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2022 NHL Prospect Watch – Florida Panthers – WHL Network

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With the 2022-23 NHL season on the horizon, we’re putting a focus on current and former WHL players looking to make their mark at the next level.

The 2022 NHL Prospect Watch series will feature some of the current and past WHL talent recently drafted or signed to NHL contracts, and having appeared in fewer than 50 NHL games.

Our series continues with a look at the prospect pool of the Florida Panthers.

Marek Alscher
Defenseman Marek Alscher was selected by the Panthers in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft after collecting 16 points in his first WHL campaign with the Portland Winterhawks. The Czech blueliner finished +20 during the regular season, and his seven tallies were third among Portland defensemen. Alscher was the Winterhawks’ first-round selection in the 2021 CHL Import Draft after spending the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns in Finland.

Josh Davies
A sixth-round selection by the Florida Panthers, forward Josh Davies was one of five Swift Current Broncos to hear their names called by NHL Clubs at the 2022 NHL Draft. From Airdrie, Alta., Davies collected 36 points (16G-20A) for the Broncos in 2021-22 and led the team with 119 penalty minutes before representing Canada at the 2022 IIHF U18 World Championship.

Aleksi Heponiemi
A WHL Champion with the Swift Current Broncos in 2018, forward Aleksi Heponiemi appeared in six games with the Florida Panthers in 2021-22, while also contributing with nine goals and 39 points for the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. The Finnish forward has 15 NHL appearances to his name since being selected by Florida in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft. Heponiemi was named WHL Rookie of the Year in 2017 as a Bronco, then led the League with 90 assists in 2017-18, earning WHL and CHL Most Sportsmanlike Player honors in the process.

John Ludwig
Former Portland Winterhawks captain John Ludvig was limited to just three regular season appearances with AHL Charlotte in the 2021-22 season, but embarks on his third professional campaign in the Panthers organization this fall. Ludvig, from Kamloops, BC, skated with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch in 2020-21 after three seasons with Portland, topping out with 62 points during the 2019-20 campaign. He was selected by Florida in the third round of the 2019 NHL Draft.

Kasper Putio
Finnish defenseman Kasper Puutio begins the 2022-23 campaign after being named the Top Defenseman and the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton last month. The former Swift Current and Everett blueliner helped Finland earn a silver medal at the summer tournament, and his four goals were tops among all blueliners. Puutio, who was selected by Florida in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, has spent the past two seasons playing in the Finnish Liiga, collecting 10 points in 51 games with KalPa last season.

Justin Sourdiff
A third-round selection by the Panthers in the 2020 NHL Draft, forward Justin Sourdif completed the 2021-22 WHL season by winning a WHL Championship with the Edmonton Oil Kings. Originally selected third-overall by the Vancouver Giants in the 2017 WHL Draft, Sourdif spent his entire WHL career in his home province of BC before being dealt to the Oil Kings at the 2022 WHL Trade Deadline. From there, Sourdif collected 39 points in 28 regular season games before adding five goals and nine assists in Edmonton’s run to the WHL Championship.