In Switzerland ever since, Ignatavicius has steadily improved with each passing season.<\/p>\n
Spending most of the 2025-26 campaign playing against professionals in the National League, he notched 13 points (7G, 6A) in 52 games with Gen\u00e8ve-Servette HC. He also suited up in 11 games in the postseason, scoring two goals and dishing out an assist.<\/p>\n
During a brief stint in Switzerland\u2019s second-tier league, he was better than a point-per-game player, racking up 11 points (7G, 4A) in eight contests.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a big there,\u201d the 18-year-old forward said of his breakout season. \u201cThere we go, and here I am now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Catching the attention of scouts across the NHL, Ignatavicius was projected as a possible late-first-round pick by several outlets heading into this weekend.<\/p>\n
Making history when the Panthers called his name, he became the fourth Lithuanian to be drafted, joining Darius Kasparaitis, Dainius\u00a0Zubrus and Andrey Pedan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means a lot to my family and to my country,\u201d Ignatavicius. \u201cIt shows little kids that whatever you dream it\u2019s possible. You\u2019ve just got to work for it. When you get your chance, you take it. Don\u2019t give up. Work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
A veteran of 1,293 games in the NHL, Zubrus has been a longtime mentor to his young countryman.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty close with him,\u201d Ignatavicius said. \u201cWe text a lot. I\u2019m happy with that and think I can learn a lot from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to future lessons, he\u2019ll have no shortage of new teachers to work with\u00a0in South Florida.<\/p>\n
Priding himself on playing a physical, relentless style,\u00a0Ignatavicius models his game after one Panther in particular.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatthew Tkachuk,\u201d he said. \u201cI try playing like him, his style. I think he\u2019s a great player and I can learn a lot from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet to commit to returning to Switzerland next season, Ignatavicius is still waiting to see where he\u2019ll lace up his skates in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just got to focus on my summer and getting better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In the immediate future, Ignatavicius will soon board a flight to Fort Lauderdale to participate in his first development camp with the Panthers.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlorida? Can\u2019t complain much,\u201d he said when asked about his impending trip. \u201cVery happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In between on-ice sessions, maybe Ignatavicius will even find some time to grab a pizza.<\/p>\n
If he needs a recommendation, I’m sure Panthers fans will have a few suggestions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just the beginning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Switzerland ever since, Ignatavicius has steadily improved with each passing season. Spending most of the 2025-26 campaign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-322167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}