He was playing in college 11 days ago. Now he’s in a key role for league-leading Panthers
The day after his college hockey career ended with a record five-overtime loss ended in the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament, Matt Kiersted was watching hockey and trying to assess what was next for him.
He went undrafted out of high school in 2016, so he could choose to sign with any team as a free agent after his career with the North Dakota Fighting Hawks ended last month.
He happened to be watching the Florida Panthers when Aaron Ekblad took a hit against the Dallas Stars and crumpled to the ice with a fracture in his left leg last week.
The Panthers already caught his eye with the way they have used their defensemen to charge to the top of the NHL standings this year and the Ekblad injury, he knew, could mean even more of an opportunity with one of the league’s best teams.
“There’s opportunity here,” Kiersted said Friday. “That did open the door a little bit for some more opportunity here in Florida, for at least the rest of this year, anyway. That was in my thought process.”
On Thursday, he signed with Florida, just five days after his college career ended. On Saturday, he made his NHL debut, exactly a week after his last college game. Now three games into his professional career and just 11 days removed from college, he’s pushing veterans aside and forcing his way into a major role for a Stanley Cup contender.
In the Panthers’ 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, Kiersted led Florida (26-10-4) in time on ice in 5-on-5 action. His 25 total shifts were fourth most among defensemen, edging out Anton Stralman, Riley Stillman and Keith Yandle, and his contributions have steadily grown since his debut over the weekend.
On Friday, he played 12:46, then 16:27 on Saturday. In both games, he ranked fifth among defensemen in shifts, ahead of Stillman and Yandle. On Tuesday, his time on ice ballooned to 21:03 and he played nine shifts in the third period of a game with major postseason ramifications.
The Panthers will wrap up a two-game series against the Hurricanes (26-9-3) on Thursday at 7 p.m. at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Joel Quenneville isn’t shy about trusting his rookie in a meeting between the top two teams in the Central Division, even though the defenseman still technically a senior at North Dakota.
“You’ve got to commend the kid to on just finding a way to be in the right spots and seeing plays, recognizing opportunities both ways,” the coach said Tuesday. “He really positions himself well and repositions himself well, so he’s getting some composure here in some important games and meaningful shifts, as well.”
Kiersted said he had several suitors while he went through his rapid-fire free agency. He honed in on Florida because of they way it uses defensemen on offense.
As a senior, Kiersted completed his growth from undrafted player to coveted prospect by scoring three goals and dishing out 19 assists in 27 games, and finishing as runner-up for NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year. A year earlier, he was a finalist for NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year.
Florida likes to let its defensemen jump up into the offensive zone and even lead the rush occasionally. Kiersted liked the way his skill set fits and a Zoom meeting with management made him feel he’d jive with the organization from a personal standpoint.
“Just watching the games you see D-men producing, and joining the rush and adding offense when they can,” Kiersted said. “That’s kind of what I’m hoping I bring here.”
Kiersted hasn’t contributed a point yet, but he’s averaging one shot and two blocks in more than 16 minutes per game so far.
Most importantly, he’s fitting in with a first-place team in the thick of a playoff race.
“He comes in, he plays a straightforward game, he makes the right play, he doesn’t complicate things, plays very simple and that’s really what you need from a D, especially coming in like that. It’s very impressive,” Stralman said Tuesday. “It’s not easy coming in midseason like this when things ramp up and he’s very solid.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 2:22 PM.
