourdif from their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers today.
Although the Panthers are set to take on the Calgary Flames tonight, Sourdif is not slated to take a spot in the team’s forward lineup. Instead, this recall appears to have been made in order to provide the Panthers with additional cover at the forward position, something made necessary due to the fact that Anton Lundell and Jonah Gadjovich are currently sick and therefore out of the lineup.
Sourdif is a 21-year-old Canadian winger who has developed nicely since Florida selected him 87th overall at the 2020 NHL draft. The former WHL champion made his professional debut last season, skating in a total of 48 games for the Checkers. The speedy, tenacious forward scored 24 points in his rookie AHL campaign.
So far this season, Sourdif has taken real steps forward in terms of his development. He’s already scored 12 points in just 18 games, and is now playing an important top-six role next to Mackie Samoskevich in Charlotte.
His speed and competitiveness make him an ideal candidate for a call-up in a bottom-six role, and his offensive development suggests there could be more than just a future in an NHL bottom-six in store for Sourdif.
Right now, though, he’s likely to be on the Panthers roster in just a reserve capacity. If he does end up skating in a few more NHL games (he has already played in three this season) those contests should be seen as an opportunity for Sourdif to get more familiar with the expectations of playing in the NHL with an eye towards making a push for a more lasting spot on the Panthers in 2024-25.
Panthers Loan Justin Sourdif To AHL
The Panthers announced Monday that forward Justin Sourdif has been re-assigned to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Florida brought up the 21-year-old for his first taste of NHL action nearly two weeks ago.
Sourdif was originally selected by the Panthers in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft and signed him to his entry-level contract in September of 2021. He spent the following season in junior hockey on loan to the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, meaning the beginning of the contract slid to 2022-23.
Therefore, last season was Sourdif’s first in the professional ranks. He played 48 games with Charlotte, posting seven goals, 17 assists and 24 points with a -4 rating. Given the solid but not eye-opening production, it was surprising to see Sourdif stick around with the Cats at the beginning of the season. He appeared in three out of the Panthers’ first five games, failing to register a point and averaging just 8:50 per game.
Sourdif does not require waivers to head to the minors, meaning he could see himself ferried up and down quite a bit throughout the season if he manages to stick in the Panthers’ regular call-up rotation. A natural center, he’s begun his NHL career on the wing in a third-line role with Nick Cousins and Anton Lundell. That line has failed to generate many scoring chances together, generating just 0.2 expected goals in over 20 minutes of action (per MoneyPuck).
The move could also preface a return to the lineup for center Sam Bennett, who remains on IR and has not played this season due to a lower-body injury. The Panthers were carrying a full 23-man roster and would need to clear a spot to activate him.
Atlantic Notes: Heineman, Fabbri, Sourdif
Montreal Canadiens forward prospect Emil Heineman is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, per an announcement from their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket.
Heineman, 21, is one of the better prospects in the Canadiens’ system and was knocking on the door for a lineup spot after a strong training camp. After finishing out the 2022-23 season with his club in Sweden, Leksands IF, Heineman came over to North America and notched seven goals and nine points in 11 games with Laval down the stretch. He had an assist through two games with Laval this season before sustaining the injury. Dobber Prospects has Heineman ranked as the team’s third-best left-wing prospect behind 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky and Harvard product Sean Farrell.
A versatile, well-rounded forward, Heineman can comfortably slot in on either wing and in any role. He’s got a beast of a shot, too, hinted at when he notched 26 goals in 29 games during his draft year for Leksand’s U20 team. He’s the second young Habs player to get bad injury news today, joining center Kirby Dach as a player with high hopes in Montreal out long-term.
Some more notes from the Atlantic Division:
- The Detroit Red Wings were down a forward on Saturday as Robby Fabbri was held out of the lineup with an undisclosed injury, necessitating the recall of Zach Aston-Reese (who’s since been returned to the AHL). It doesn’t appear he’ll miss much more time, however. EP Rinkside’s Sean Shapiro reports Fabbri was in attendance for Detroit’s morning skate today and is nearing a return, although he’s not projected to draw into the lineup Monday night against the Blue Jackets. Injuries have limited Fabbri’s performance for nearly his entire career, and the winger has played just 85 out of 166 games since the 2021-22 campaign. He did notch a goal in 14:44 of ice time in the team’s season-opening loss to the Devils last week.
