Justin Sourdif has begun his first training camp with the Washington Capitals after an offseason trade saw him acquired from the Florida Panthers. The 23-year-old winger fetched two draft picks from the Capitals as the cash-strapped Panthers believed they wouldn’t have room for him on their NHL roster.
While Sourdif was a restricted free agent and without a contract for the 2025-26 season, he says the move still caught him off guard.
“I was pretty surprised, honestly,” Sourdif said Wednesday. “I was kind of just packing up my apartment in Charlotte, getting ready to head home, when I got the call from our GM in Florida, Bill Zito. I was pretty surprised, but at the same time, obviously, I was super excited that Washington likes me as a player, wanted me to come to the organization. I’m just super happy to be here. As soon as I got here, the facility, all the guys are so nice, the staff, everyone. So it’s been awesome.”
Sourdif will receive the best chance yet of his young career to establish himself as a full-time NHL player this season after playing just four total games for the Panthers the past two years. The Capitals are on record as long-time admirers of Sourdif’s game and were higher on him than most other teams during the 2020 draft.
“Florida won the back-to-back Stanley Cups, so it’s obviously a tough organization to crack,” Sourdif said. “Talking to Bill Zito, he said, ‘You’re definitely going to get a better opportunity there than with us, and we loved you as a player,’ but at the same time, they wanted to move me on because they believed I was able to make the next jump.”
Two primary factors Sourdif mentioned are helping him become quickly acquainted with his new team. The first being that the Capitals’ system under head coach Spencer Carbery is very similar to the one Sourdif played in Florida under Panthers head coach Paul Maurice and Charlotte Checkers bench boss Geordie Kinnear.
The similarities are so apparent that Maurice pointed them out last season, and Carbery later agreed with his assessment. Sourdif has been using Carbery as a resource throughout camp and plans to maintain those communication channels as he continues learning the Capitals’ system.
“I’ve talked to Carbs, and the systems we played in Florida and Charlotte are actually really similar, so it’s been a pretty easy adjustment,” Sourdif said. “Obviously, there’s a few different things, but I’ve talked to him one-on-one, and it’s been a pretty seamless transition. I’m going to continue talking with him about systems, whatever he wants out of me as a player. I think that’s really helpful.”
Another factor aiding Sourdif early in his Capitals career is his past familiarity with several of his teammates, whom he was reunited with at camp this week. The British Columbia native has known a few members of the club since they were kids, dating back to their time as players in the province’s youth hockey system.
“I knew a couple guys coming in, obviously, Andrew Cristall,” Sourdif said. “I played with his older brother when I was a kid, as well as Vinny Iorio. I’ve known him since I was about 8 or 9 years old. So, there’s definitely a few guys. Henrik Rybinski, I’ve trained with him in the summers as well. So, definitely some familiar faces, and I was definitely comfortable coming here.”
Given that he’s played just three years of pro hockey, Sourdif believes he still has room to grow and become an impactful NHL talent.
“I think I’m continuing to get better every year as a player,” he said. “Sometimes guys feel like they reach their ceiling maybe at like 27, 28 – the age where you reach your physical peak and your skill level. But for me, I feel like I’m getting better every single day. Just the way I see the game. I take in everything. I just feel like every year I’m going to keep getting better and better and evolve different parts of my game.”
As for what he’ll bring to the Capitals on the ice this year, Sourdif echoed a lot of what Carbery mentioned about him a day prior.
“Lots of energy,” said. “Obviously, wherever I am in the lineup, whatever they want me to do, PK. If I’m playing, five, ten minutes a night, it doesn’t matter. Whatever I can do to help the team win, that’s what I’m going to do.
Carbery started Sourdif at camp on the left wing of Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime’s checking line. Given that he’s not a waivers-exempt player, Sourdif will need to keep that position or stay on the team’s roster as an extra forward. If he doesn’t, the Capitals risk losing him for nothing on waivers if they try to send him down to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
“I feel like a Swiss Army knife. I can play up and down the lineup. If they need me to play in the top six, I feel I can step up. Playing with Dewey and Dowder, if that’s how the season starts, absolutely, I think we could be a really good line. I just look forward to whatever comes. Those two guys are also amazing players and people.”
Sourdif could make his Capitals preseason debut on Thursday when the team travels to Hershey and matches up against the Philadelphia Flyers. He skated with Group A at camp on Wednesday, filtering in on the fourth line with Terik Parascak, Ilya Protas, and Matt Strome.
