Jonah Gadjovich’s Florida Panthers goal: ‘I want to help the guys win the next Cup’

Jonah Gadjovich is a Stanley Cup champion. That will never be taken from him. The 25-year-old forward was an integral part of the Florida Panthers’ fourth line during the regular season, with his physicality, tenacity and technically sound game impressing the Panthers enough that they signed him to a two-year contract extension in March.

But when the playoffs rolled around, Gadjovich’s role was minimized to practice reps and a bird’s-eye view of the action on game day.

He still gave his maximum effort, doing what he could behind the scenes to help the team succeed, but it lit a fire under him to elevate his game to another level this season.

“My role was being in practice and pushing the pace there and supporting everyone,” Gadjovich said, “but it made me hungry this summer, knowing that, ‘OK, I’m here for two more years. I want to make a difference. I want to be in the lineup. I want to help the guys win the next Cup. I want to be on the ice for it.’”

There are opportunities for the taking. He’s the last player standing among Florida’s fourth-line forwards from last season’s Stanley Cup team. Ryan Lomberg is in Calgary. Nick Cousins is in Ottawa. Kevin Stenlund is in Utah. Kyle Okposo retired.

But that does not mean Gadjovich is a lock for a lineup spot. He knows there’s still competition. Florida signed forwards Jesper Boqvist, A.J. Greer and Tomas Nosek (who is currently week-to-week with an upper-body injury) to replenish that lost depth.

Gadjovich is using this time in training camp to make yet another lasting impression on Florida’s coaching staff. There’s a little more than a week to do so.

“I’m trying to make a team here,” Gadjovich said. “I’m not coming in expecting a spot in the lineup, expecting a spot on the roster. I’ve never done that. I’ve never come into a season like that. I know there’s lots of people that they can come in comfortable, and next thing they know, they’re not on the team. For me, I had a big summer. I worked on a lot of things that I talked with the coaching staff about and worked on a lot of things in my game that I wanted to improve on and that they wanted me to improve on. This year, I’m coming in and there’s no secrets. I know what’s expected of me. I know what I expect of myself. Whether it’s a preseason game, whether it’s Game 40 or 82, I’m gonna I’ll do what I have to do and play my role and do my job.”

That job goes beyond what most people see out of Gadjovich when he’s on the ice. He’s know for his physicality and his unwavering acceptance to drop the gloves and fight an opponent when the situation calls for it.

Consider this: Gadjovich was involved in 10 fights last season, the fourth most in the NHL behind Nicolas Deslauriers, Liam O’Brien and Andreas Englund (all of whom had 11). Of Gadjovich’s team-leading 104 penalty minutes, 80 involved fights (50 for the fights, 30 for three misconducts associated with fights).

Gadjovich, who didn’t make his season debut until Nov. 17 because of a hand injury he had entering camp last season, also averaged a team-leading 16.97 hits per 60 minutes played — a mark that ranked the 16th-highest in the NHL among players who skated in at least 30 games.

That alone, however, isn’t going to secure him a roster spot. Panthers coach Paul Maurice expects his fourth-line forwards to balance the physical grind with a sound technical game. Gadjovich fits that billing, but the Panthers know there’s still more for him to offer.

“Having a physical component on your fourth line is very important for us by the way we play, and certainly having a player that keeps everybody honest is very important,” Maurice said. “Aside from his willingness to handle some of the heavy-lifting in games to get like that, he doesn’t make mistakes on the ice. He’s technically very good. So, what I mean by this is, you wouldn’t be showing him a lot of video correction on the systems part of the game. He picks that up very well. So, as much as he’s showing us, we’re learning, and I don’t have a ceiling on him either. This will be a really important year for him to kind of really show all aspects of his game.”

Camp cuts

The Panthers on Monday made their first major round of cuts from their training camp roster.

Seven players — forwards John Leonard, Aidan McDonough and Ben Steeves along with defensemen Marek Alscher, Michael Benning, Evan Nause and Zachary Uens — were been assigned to the Charlotte Checkers, the Panthers’ American Hockey League affiliate.

Two others — forwards Hunter St. Martin and Gracyn Sawchyn — were returned to their junior clubs.

And a 10th in forward Matt Luff was released from his professional tryout and is expected to report to Charlotte to compete for a roster spot there. Luff is the third Panthers player released from a training camp PTO; the other two were goaltenders Ken Appleby and Evan Cormier.

Florida still has 42 players at training camp — 25 forwards, 12 defensemen and five goaltenders.