Surrey teen Justin Sourdif has signed a three-year entry-level contract to play for the NHL’s Florida Panthers.
The five-foot-11 Vancouver Giants forward is the reigning B.C. Division Player of the Year in the Western Hockey League (WHL).
“Justin is a dynamic forward who plays the game with speed and skill,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said in a news release Friday (Sept. 24).
“He demonstrated his abilities as a playmaker in the WHL and we look forward to his development within our organization.”
Last October, Sourdif was drafted 87th overall by the Panthers, and was earlier selected by the Giants third overall in the 2017 WHL Prospects Draft.
Since then he’s appeared in 147 career regular season games, all with Vancouver, and in that span scored 60 goals and 74 assists, for 134 points.
Extremely blessed and excited to sign my first NHL contract with the @FlaPanthers Couldn’t have done this without the support of my friends, coaches and especially my family! pic.twitter.com/3j3Ys1yiSD
— Justin Sourdif (@SourdifJustin) September 24, 2021
“Extremely blessed and excited to sign my first NHL contract with the (Panthers),” Sourdif tweeted. “Couldn’t have done this without the support of my friends, coaches and especially my family!”
A Boundary Park-area resident, the 2003-born Sourdif recently attended Hockey Canada’s National Junior Team Summer Development Camp in Calgary. Back in 2019, he earned a silver medal during the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and served as an alternate captain with Team Canada Red at the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
Sourdif spent the bulk of the 2017/18 season with Valley West Hawks (now Giants) of the BC Major Midget League before joining the WHL Giants. Prior to his time with Valley West, he played at Delta Hockey Academy at North Delta’s Planet Ice Delta facility.
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