Panthers Prospect Report: January 9, 2026

Welcome back to the first Panthers Prospect Report of 2026.

Stay tuned for updates on players in the pipeline throughout the season.

Prospect Spotlight

Sandis Vilmanis

In his second pro season, Vilmanis has taken another big step.

Towards the top of the leaderboard for each scoring category, the 2022 fifth-round (157th overall) pick is tied for first in points (19), tied for second in assists (11), and tied for third in goals (8).

Able to rack up points on any given night, the 21-year-old has four multi-point games.

In February, Vilmanis will join Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinskis in representing the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Mads Kongsbak Klyvø

The Panthers 2025 fourth-round (112th overall) pick showed up on the international stage.

As an alternate captain for Denmark, Klyvø was tied for team lead in goals (3) during the U20 IIHF World Junior Championship.

A standout performance against Germany, the Danish forward registered three points (2G, 1A) in the 8-4 loss.

Panthers Prospects 2025-26 Statistics

AHL/ECHL

Marek Alscher | D | Age 21 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 24GP, 2G, 6A, 8Pts

Cooper Black | G | Age 24 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 20GP, .907 SV%, 2.41 GAA

Mike Benning | D | Age 24 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 31GP, 3G, 10A, 13Pts

Josh Davies | F | Age 21 | Team: Savannah Ghost Pirates | 22GP, 7G, 3A, 10Pts

Jack Devine | F | Age 22 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 25GP, 8G, 10A, 18Pts

Kirill Gerasimyuk | G | Age 22 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 8GP, .903 SV%, 2.43 GAA

Mikulas Hovorka | Age 24 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 19GP, 0G, 6A, 6Pts

Ludvig Jansson | D | Age 21 | Charlotte Checkers | 15GP, 1G, 2A, 3Pts

Ryan McAllister | F | Age 24 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 14GP, 2G, 5A, 7Pts

Evan Nause | D | Age 22 | Team: Savannah Ghost Pirates | 26GP, 2G, 9A, 11Pts

Gracyn Sawchyn | F | Age 20 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 29GP, 6G, 13A, 19Pts

Kai Schwindt | F | Age 22 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 16GP, 2G, 4A, 6Pts

Wilmer Skoog | F | Age 26 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 31GP, 11G, 8A, 19Pts

Hunter St. Martin | F | Age 20 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 20GP, 2G, 3A, 5Pts

Ben Steeves | F | Age 23 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 31GP, 9G, 7A, 16Pts

Sandis Vilmanis | F | Age 21 | Team: Charlotte Checkers | 31GP, 8G, 11A, 19Pts

CHL

Shea Busch | F | Age 18 | Team: Everett Silvertips | 12GP, 13G, 5A, 18Pts

Shamar Moses | F | Age 18 | Team: North Bay Battalion | 33GP, 6G, 7A, 13pts

NCAA

Luke Coughlin | D | Age 20 | Team: University of Maine | 10GP, 0G, 2A, 2Pts

Brendan Dunphy | D | Age 19 | Team: University of Connecticut | 18GP, 2G, 3A, 5Pts

Vladislav Lukashevich | D | Age 22 | Team: Miami University | 20GP, 2G, 14A, 16Pts

Tyler Muszelik | G | Age 21 | Team: University of Connecticut | 17GP, .935 SV%, 1.98 GAA

Europe

Arvid Drott | F | Age 18 | Team: Djurgårdens IF U20 | 16GP, 10G, 7A, 17Pts

Linus Eriksson | F | Age 19 | Team: Timrå IK| 25GP, 0G, 2A, 2Pts

Denis Gabdrakhmanov | G | Age 20 | Team: Rubin Tyumen | 22GP, .916 SV%, 2.24 GAA

Olof Glifford | G | Age 20 | Team: IK Oskarshamn | 19GP, .905 SV%, 2.42 GAA

Stepan Gorbunov | Age 19 | Team: Belye Medvedi Chelyabinsk | 3GP, 0G, 3A, 3Pts

Mads Kongsbak Klyvo | Age 18 | Team: Frölunda HC U20 | 0GP, 0G, 0A, 0Pts

Yegor Midlak | G | Age 18 | Team: MHK Spartak-MAH Moskva | 9GP, .910 SV%, 3.59 GAA

Matvei Shuravin | D | Age 19 | Team: Krasnaya Armiya Moskva | 12GP, 2G, 0A, 2Pts

Albert Wikman | D | Age 20 | Team: Färjestad BK | 29GP, 2G, 1A, 3Pts

Simon Zether | F | Age 20 | Team: Rögle BK | 27GP, 1G, 3A, 4Pts

Stepan Zvyagin | F | Age 21 | Team: Dinamo-Molodechno | 36GP, 8G, 21A, 29Pts