Chillot joined THN Florida’s Armando Velez on the Locked On Panthers Podcast

The Florida Panthers are currently hosting the 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase this weekend at Hertz Arena, home of the back-to-back Kelly Cup Champion Florida Everblades.

So far, Florida has gone 1-1, dropping theie opener to the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Friday and then bouncing back Saturday night and defeating the Nashville Predators 4-2.

Florida’s final game will be Monday at 1 p.m. against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Panthers along with the Hurricanes, Predators and Lightning each have prospects which they see as the future of the organization. Regarding Florida, a team just coming off a Stanley Cup Final appearance and one likely to be losing players in future years to free agency with consistently being up against the salary cap, it’s crucial to build in on their farm system as players from NCAA, junior hockey and the AHL are coming together this weekend to get a taste of what it is like to be in an NHL setting.

It also helps to get to know the guys who they will be calling their future teammates. Some players are already teammates on their junior teams. Forward Josh Davies, who was recently traded from the Swift Current Broncos to the Portland Winterhawks, will be teammates with defenseman Marek Alscher this season. Alscher will be spending time in the Western Hockey League this season despite signing his entry-level contract. Forward Liam Arnsby and goaltender Charlie Robertson are also teammates in junior hockey with the North Bay Battalion in the Ontario Hockey League, so there is some familiarity there as well.

The Panthers’ AHL affiliate is the Charlotte Checkers, and Checkers play-by-play voice TJ Chillot had an opportunity to join the Locked On Panthers Podcast to discuss which players we should be on the lookout for.

Armando Velez: There's going to be guys who have had success elsewhere. One of them coming back to the Checkers this season is Santtu Kinnunen. He had some success in Finland, seventh round pick. Had a great season in Charlotte. Evan Nause coming into the mix for the first time after winning the memorial cup with the Quebec Remparts. and Mike Benning wins in NCAA championship two seasons ago with the University of Denver. I want to ask you, how much does it give players a leg up when they win elsewhere and going into these rookie showcases and even when they make it to the AHL?

TJ Chillot: That experience of the anxiety and nervousness and the emotions that go into playing a championship game whether it’s the Memorial Cup, NCAA Championship, whatever that might be, you experience the anxiety and nervousness, you experience how to play and how to be clutch. So when you come to the AHL, you are going to have those same emotions anyway with guys who are much bigger, more experienced. This is now professional hockey so you can forget about juniors, you can forget about collegiate play, you need to tap that experience in your emotions. It kind of helps you out because you’ve been in high pressured situations. It’s kind of like graduating from High school and going into college. You know what you are getting into, but you really don’t until you get there.

The Panthers only have one first round pick in the rookie showcase in Mackie Samoskevich, it’s key for the Panthers to have those late round picks to develop under the Panthers farm system. One of them is forward Justin Sourdif, the Panthers’ 2020 third round pick who played his junior hockey with the Vancouver Giants and Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League

AV: Justin Sourdif, who has a motor…I want to get your opinions on another year of Justin Sourdif growing who's going to be returning this year [to Charlotte].

TJ: Yeah, I'm really excited to see Justin Sourdif take that second year. He was hurt a little bit last year in the middle of the season. So, when you look at his stats, they kind of Valley a little bit when he missed those games, but he came on the scene so strong to start the year and he really had a strong finish as well. He is he's a guy with a motor that just does not stop and when you need someone out there with that speed to find those greasy areas to make sure that, you know he's moving the team and moving the forward group up and getting the puck out. It's sort of is fantastic, it's so much fun to watch. He's like the Tasmanian devil out there. It's just incredible how he can go in on a breakaway and then in half a second all of a sudden he's back checking as the puck goes the other way and he's the head of some of the other guys and I remember seeing him in the showcase last year in Raleigh and I wrote notes on my phone as I was watching a lot of guys that likely were going to land in Charlotte…I remember writing down speedster greasy hands slipper and those are the things that I was like keep an eye on that. Let's see if that falls out. Once he gets to the AHL and he's playing against full time professional players, and absolutely not. He plugged himself right in there and all of those stats and all of those attributes came out instantly on the ice, so I'm really excited to see his return and hopefully he can stay healthy for the entire year.

AV: Some of the players for the Charlotte checkers, Florida Panthers in this rookie showcase, you have quite a few undrafted players. Some of them will be playing under AHL contract, then there are some older players one some who are under [an entry-level] contract. Then others, who are playing on AHL contracts. As far as not necessarily last chance, but even though the games the results don't matter as far as wins and losses, how important is it for each of those guys to have a big showing here at the rookie showcase?

