Sandis Vilmanis is a Latvian winger with the Florida Panthers, a fifth-round pick in 2022 who reached the NHL in January 2026. Sandis Vilmanis led all Latvian skaters at the 2026 World Championship with 11 points in 8 games. He was born in Riga, developed in Sweden, and broke through in Canadian junior hockey, and he wears No. 95 in Florida.
| Fast facts: Sandis Vilmanis | |
|---|---|
| Current team | Florida Panthers, NHL, No. 95 |
| Position | Left wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| Born | 23 January 2004, Riga, Latvia |
| Height / weight | 6’1″ (185 cm) / 192 lbs, per the NHL’s register. Florida’s own release lists him at 6’2″ |
| Drafted | 2022, fifth round, 157th overall, Florida Panthers |
| Contract status | Entry-level deal signed 2 March 2024 running through 2026-27, then a two-year extension agreed 1 July 2026 covering 2027-28 and 2028-29. Restricted free agent in 2029 |
| International | Latvia. Three World Juniors, two Under-18 Worlds, the 2026 Olympics and the 2026 World Championship |
| Previous clubs | Lulea HF junior system, HK Riga, Sarnia Sting, North Bay Battalion, Charlotte Checkers |
Is Sandis Vilmanis in the NHL?
Yes. Vilmanis made his NHL debut for Florida on 10 January 2026, away against Ottawa, picked up his first point six days later in Carolina, and scored his first goal on 27 January against Utah.
He opened 2026-27 in Florida’s top nine on the third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, a spot that opened through injuries to Brad Marchand and Jonah Gadjovich. Head coach Paul Maurice was direct about keeping him there. “I think he’s a top-9 player all day long,” Maurice said in September 2026. “We don’t have to wait three years for him to be impactful. He’s got enough in his game right now for me to just play him.” He added: “I’ve got lots of faith in that young man.”
There is a neat circle in that. Back in October 2024, after his first Panthers training camp, Vilmanis said of the same two players that “it’s been great just watching those guys on the ice and learning from them” and that “playing with those guys on a line is just an honor for me.”
The channels and streams for every Panthers game are in our guide to how to watch the Florida Panthers.
What are Sandis Vilmanis’s career stats?
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | P | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Lulea HF J20 | J20 Nationell | 40 | 18 | 14 | 32 | 8 |
| 2022-23 | Sarnia Sting | OHL | 62 | 20 | 25 | 45 | 14 |
| 2023-24 | Sarnia Sting | OHL | 30 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 6 |
| 2023-24 | North Bay Battalion | OHL | 30 | 28 | 11 | 39 | 4 |
| 2024-25 | Charlotte Checkers | AHL | 61 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 12 |
| 2025-26 | Charlotte Checkers | AHL | 48 | 17 | 21 | 38 | 26 |
| 2025-26 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 19 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| 2025-26 | Latvia | World Championship | 8 | 4 | 7 | 11 | Not published |
Completed seasons. He finished his junior career with 112 points in the OHL, adding 27 points in 16 playoff games for North Bay. Charlotte reached the Calder Cup Final in 2025, and he had seven points in eleven games during that run.
Vilmanis scored 10 goals in 30 games for Sarnia in 2023-24 and 28 in 30 for North Bay after the trade, almost tripling his rate inside a single season. Nothing else in his record comes close to that half-season.
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What did Sandis Vilmanis do for Latvia at the 2026 World Championship?
No Latvian skater scored more points at the 2026 World Championship than Vilmanis, as Florida noted when it extended his contract. His best night was the 4-2 win over the United States on 23 May 2026, where he had three points and scored twice into an empty net. Latvia reached the quarterfinals before losing 2-0 to Norway.
That followed a quieter Olympics. He wore No. 22 for Latvia in Milano-Cortina in February 2026, played four games and did not score, and Latvia went out in the qualification round against Sweden and finished tenth. Here’s our 2026 Olympic hockey guide and our World Championship guide.
He had told Latvian public broadcaster LSM before the Olympics that he had hoped for the call “until the last minute”, and that “I got to prove myself in the game, and I got this call!”
Has Sandis Vilmanis been suspended?
No. On 4 February 2026, against Boston, he was given a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head on Charlie McAvoy. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety followed up with no supplemental discipline: no fine and no suspension.
Vilmanis addressed it himself: “Of course I didn’t mean to do that,” he said, calling it “not a great play.”
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What is Sandis Vilmanis’s contract?
Vilmanis signed a three-year entry-level contract with Florida on 2 March 2024, and CapWages lists its cap hit at $855,000 for the first two seasons and $930,000 for 2026-27. Florida then announced a two-year extension on 1 July 2026 covering 2027-28 and 2028-29, which CapWages puts at $925,000 a season. He becomes a restricted free agent in 2029.
General manager Bill Zito called him “a skilled, competitive young player” when the extension was announced, and said the club was proud that he had committed two more years.
How did Sandis Vilmanis get from Riga to the NHL?
He left Latvia as a teenager. Vilmanis came up through Lulea HF’s junior system in Sweden from 2019-20 to 2021-22, spending one of those seasons back home playing 22 games for HK Riga in the MHL, and his breakout was 32 points in 40 games in Sweden’s top junior league in 2021-22.
Sarnia took him 14th overall in the 2022 CHL Import Draft and signed him that July. General manager Dylan Seca said then that the club liked “his combination of skill and size, not to mention he’s got a scoring touch to complement both.” Sarnia traded him to North Bay in January 2024, where the half-season above happened, and Florida signed him that March. Two seasons with Charlotte in the AHL followed before the NHL call.
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