- A third Florida Panther is expected to make his NHL debut this season. 21-year-old Justin Sourdif will draw into the lineup tonight against the Devils instead of another rookie, Mackie Samoskevich, who will serve as a healthy scratch. Sourdif, the 87th overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft, made his pro debut just last season, scoring seven goals, 17 assists and 24 points in 48 games with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. He was a surprise inclusion on the Panthers’ opening night roster this year, and he’ll now get the chance to show what he can do at the NHL level skating alongside Nick Cousins and Anton Lundell on the team’s third line.
Panthers Notes: Ekblad, Sourdif, Bennett
PuckPedia tweeted that the Florida Panthers made a move today to officially place star defenseman Aaron Ekblad on the long-term injured reserve. The transaction has been months in the making, but the Panthers officially completed the paperwork today. Ekblad is expected to miss at least the first month of the season as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery.
The move gives the Panthers some breathing room under the salary cap allowing them to facilitate other moves. Florida will be without Ekblad and fellow defenseman Brandon Montour for quite some time which could lead to expanded roles for Gustav Forsling and newcomer Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
One note on LTIR is that once a player is placed on it, they must miss at least ten games and 24 days, which means the earliest Ekblad could return is the first week of November.
The 2014 first-overall pick saw his numbers dip last season as the Panthers marched to the Stanley Cup finals. And with the root cause of his injury unknown, one might wonder if a fully healthy Ekblad could be ready for a monster bounce-back season.
In other Panthers notes:
- The Panthers announced that they have recalled forward Justin Sourdif from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. The recall comes mere hours after the team assigned the 21-year-old to the AHL along with veterans Zac Dalpe and Casey Fitzgerald. The Richmond, British Columbia native posted seven goals and 17 assists as a rookie last season in the AHL, dressing in 48 games. The Panthers open the regular season against the Minnesota Wild on October 12th.
- Panthers forward Sam Bennett may be back in Florida’s lineup sooner than later as David Dwork of The Hockey News is reporting that the team is toying with the idea of bringing Bennett on their upcoming road trip. The 27-year-old has been ruled out of their season opener on Thursday but may travel with the team as they head up to Winnipeg for a game on Saturday and New Jersey next Monday. Bennett was seen in a walking boot on October 7th after being injured in a preseason game on October 5th, however, the injury doesn’t appear as severe as first reported.
Minor Transactions: 10/12/22
Another slate of opening night contests are on tap around the NHL this evening, including the NHL debut of 2022 number one overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky with the Montreal Canadiens and Johnny Gaudreau‘s Columbus Blue Jackets debut down in Carolina. As exciting as the action is around the NHL tonight, there’s still plenty going on around the hockey world and we’ll keep track of it here.
- The Henderson Silver Knights, the AHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights, made several cuts from its training camp roster today. Forwards Patrick Guay, Daniel D’Amato, Lynden McCallum, and defenseman Connor Corcoran have all been assigned to the Savannah Ghost Pirates of the ECHL (link). Guay could be an intriguing name in this group, coming off a season in which he scored 55 goals to go with 49 assists in just 68 games with the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders. The forward was a fifth-round selection by Vegas in 2022 as a 20-year-old.
- Similarly, the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars, cut a handful of players from its roster. Forward Jordan Kawaguchi, defensemen Dawson Barteaux and Owen Headrick, and goaltender Remi Poirier were all assigned to the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. (link). Of note, Poirier, a sixth-round selection by Dallas in 2020, recently finished an impressive four-year stint with the Gatineau Olympiques in the QMJHL.
- The Arizona Coyotes are sending forward Matias Maccelli to the AHL (link). A fourth-round pick of the Coyotes in 2019, Maccelli made his NHL debut last season, recording six points in 23 games for Arizona. In the AHL, however, Maccelli was nothing short of an elite playmaker, scoring 14 goals to go with 43 assists in just 47 games. If the young winger can translate some of his AHL production into the NHL one day, the Coyotes will surely have themselves an exciting player.
- Forward Emilio Pettersen has been activated off of season-opening IR by the Calgary Flames and subsequently sent down (link). The Norwegian forward was a sixth-round selection of Calgary in 2018 and spent the previous two seasons with the Stockton Heat, then Calgary’s AHL affiliate.
- Like Pettersen, Florida Panthers forward Justin Sourdif has been activated from season-opening IR and sent down. (link). A third-round pick by Florida in 2020, Sourdif recently finished up an impressive junior career spent primarily with the Vancouver Giants, who dealt him to the Edmonton Oil Kings mid-way through last season. The 20-year-old forward had 71 points in 52 games last year in the WHL.
This post will be updated throughout the day.