After selecting defensemen Marek Alscher and Ludvig Jansson with his first two picks in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito took his first forward of the event when he chose Sandis Vimanis in the fifth round (157th overall).
During his draft season, Vilmanis played in 40 games with Luleå HF’s U20 team in 2021-22, where he tied for the club lead with 18 goals and ranked third in points with 32.
On the international stage, the 6-foot-1, 192-pound Riga native skated in four games with Latvia at the 2022 IIHF U18 World Junior Championship, where he posted three points (1G/2A) and served as an assistant captain. He also appeared in five games with Latvia at the 2022 IIHF U20 D1A World Junior Championship, registering two goals and five points, helping his country to a second-place finish, and had one assist in five games at the World Junior Championship in Edmonton.
Neutral Zone had Vilmanis graded as a C+ prospect (low probability of playing NHL games, but some NHL potential) and ranked at 217 in its final draft rankings, considerably lower than where he was taken by the Cats, with the following assessment:
C me: He scored 18 goals in 40 J20 Nationell games. He was an assistant captain for Latvia at the U18 World Championships and recorded three points in four games. He had three points in five games at the U20 WJC D1A. He is very strong along the walls and understands how to extend puck possession in the offensive zone.
C me not: He is a 6’1″ 195-pounder who won 39% of his puck battles in J20 competition. Yes, he understands how to extend offensive zone puck possession, but he is very content to keep the puck along the mid-walls.
After being selected by the Panthers, Vilmanis made the move to North America and joined the OHL’s Sarnia Sting for the 2022-23 season, where he played 62 games and put up 20 goals and 25 assists.
In 14 postseason games, Vilmanis totaled four goals and three assists for the Sting, who were bounced in the Western Conference Final by the London Knights in six games.
He was again part of Latvia’s entry at the 2023 World Junior Championship, playing six games and producing a goal and an assist as the country managed to avoid getting regulated and stay in the top division.
Vilmanis started the 2023-24 campaign with Sarnia and produced 28 points in 30 games before he was traded to the North Bay Battalion. He took he game to another level with North Bay, scoring 28 goals in 30 games while adding 11 assists.
He was the most productive player on the Battalion in the playoffs by a fair margin, racking up an impressive 27 points in 16 games as his new team came within one win of reaching the final round.
At the 2024 World Junior Championship in Sweden, he scored two goals and added two assists in five games as Latvia finished the tournament in seventh-place.
After inking his entry-level contract in March, Vilmanis attended both development camp and training camp in the fall, and was assigned to the Charlotte Checkers to begin his professional career.
As an AHL rookie with the Checkers, Vilmanis appeared in 61 of 72 regular season games and finished the campaign with a respectable nine goals and 27 points. He scored his first goal (and point) in his third game on October 18, against the Cleveland Monsters and recorded six multi-point performances, including a goal and an assist in the next to last game of the season against the Springfield Thunderbirds.
In the playoffs, Vilmanis was pretty effective when in the lineup, producing three goals and seven points in his 11 postseason appearances.
With the Panthers lineup locked and loaded, there is little chance of Vilmanis getting NHL time this season, other than potentially as an injury call-up, so the goal will be continue honing his all-around game in Charlotte.