Spencer Carbery has modest expectations for Justin Sourdif in his rookie season: 'I couldn't care less what his goals and assists look like at the end of the night'

""I want to tread very carefully because I don't want to put any expectations, because I feel like his progression is the approach that I've taken with Mikey, with Pro, Marty Fehervary back in the day, not applying pressure to produce offensively," Carbery said last week. "What Sourdi's doing right now, I couldn't care less what his goals and assists look like at the end of the night, and I couldn't care less about what it looks like at the end of 82 games.""

""Through 36 games, Sourdif has just nine points (3g, 6a), ranking him 14th on the team. He has fewer points than three defensemen, Martin Fehervary (11), Rasmus Sandin (10), Matt Roy (10), and is just ahead of bottom-six forwards Sonny Milano (7), Nic Dowd (7), Brandon Duhaime (6), and Lapierre (6). Sourdif is also currently without a goal in his last 14 games.""

Justin Sourdif transitioned from three seasons in the Florida Panthers' minor-league system to Washington and began 2025-26 as a fourth-line winger before moving into a top-six center spot. The promotion followed a long-term injury to Pierre-Luc Dubois and early struggles from other centers. Sourdif has skated with top forwards, including Alex Ovechkin, but through 36 games he has nine points and sits 14th on the team in scoring. Head coach Spencer Carbery is deliberately limiting expectations and focusing on Sourdif's development rather than immediate offensive output.

Read at RMNB