George Richards, FHN Publisher
The 2020 NHL Draft kicks off Tuesday night on laptops and tablets around North America with the Florida Panthers’ draft room set up in the Chairman’s Club of the BB&T Center.
The Panthers, like every team in the league, has been strengthened by some of their first round picks over the years.
Others have been OK, some simply didn’t work out.
Picking as high up as Florida has over the years has helped.
Tuesday, new GM Bill Zito holds the 12th overall pick and he will be trying to land a big-time player.
The Best First Round Panthers
D Jay Bouwmeester (3rd overall, 2002): Would have been the first overall pick by the Panthers only then-GM Rick Dudley (who is back with the team) swung a deal with Pittsburgh sliding down a few spots knowing he would get his guy at No. 3. That apparently didn’t sit well with Bouwmeester whose time in South Florida, while a success on the ice, was acrimonious at best. Bouwmeester played 471 games with the Panthers and repeatedly rebuffed the team’s attempts to sign him to a long-term contract so he could bolt as a free agent the moment he could. Bouwmeester, during his six seasons with the Panthers, was a two-time All-Star and a member of Team Canada. He was, save for Roberto Luongo, the best player Florida had most nights. Bouwmeester won the Stanley Cup last summer with St. Louis and has played in 1,240 NHL games.
C Sasha Barkov (2nd overall, 2013): The Panthers had a number of choices with the second pick in 2013 and went with the NHL-ready center in Barkov. It has paid off. Barkov has turned into one of the best two-way centers in the NHL, is the team captain and set the franchise record for points in a single season with 96 in 2018-19.
C Nick Bjugstad (19th, 2010): Things did not end well in South Florida for Bjugstad but he was considered one of the team’s top young players for years until injury problems started to affect his game and he was traded to Pittsburgh in 2019. Bjugstad scored 22 goals in his first full season with the Panthers and a career-high 30 in 2017-18. Of his 439 NHL games played, 394 came with the Panthers. Bjugstad was recently traded from the Pens to his hometown Minnesota Wild. All things considered, Bjugstad was a solid first-round pick by the Panthers.
F Radek Dvorak (10th, 1995): A fan favorite as a rookie, ‘Dvo’ ended his NHL career by playing in 1,260 games, scoring 227 goals with 590 points. Dvorak was traded to San Jose in 1999 for goalie Mike Vernon. Dvorak ended up returning to the Panthers in 2007 and spent four more seasons in South Florida before Dale Tallon traded him to Atlanta in the 2011 deadline money dump which set up Florida’s free agent frenzy that summer. Dvorak is a founding member of the South Florida Hockey Academy.
D Aaron Ekblad (1st, 2014): The Panthers have made the first overall pick just twice in their history and both times selected a defenseman from the Windsor area. In Ekblad, the Panthers have their No. 1 defenseman for years to come. Ekblad, the 2014 rookie of the year, has played in 458 games for the Panthers. Florida could have taken Leon Draisaitl (who went third to Edmonton) with this pick, but at the time, Ekblad was the top choice and it has paid off for Florida.
F Michael Frolik (10th, 2006): This may be an odd choice to be on this list because a lot of people may forget Frolik played in Florida. Well he did. Frolik was the in his third season with the Panthers when Tallon traded him to Chicago for Jack Skille. Frolik kept going, winning the Cup with the Blackhawks. Frolik, most recently with Buffalo, has played in 850 NHL games to date.
F Nathan Horton (3rd, 2003): Like Bouwmeester before him, Horton was Florida’s top choice when it held the No. 1 pick and traded down (with Pittsburgh again) and took Horton with the third pick. Horton produced in his time with the Panthers although his time here could be described as disappointing and his trade to Boston in 2010 was Tallon’s first move as the team’s GM. Horton, who won the Cup with the Bruins, played in 626 NHL games, scoring 203 goals. Horton was still ranked fifth on the team’s all-time list with 142 goals going into last season. Still, it is hard to justify Florida trading down because it wanted Horton — when the Panthers could have taken Eric Staal (1240 NHL games, 436 goals and 1021 points) with that pick. Staal went second after Pittsburgh used Florida’s No. 1 position for goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
F Jonathan Huberdeau (3rd, 2011): It may have taken Huberdeau a couple of years to make it to the Panthers, but he made a big splash in 2013 as he was the team’s first Calder Trophy winner (Ekblad won it two years later). Huberdeau has been one of the Panthers’ biggest offensive stars over the past few seasons and is now the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. In 2018-19, he and Barkov became Florida’s first two players to record 90 points in the same season.
D Ed Jovanovski (1st, 1994): Florida’s first top pick of the draft came in its second season and ‘JovoCop’ quickly became a fan favorite. He was traded to Vancouver in the Pavel Bure deal but after a few All-Star seasons returned as a free agent in 2011 and ended up being part of three (1996, ‘97 and 2012) playoff teams with the Panthers. Jovanovski just completed his first season as part of the Panthers’ television broadcast team.
F Rob Niedermayer (5th, 1993): A big part of the Panthers during their first decade, Niedermayer went into last season still among the franchise leaders in a number of offensive categories. The first-ever draft pick of the expansion Panthers, Niedermayer played 518 of his 1153 NHL games with Florida. Traded to Calgary for Val Bure in 2001, Niedermayer won the Stanley Cup with Anaheim.
C Stephen Weiss (4th, 2001): Drafted at the first draft held in Sunrise, Weiss became the face of the Panthers during the 2000s and finally made the playoffs with Florida in 2012. By the time Weiss left the team as a free agent in 2014 (the Panthers didn’t have the money to try and re-sign him), he was the franchise leader in games played and assists.
