Sandis Vilmanis signs with NHL Florida Panthers
Right winger Sandis Vilmanis of the North Bay Battalion has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers, the National Hockey League club announced Saturday.
“We’re thrilled for Sandis and his recent accomplishment,” said general manager Adam Dennis of the Ontario Hockey League’s Battalion.
“He quietly goes about his business each and every day, which will serve him well as a professional player. We look forward to watching his career continue to grow the rest of this year in North Bay and beyond.”
Florida selected Vilmanis, who turned 20 on Jan. 23, in the fifth round of the 2022 NHL Draft.
“Sandis is a strong skater and skilled forward who possesses high character,” general manager Bill Zito of the Panthers said in a news release. “We are excited to watch him continue his blossoming career within our system.”
The Battalion acquired Vilmanis from the Sarnia Sting in a trade Jan. 6. Since then, the left shot has scored 18 goals and added seven assists for 25 points in 20 games.
A Riga native who played for Latvia in three World Junior Hockey Championship tournaments, Vilmanis was a first-round pick, 12th overall, by Sarnia in the 2022 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft after playing three seasons in the Lulea HF junior system in Sweden.
In 112 OHL games, he has 48 goals and 50 assists for 98 points, including 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points in 30 games this season before the trade.
The six-foot-two, 192-pound Vilmanis was an alternate captain for Latvia in the 2024 world juniors at Gothenburg, Sweden, scoring two goals and earning two assists for four points in five games.
Vilmanis joined the Troops with twins Andrew and Jacob LeBlanc, a left winger and defenceman respectively, for left winger Carter Kostuch, defenceman Alex Cajkovic and six OHL Priority Selection picks.
