Rookie Sandis Vilmanis Continues to Fight for Spot on Panthers Roster
20-year-old rookie Sandis Vilmanis continues to fight for a spot on the Florida Panthers' opening night roster as the team makes its final cuts.
Photo by Colby Guy
Sandis Vilmanis has made quite the impression on the Florida Panthers.
Enough so that the 20-year-old rookie has survived multiple rounds of cuts and the roster now down to 29 players, he has a fighting chance to make the opening night roster.
“It means a lot,” Vilmanis said of the opportunity. “Just building off of that, playing with these guys on the ice is just like a dream still. I am learning something new every day and I’m just trying to work hard and be intense in every practice.”
With injuries to Mackie Samoskevich and Tomas Nosek, Vilmanis has been given opportunities to skate alongside Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen on the third line during training camp.
Vilmanis, who enters his first season of professional hockey after scoring 38 goals in 60 OHL games last year, has made the most of that opportunity both in camp and throughout the preseason, turning heads in the process.
“We’re starting to see some man strength come into his game,” coach Paul Maurice said. “We’re excited about him. He’s got a big shot. He does some things that are things that coaches don’t make better. They are what they are. He’s got a bunch of that.”
That included an overtime winner against one of the best goaltenders in the league.
Vilmanis hustled up the ice with speed to pick up a loose puck from a falling Lundell and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy five-hole to give the Panthers an overtime (preseason) win on Wednesday.
It capped off a two-point night against a two-time Stanley Cup-winning goalie.
“It’s always nice to score and I still haven’t realized that I scored on Vasilevskiy there,” Vilmanis said. “It was just a big play from Lundell, he got me the puck and I just had to shoot there and it bounced in. That’s good.”
It was just another showing of chemistry between Vilmanis and his two veteran linemates.
“I think we’re all really good skaters,” Vilmanis said. “We have been practicing together basically the whole camp and you see the results in the games. We work better because we have been together for a while now.”
There is an outside chance he could play on opening night next to Lundell and Luostarinen.
He has been filling that role for Mackie Samoskevich, who has been dealing with an upper-body injury, and if he is not 100 percent ready to suit up and few other dominoes fall his way, it could happen for him.
Samoskevich is healthy and has been trending towards playing in the team’s final preseason game in Quebec, however.
But even if he doesn’t make the final cut, there is a lot for Vilmanis to take away as he enters his first season of professional hockey.
“How the guys are helping me a lot on the ice and off the ice and giving me advice,” Vilmanis said. “That teaching part from them is just amazing and I’ve been getting more experience and more confidence on the ice.”
His biggest takeaway?
“Just don’t think too much,” Vilmanis said. “If you think too much, you are going to be much slower than you are. Just play your game and listen to the coach. That’s the main part.”
ROSTER CUTS:
Forwards Josh Davies, Kai Schwindt, Rasmus Asplund, and Zac Dalpe; defenseman Tobias Bjornfot and Mikulas Hovorka; and goaltender Cooper Black were all assigned to AHL Charlotte.
William Lockwood was placed on waivers on Friday. If he clears, he will be assigned to AHL Charlotte.
THE CURRENT ROSTER:
— Forwards (14 healthy): Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Anton Lundell, Mackie Samoskevich, Matthew Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, Eetu Luostarinen, Sandis Vilmanis, Jesper Boqvist, Patrick Giles, A.J. Greer, Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek (Injured: Week-to-Week), Justin Sourdif (Injured: Week-to-Week), Mackenzie Entwistle (Injured: Undisclosed)
— Defensemen (7 healthy): Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Niko Mikkola, Adam Boqvist, Dmitry Kulikov, Uvis Balinskis, Nate Schmidt, Nathan Statios (Injured: Undisclosed)
— Goalies (3): Sergei Bobrovsky, Spencer Knight Chris Driedger