After taking the opening round off at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft in Nashville, Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito selected center Gracyn Sawchyn from the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds late in the second with the 63rd overall pick.
Sawchyn is a hard-working, high-energy prospect who was somewhat polarizing among scouting services and hockey publications, who had him ranked anywhere from 13th to 90th, at the time.
EliteProspects had this to say: Sawchyn’s game is not a complex one. He sprints hard after the puck, and if he can’t outright win the race, he tries to win the ensuing battle, then, he looks for a teammate. If the pass isn’t available, he drives inside without much concern for his safety.
While Sawchyn is a meat-and-potatoes type, putting up 58 points in 58 games is an impressive feat for a slight 18-year-old. Among his strong points are his relentless forechecking, ability to force turnovers, above-average acceleration, defensive awareness and good hands. Like a lot of players his age, he will need to bulk up and add strength as he continues his journey to the professional ranks. He already seems to do a lot of the little things well, hopefully as he matures he’ll be able to become more dynamic offensively.
In his first season in the WHL, Sawchyn, a product of famed prep school Shattuck St. Mary’s and the USNTDP, averaged exactly a point per game by scoring 18 goals and assisting on 40 others. Sixteen of his 58 points came on the power play and he registered three game-winning goals. His 144 shots on goal were the sixth-highest on the team and he displayed a feisty side by racking up 68 PIM, which was the third-most on the Thunderbirds.
During the postseason, he appeared in 17 of 19 games and produced three goals and 11 points as Seattle won the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions and earned a spot in the 2023 Memorial Cup.
After going 2-1 in round-robin play, the Thunderbirds beat Peterborough 4-1 in the semifinal before getting blanked 5-0 in the championship game by the Quebec Remparts. Sawchyn played in all five of Seattle’s games at the tournament, but failed to register a point or a shot on goal and finished with a minus-three rating.
Shortly after the Memorial Cup, Sawchyn attended Florida’s 2023 development camp and scored a goal for Team Red in a 6-3 scrimmage win over Team White.
Sawcyhn returned to Seattle and played 17 games with the Thunderbirds before he was traded, along with the rights to his younger brother Lukas and defenseman Tracen Ashley, to the Edmonton Oil Kings on December 27, for center Nathan Pilling, five draft picks and two conditional draft picks. At the time of the trade, Sawchyn was third in scoring for struggling Seattle with 21 points on six goals and 15 assists.
The trade did little to reverse the fortunes of either team, as each missed the playoffs. In 37 games with the Oil Kings, Sawcyhn produced 13 goals and 30 assists to finish his second WHL season with 19 goals, 45 assists and 64 points – all personal bests. Sawychn registered 108 shots on goal, won 51.5% of his faceoffs, and 23 of his 64 combined points came on the power play.
The summer of 2024 saw Sawchyn participate in his second development camp, where he scored a shootout goal in the final day scrimmage. He returned in September to attend training camp before heading back to Edmonton for his third WHL season.
Sawchyn delivered a standout season in 2024-25, leading the Oil Kings in goals (30), assists (48), and points (78), despite missing 14 regular season games. 39 of his points came on the power play and he also tallied three times shorthanded. In addition to his offensive exploits, Sawchyn also led Edmonton in plus/minus (+18) and was third on the team with 76 PIM.
After a three-year absence, the Oil Kings returned the playoffs, bowing out in a tough seven-game first-rounder against the Prince Albert Raiders. Sawchyn put up eight points during the series, which was tops on the team (tied with Gavin Hodnett). Five of his six helpers came on the man-advantage.
The Panthers signed Sawchyn to a three-year, entry-level on November 4, 2024. At that point he was off to a torrid start to the campaign with eight goals and 12 assists in 20 games.
Sawchyn was back in Broward for development camp in July of 2025. He and his linemates Anton Lundmark and Hunter St. Martin created all sorts of zone time and scoring chances in the scrimmage held on the final day, and their chemistry carried over to rookie camp in September.
Unfortunately, due to an upper-body injury suffered on January 5, Sawchyn was limited to just 35 games in his first professional season with the Charlotte Checkers. He finished the AHL campaign with six goals and 17 assists. His points per game average of .66 was tied for fourth-highest on the squad among players who played more than three games. One of his six goals came on the power play and he posted five multi-point games, including a two-assist performance against the Toronto Marlies when he returned to the lineup on April 3.
Sawchyn appeared in two of Charlotte’s three playoff games in the disappointing first round loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds. He had an assist in both Game 1 and Game 2, but did not play in the decisive game of the series.
While Sawchyn is a dogged worker with impressive puck skills who excels as a set-up man, he is the type of player that’s going to have his believers and non-believers. He split scouting departments in the lead up to his draft year, however, his performance with the Checkers, albeit in a small sample size, is encouraging. Sawchyn is good at finding open ice in the offensive third and his edgework is the best in the system. He’s not small, but he’s not big either, so he relies on his awareness and quickness to get out of jams with and without the puck. Sawchyn’s got a forechecking mentality and he’s very adept at jumping plays in the neutral zone. When the biscuit is on his blade, he displays excellent vision, a creative flair and is armed with both a solid wrist shot and splendid backhand.
That was a pretty positive last paragraph, so why does Sawchyn have his detractors? There are doubts about his abilty to translate his offensive assets to the big league and he is not the ideal size for a forechecking center, leading some scouts to view him as a tweener type prospect. Still, there is a lot to like about what he brings to the table. He needs at least another year, if not two, before he’s really ready to challenge for an NHL roster spot and that chance might not come with the Panthers, given the team’s depth and championship aspirations. However, if he can level up in his second season with the Checkers, Sawchyn may turn enough heads to get that opportunity with the Cats or become a valuable trade chip à la Justin Sourdif.