Panthers Pulse: Jonah Gadjovich Key to Florida’s New-Look Bottom Six
After earning a two-year contract extension, Jonah Gadjovich will be a key piece to the Florida Panthers’ new-look bottom six as the lone returning fourth-liner from their Stanley Cup-winning season.
Photo courtesy of Anthony Calderale
Leading up to the beginning of training camp, Pucks and Palms will be previewing each of the key pieces of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers in a series called ‘Panthers Pulse’ heading into the 2024-25 season. Jonah Gadjovich is next.
2023-24 Stats: two goals, four points, 39 GP (Playoffs: DNP)
Ever since breaking into the Florida Panthers lineup in mid-November, Jonah Gadjovich has solidified himself as a hard-checking enforcer who helps solidify their bottom six.
The Panthers rewarded him with a two-year contract extension for his efforts.
Even after that same day the Panthers inked him to that extension also coincided with the arrivals of Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Okposo, which changed his role from an everyday player to a depth piece that did not crack the lineup for a playoff game, he did not let that damper his spirit.
He showed up to the rink every day for practice with a smile and helped push the pace with the intense work ethic that earned him a spot on the roster in the first place. It also gave him some time to fly back to South Florida and spend time with his newborn twins when they were born in the middle of the Panthers’ playoff run.
A roster spot was not guaranteed for Gadjovich when he got to South Florida.
He initially signed an AHL deal with a chance to prove himself during training camp after an injury-plagued 2022-23 season with the San Jose Sharks.
Still not fully healthy upon arrival, he skated every day with fellow injured players Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad, giving it his all and eventually earning the chance to return to the lineup alongside the two defensemen he trained with during the team’s West Coast road trip in November.
He proved to be a perfect fit.
Gadjovich played hard on the forecheck and was very disciplined for a player who throws the body often — and hard. A large portion of his 104 penalty minutes came from dropping the gloves and sticking up for his teammates.
He had a lot of good moments doing that.
Perhaps the best was when he dropped the gloves in the first minute of a Florida victory over the Arizona Coyotes — after he and a few others confronted Jason Zucker and some Yotes enforcers about a dirty hit Zucker threw on Nick Cousins earlier that month during warm-ups — before scoring a goal in the third period to put the Panthers up 6-0.
When he was on the fourth line with Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Stenlund, they proved to be a line that coach Paul Maurice can trust.
Heck, there was a regular season game against the Washington Capitals where Maurice ran that line up against Alex Ovechkin and the top line and they outperformed them en route to a win.
Both Lomberg and Stenlund are gone — as are Okposo, Steven Lorentz and Nick Cousins, who all rotated in and out of the fourth line during the postseason — so things are going to be looking a lot different in Florida’s bottom six.
But Gadjovich, especially as the lone returner from the Cup-winning season, should be a key piece of Florida’s new-look fourth line.
And he is sure to have a few more memorable fights to boot.
Up Next in Panthers Pulse: Jonah Gadjovich
Previously: Matthew Tkachuk, Gustav Forsling, Sam Bennett, Evan Rodrigues, Eetu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskis, Anton Lundell, Sergei Bobrovsky, Spencer Knight, Aleksander Barkov, Adam Boqvist, A.J. Greer, Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola, Nate Schmidt, Tobias Bjornfot, Mackie Samoskevich