Florida Panthers‘ 7th round deep draft pick in 2013 (#206 overall) 3rd year defenseman MacKenzie Weegar(52) gets into his first NHL game in his 2nd recall.
He’s put up career high, blue liner team leading numbers for affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds with 13 goals, 9 assists for 32 points and a nicely accountable +4 rating in 57 AHL games.
In his debut he skated 23 shifts for 16:45 of total ice time with 1 shot on net, 2 hits and 2 penalty minutes in a 4-1 loss.
The 6′ 212 lbs. d-man was reassigned all the way down to Cincinnati Cyclones, playing 21 ECHL games as recently as late 2015 as a rookie.
He skated only two years of juniors with Halifax Mooseheads but won both the 2013 QMJHL Championship and subsequent Memorial Cup as a first year skater.
The 23-year old is set is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the current calendar but should be a no brainer to be re-up for at least another season.