FORT LAUDERDALE – Nico Sturm is ready to push with the Panthers.
Coming over from San Jose at the trade deadline earlier this month, the 29-year-old forward is hoping to claim his second Stanley Cup after previously winning in 2022 with Colorado.
A faceoff wizard, Sturm brings both experience and a unique skillset to Florida.
In 57 games this season split between the Sharks and Panthers, the Augsburg, Germany native has accumulated 13 points (seven goals, six assists) and won 59.9% of his draws.
“He’s been already huge for us, killing penalties and just playing hard,” said forward Jonah Gadjovich, who previously played with Sturm in San Jose. “He’s a big presence on the fourth line here. He’s awesome. I think it’s huge to have him here. We’re all excited.”
Following a recent practice at Baptist Health IcePlex, I had a chance to sit down with Sturm to talk about his new surroundings, his off-day activities, chasing a second Cup and more!
OLIVE: It's been about two weeks since you were traded. What’s your transition been like to the Panthers?
STURM: Easy. It’s an experienced team. We know what we want to accomplish this year. It’s an experienced team that won a Stanley Cup last year, which means a lot. It means there’s a lot of structure. I’ve played enough games in this league where I know what is expected of me and they know what I bring to the table. That makes the transition easier, I suppose.
OLIVE: You played with Jonah Gadjovich for a season in San Jose. Coming to a new team, how nice has it been to have a familiar face like that on the ice with you?
STURM: Obviously, I know Gadjy (Gadjovich). He’s a great, great guy. He’s a great family man. I love him as a guy, but also playing with him is fairly easy. Greersy (A.J. Greer) and Nosy (Tomas Nosek), too. It’s straight-line hockey. It’s very simple. There’s not a lot of dangling out there or east-west hockey. It’s straight line. That’s what the team needs from us, and we’re going to provide it.
OLIVE: It feels like the Panthers have been on the road pretty much ever since you arrived. Have you been able to get settled in South Florida yet?
STURM: Not yet [smiles]. I’m still in the hotel. I’m hoping that while we’re on the road that my short-term rental is going to get ready. The day after the Pittsburgh game, I hope to move in so I can feel like I have a little bit of a base. It’s tough when you come home to a hotel every day. I was on the road with San Jose for two weeks before I got traded, so that was hotel life. Then you come here and you’re in a hotel. Then you go back on the road with a team, and you’re in a hotel there. It’s tough to a relax when you feel like you don’t really come home. It’s going to be nice to get everything set up. I can’t wait to go grocery shopping. It’s going to be nice to be able to just be at home, sit on the porch and read a book. Being able to open the fridge and there’s a snack, I miss that [smiles]. I’m looking forward to just cooking at home. I’ve been eating out for a month.
OLIVE: What’s been your early impression of South Florida?
STURM: It’s a unique place to play. There’s excellent opportunities during your down time to recover the body and get ready for the next practice and games. It’s all there, so you want to take advantage of it.
OLIVE: Coming over from Germany, not a lot of fans know your first taste of hockey in North America was with the Corpus Christi IceRays of the NAHL. What was that experience like moving overseas as a young kid to play hockey in Texas?
STURM: It was weird for me playing junior hockey in Germany, coming here, and then there’s a new arena in Corpus -- American Bank Arena. It’s a great arena. You’re suddenly playing in front of a few thousand fans instead of just 25 parents. To me, that already felt like the NHL. To me, that was great. It felt so professional compared to what my junior team was able to provide in Germany. My language development has come a long way as well. There was no language barrier in that sense because we have English in school. I was able to communicate right away, but picked up a lot of vocabulary and just kind of expanded my knowledge a little bit. College obviously helped me in that regard as well. I think what helped is that I came halfway through the season to Corpus, so I really only played three or four months there. It was a big adventure. You come over as an 18-year-old and you really don’t know what to expect. You live with billets, but there’s laundry, food, stuff like that. You’re on your own for the first time. It kind of feels like a big adventure. I also feel like it helps you grow as a person. Being away from home and taking on that responsibility for the first time in your life, it not only made me a better hockey player but also a better human being.
OLIVE: How much of an impact do you think winning the Stanley Cup had on your career?
STURM: I’ve said this before, but the three years in San Jose were tough from a success perspective. It makes you realize how hard it is to win in this league and how hard it is to even get into the playoffs. There’s some players that have incredible careers that play in the league for 10-15 years but barely sniff the playoffs because they don’t have an opportunity to be on those teams. When you have that ring, it’s not something you gaze at every day, but some days are tougher than others. There were some days where it’s like, ‘I have this thing. I was on that team. Nobody can take it away from me.’ It gives you peace of mind. This is something that I’m going to have forever. It’s the pinnacle of hockey, and you reached it. It gives you calm and peace, but you’re not satisfied. Once you’ve got the taste of it, you want it again. It’s the nature of how this thing works.
OLIVE: With that, how fired up are you to chase a second Cup here with the Panthers?
STURM: That’s why I’m trying to get settled in now and use these last 14-15 games we have left to really find my footing here for when the puck drops for Game 1 of the playoffs. All the other stuff off the ice -- the housing, the family, the car -- I want that all settled so that once the puck drops there’s nothing but hockey for hopefully a 6-7 week stretch, however long it takes to get to the Final.
OLIVE: When you do get a chance to unwind, how do you like to spend your time away from the rink?
STURM: I’m a sun and beach person, so this is perfect for me. My off days aren’t really activity loaded, in that sense. What I do like to do on my off days is come to the rink and get a little bike ride in, a little sweat and a cold tub to recover. It feels like it wakes you up. Then I usually go home, grab lunch somewhere and then try to spend an hour in the sun. I read books in the sun. That’s usually what my fiancée and I usually like to do, just grab a coffee, sit outside.
OLIVE: Any specific genre of book you really enjoy?
STURM: I’m a slow reader. It’s crazy [smiles]. My fiancée, she buzzes through books in two or three days. I’ve been reading “Game of Thrones” books. They’re big books, and I’m a slow reader. I’ve been battling through those. I’m on the fifth book right now. “Game of Thrones” fans are waiting for George R.R. Martin to come out with a new book, so once that comes out I’ll be ready that one as well. That’s what I’ve bene doing for the last two years, reading those books. I read the prequel about the Targaryen family as well, and the three short stories in between that he wrote. It’s well written. I’m usually not a fantasy guy, but they’re so well written. The books are better than the show, like it always is. I’ve got about half a book left, and then I’m going to have to find something new this offseason.
OLIVE: I know there’s not a ton of options in South Florida, but when you arrive to a new area do you make it a priority to find good German food?
STURM: Yeah, that’s one thing I have to start looking for once I’m set up. There was one place in San Jose that I used to go to a couple times a year, but ideally there’s some store where I can just buy products from. If anybody is out there and knows something about the Fort Lauderdale area and German spots or stores, shoot me a DM. I’d love that.
