Panthers reassign winger to AHL

The Florida Panthers reassigned winger William Lockwood to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers on Monday, a team release states.

Lockwood, 25, earned a recall from Charlotte just one week into the season after scoring two goals and adding an assist in his first two games. He played seven games with the Panthers on his recall, but he didn’t get on the scoresheet, averaged just 7:27 per game, and was a healthy scratch Sunday against the Blackhawks as center Sam Bennett returned from a lower-body injury.

The 5-foot-11, 172-pound two-way winger signed a two-year, two-way deal worth $1.525M with the Panthers this summer after spending the better part of three seasons in the Vancouver Canucks organization. A third-round pick of the team in 2016, Lockwood spent four years at the University of Michigan before turning pro with the Canucks in 2020.

Most of his time there was spent in AHL Abbotsford and the Utica Comets, where he had 54 points in 96 games across three seasons. He did get a look in 28 NHL games with the Canucks but managed just one assist, failing to translate much of any offensive success to the NHL.

That was never where his game would rest if he could make a full go of things in the NHL, however. He’s an adept penalty-killer by nature and wouldn’t be counted on for more than 20 or 30 points in a season at most.

He finished last season on a strong note, posting 12 points in 17 games with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack after a trade sent him to the New York Rangers organization. He never earned a recall to the NHL roster in the Big Apple, though, and the team didn’t re-sign him when he hit Group VI unrestricted free agency in July.

With the transaction, the Panthers are down to 21 players on the active roster, with the only extra skater being defenseman Mike Reilly. Defenseman Brandon Montour is expected to come off injured reserve soon, although no transaction was necessary to activate him with a roster spot available.

Returning Lockwood to the minors now allows him to head directly to Charlotte without needing waivers. Had he stayed on the NHL roster for four more days, he would have required them after his 30-day temporary waiver exempt period expired after clearing during pre-season. It also allows the Panthers to accrue a little bit of cap space, as without Lockwood’s $775K cap hit, the team does not need the LTIR relief of Montour and Aaron Ekblad to stay cap-compliant.