The Worst First Round Panthers
F Mike Brown (20th, 1997): Only played in 34 NHL games, scoring a goal with three points. Just a few spots down, San Jose picked defenseman Scott Hannen (1055 NHL games, 625 points) while Brenden Morrow (991 games, 575 points) went 25th.
F Quinton Howden (25th, 2010): The final of three first-round picks in Tallon’s first draft with the Panthers, Howden ended up playing in 97 NHL games (92 with the Panthers) with 10 goals and 17 points. Howden has spent the past four seasons playing in the KHL. Taken soon after Howden: Evgeny Kuznetsov, Charlie Coyle and Brock Nelson.
F Kenndal McArdle (20th, 2005): This draft was known for Sidney Crosby going first to the Penguins at an event held in a ballroom at the Westin hotel in Ottawa. For Florida, it was Mike Keenan’s first draft as GM of the Panthers and McArdle just did not work out as he only played in 33 games with Florida. The Panthers passed up the likes of T.J. Oshie (24th to St. Louis) and Andrew Cogliano (25th, Edmonton).
F Denis Shvidki (12th, 1999): This was not a very strong draft as it was but Shvidki only played in 76 games with the Panthers over four seasons. During the 2004 lockout, Shvidki went to play in Russia — and never came back. Shvidki does now lives in South Florida and coaches at the Panthers IceDen.
F Petr Taticek (9th, 2002): Of the 30 players taken in the first round in 2002, only five players appeared in fewer NHL games than Taticek (three) and everyone else in the top 14 played in at least 400. Defenseman Keith Ballard, whom the Panthers later acquired in the Olli Jokinen deal, was selected two picks later.
The Other Guys
F Lawson Crouse (11th, 2015): Kind of a surprise pick at the 2015 Sunrise draft, Crouse didn’t get a chance to show what he could do in Florida as he was traded to Arizona as the sweetener in the Dave Bolland contract dump. Crouse has had a nice career with the Coyotes, playing in 230 games to date.
D Erik Gudbranson (3rd, 2010): Once considered the future captain of the Panthers, Gudbranson had a solid career with the Panthers before he was traded to Vancouver not long after the run to the 2016 playoffs. Gudbranson is currently with Anaheim and has played in 518 NHL games. He was considered the top defenseman in his draft and joined the Panthers full-time in 2011.
D Lukas Krajicek (24th, 2001): Played just parts of two seasons with the Panthers before being part of the original Luongo trade with Vancouver. Ended up playing 328 NHL games (90 came with the Panthers) and is still playing professionally in the Czech Republic.
D Dmitry Kulikov (14th, 2009): ‘Kuli’ is on the high-end of this category because he was a solid defenseman in his time with the Panthers and was part of two playoff teams in Florida. Kulikov was traded to Buffalo in 2016 and currently plays in Winnipeg. Of his 677 NHL games played, 460 came with the Panthers.
D Mike Matheson (23rd, 2012): The Panthers thought so much of Matheson that they gave him an eight-year deal after just one full NHL season. Matheson was considered a core piece of the team moving forward, but his struggles the past two seasons led Zito to trade him to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago. Matheson had a great college career at Boston College and was Florida’s top prospect before making his debut with the team at the end of the 2015-16 season.
F Marcus Nilson (20th, 1996): Played 327 of his 521 NHL games with the Panthers during the dark years following the 2000 playoffs before being traded to Calgary. Marco Sturm and Danny Briere were drafted in Nilson’s neighborhood.
F Rostislav Olesz (7th, 2004): Olesz looked like a solid pick as he made his debut with the Panthers following the 2004-05 lockout and was a good, young player Florida thought would have a long and fruitful career. Olesz was given a long-term deal by Jacques Martin and then struggled with injuries and was traded to Chicago at the 2011 draft for Brian Campbell. Olesz played in a total of 16 NHL games following that trade — but is still playing in his native Czech Republic.
F Anthony Stewart (25th, 2003): Stewart’s career never took off with the Panthers as he bounced between the AHL and Florida over his four seasons with the team. Stewart ended up playing in 262 NHL games and had two solid final NHL seasons with Atlanta and Carolina before ending his career playing in Europe. Stewart had a respectable career (one which continues as an analyst for TSN), but look what what the Panthers could have taken at No. 25. Drafted in the same neighborhood: Brian Boyle (26th), Corey Perry (28th), Patrick Eaves (29th), Patrice Bergeron (45th) and Shea Webber (49th).
Too Soon To Tell
F Henrik Borgstrom (16th, 2016): After playing 50 games as a rookie in 2018-19, there were high expectations for Borgstrom going into this past season. It was not a good year for Borgstrom — but the Panthers are not giving up on the talented forward. Borgstrom is going to at least start this season in Finland and the Panthers expect him to return for the coming season and compete for a larger role on the team.
F Grigori Denisenko (18th, 2018): The Panthers have high hopes for Denisenko despite two lackluster seasons as a youngster in the KHL. Denisenko has signed his ELC with the Panthers and is expected to make his NHL debut whenever the next season starts.
G Spencer Knight (13th, 2019): After a terrific freshman season at Boston College, Knight will return to the Eagles for a sophomore season as BC tries to win a national championship they were not able to chase last year.
F Owen Tippett (17th, 2017): The Panthers have been careful not to rush the development of the hard-shooting Tippett who was an AHL All-Star last season but had his season cut short due to injury. Tippett, like Denisenko, is expected to be a big part of the Panthers this coming season.