Florida Panthers News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Oct 25 vs JAX Forward Bryce Brodzinski (Savannah Ghost Pirates)

Savannah Ghost Pirates Looking for Consistency This Season

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Sylvie McCarthy | Last updated Nov 5, 2025 2:50 PM ET

The Florida Panthers are the reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions. The Panthers are not off to a great start this season with Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, and Dmitry Kulikov all out of the lineup due to injuries, though — Florida’s current record is 6-6-1 and they are in last place in the Atlantic Division.

The Panthers’ ECHL affiliate, the Savannah Ghost Pirates, are currently 2-1-1-1 and in 10th place in the Eastern Conference. Here is a closer look at the Ghost Pirates’ season so far.

Ghost Pirates Off to a Shaky Start

This season marks number four in the Ghost Pirates franchise, and the second season for head coach Jared Staal. Savannah began its regular season with back-to-back games at home on Oct. 17 and 18.

Savannah faced the Norfolk Admirals in their first game of the regular season and lost in overtime 4-3. Forward Bryce Brodzinski scored two goals in the game and currently has six points in five games. The Ghost Pirates first win of the season came on Oct. 23 when they beat the South Carolina Stingrays 9-4 with Riley Hughes and Nicholas Zabaneh scoring two goals each. Hughes has three goals and one assist in five games, and Zabaneh has two goals and four assists in five games.

On Oct. 25, the Ghost Pirates defeated the Jacksonville Icemen 3-1. The Icemen came into the game undefeated. Jacksonville’s only goal of the game came in the first period to open the scoring. Defenseman Noah Carroll scored his first goal of the season toward the end of the first period to tie the game. Robert Mastrosimone scored in the second period making that his third-straight game with a goal.

Mastrosimone’s goal came on a four-on-four making that the team’s fourth-straight game with a goal at four-on-four. Currently, he has seven points in five games. The Ghost Pirates were good on the forecheck throughout the game and played with good intensity for a full 60 minutes.

Ghost Pirates Struggling to Stay Consistent

Savannah lost their most recent matchup 4-2 to the Atlanta Gladiators on Nov. 1. Evan Cormier was in net for the Ghost Pirates and stopped 19 of 23 shots. Cormier is back with the team this season after earning a call up to Florida last season. He is in his third season with the organization and is currently on a one-year deal with the Charlotte Checkers, the Panthers’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate.

Cormier spent most of last season with the Ghost Pirates, where he had a 3.38 goals-against average (GAA) and a .887 save percentage (SV%). Staal is hoping having a goaltender with NHL experience will be a game changer for his team this season. The head coach has a lot of new players in the fray and it seems they are still trying to find chemistry with each other.

The Ghost Pirates have shown good speed and physicality so far. Defenseman Dennis Cesana currently leads the team in points with seven in five games. However, the defense as a whole has struggled at times with turnovers and getting beat off the rush.

Captain Logan Drevitch is the only player in franchise history to sign a contract in all four seasons of the team’s existence. He played in every game last season and led the team with 40 assists. The Ghost Pirates have yet to make the playoffs and after seeing the success of their NHL affiliate, they are eagerly chasing a playoff berth. Savannah will return to action on Nov. 5 against the Icemen.