TJ: it's huge because every single one of those players has something that they need to improve if they're going to stay with the organization, but everybody's a little bit different. I think when you look at some of the names you talk about when you look at someone like a Mackie Samoskevich, or Wilmer Skoog, guys that have either know or just a little bit of a taste of the pro game. I think what the coaches and what the scouting staff and GMs and everybody is looking at is “do they belong?” And I think we saw that in Mackie Samoskevich, he is certainly as advertised. We saw that in the postseason in the handful of games he played with the Checkers at the end of the season. I think his goal is to go in and show why he belongs with the Florida Panthers and not why he belongs with the Charlotte checkers. Then there's the other guys across the board, Calle Sjalin and Santtu Kinnunen, they had an entire season last year to show that they belong in the American Hockey League and beyond. Now, it's their chance to show that they can turn the skills that maybe they were lacking just a little bit. I know Calle Sjalin, he was often the guy that would be rotated in is that seventh defenseman, sometimes he would get some games sometimes he won’t. He was not the best scorer from the blue line. He was pretty stout defensively, but he could get better there. For a guy like Sjalin, that's what he needs to focus on. He needs to focus on being an every single night player. He needs to work on his offensive game a little bit better and he needs to tighten up defensively a little bit better. On the other side for Santtu Kinnunen, this is a guy that was I believe the defensive points leader outside of Lucas Carlsson last year, so that puts them number two on the roster in terms of dman in points. I don't think he needs to show that offensive capability. He certainly needs to keep that level, but he's got to work on his defensive side because obviously it's a double-edged sword, the more offensive you are as a defenseman. That means you're leaving yourself vulnerable to the defensive capabilities. He's just got to worry about raising water on both of those sides so that he can be a well-rounded player and go forward. So it's certainly important for every single one of those players, whether it's Samoskevich, whether it's Skoog, whether it's Kinnunen and it even doesn't matter if this is your “final year” of your contract. If you look at a guy like a Patrick Giles, who's probably the oldest guy in this showcase, He's had 90 games including playoffs with the Checkers is really his opportunity to prove, “Do you belong?” and that's kind of the undercurrent under every single one of these guys it's “do you belong and where do you belong? AHL? NHL? Are you rotate out every other night kind of guy? Are you an ECHL guy? Those are the questions that coaches are going to be looking for.

AV: Graycyn Sawchyn, a guy who can crash the net, says he loves watching Matthew Tkachuk’s game. How mucha are you looking forward to watching him play [even though he will be playing in Seattle]?

TJ: If you can get 58 points in 58 games in the WHL, you have some talent, especially for Seattle out there in the WHL. That tends to be the Wild West in terms of all the CHL teams. The WHL is just so different year after year after year and he's had consistent success with that team. I'm really excited to see his game unfold. A second-round pick, he’s got a little bit of development. He's a little bit more raw, but we'll see once the Florida Panthers organization kind of gets their hands on him and turns them into the player that they'd like him to be. I think he's going to fit a very similar role. I would not be surprised at when it's Sawchyn’s time to come to the Charlotte Checkers and start getting his feet wet in the pro game that I'm having the same conversations on some of the fans where they just kind of look at him and go, yeah, he's a little bit different. He doesn't necessarily belong here. So we'll see what happens but I'm really looking forward to a lot of the young guys because we're going to have a very big, big, young contingency this year.

Some performances in rookie showcases also gives an opportunity to receive their entry level deals. At this time, the Panthers have 46 contracts out of a maximum 50, so there’s room for possibly a signing or two.

AV: Of the guys who are not under [an Entry-level] contract, or specifically an AHL contract. Is there a specific player an eye on [to earn their entry-level deal]?

TJ: I would say Jake wise. I really liked what I saw from him when he came onto the scene again another big 10 NCAA product out of Ohio State. He scored a goal in his first game if I'm not mistaken with the Charlotte checkers. He's a bigger body, he's a little bit smaller than Patrick Giles but he fits a similar role and I think the Checkers need more than just Patrick Giles, in terms of size when you talk about crowding the net when you talk about just getting into those in tight areas. I think they need a little bit of help there and Jake Wise not only has that big body and that ability to get down low, look for those deflections and just be in the goalies face but he also has some decent hands. We've seen him rip off a couple of wristers that if they didn't find twine, they were pretty darn close. I'm really excited to see Jake Wise get the opportunity to be full time in the AHL and see what he can make of his opportunity. He's certainly one name that's, that certainly popped out. And I'm also curious to see what we see Mack Guzda, I want to see year two. This is a kid that last year with the goaltending situation we didn't know how much attention Mack Guzda was going to get in. Sure enough, he's put in his first professional start in game number two for the checkers, it was the second game of the season. He comes seconds away from his first professional shutout in his first start. It was a last-minute goal that was scored against him. I think it was 20 seconds left to go in the game but he instantly looked like a guy that belonged in the AHL in his rookie year and you don't often see that and when you do see that. Year number two can go one of two ways either A) they continue on that trajectory, and sure enough, he's going to be an NHL player in no time at all, or B) sometimes they get a little bit laxed because you're like, “oh, this game comes natural to me.” I'm just going to continue to do what I did and maybe not necessarily focus on some of the basics as much and all of a sudden you start to see that sophomore slump so I want to see him avoid that sophomore slump and get ready and be in the NHL next couple of years because he's certainly show that he belonged last year.