George Richards, FHN Publisher
Bill Zito’s first draft as general manager of the Florida Panthers went much longer than anyone thought it would.
Not only did the second day of the draft take about two hours longer than it usually does, but Zito made a trade with Toronto to add an additional seventh round pick.
The entire draft was held online with the Panthers working from a makeshift ‘war room’ on the club level of the BB&T Center in Sunrise.
“We focused on the ‘best player available’ and it was an arduous task,” said Zito, who drafted a total of nine players in the two-day draft which was held virtually after it was originally scheduled to be held at Montreal’s Bell Center in June.
“I can’t give enough credit to the scouts. We put in a copious amount of work over the past 10 days since I got here and I have to give them so much credit.
“As a new guy coming in, I questioned them on everything, challenged them on pretty much every decision they made and even in instances where I didn’t have the wherewithal from which to challenge them.
“I kept pushing them to reconsider every decision they made. They put in so many long hours of work, but our focus was to get the best players available. We were fortunate to get a range of players. We’re really content and happy with the skill level and ability of the players as well as their character.”
On Tuesday, the Panthers selected Finnish center Anton Lundell with the 12th overall pick.
Wednesday, Florida selected eight more players.
When it was over, the Panthers added four forwards, three defensemen and that final pick? Florida took goalie Devon Levi who will be a freshman at Northeastern University in Boston this season.
Although none of the players are expected to be anywhere near Florida this coming season what with the likely lack of development or rookie camps, Zito said he was excited to add what he did to the Panthers.
And, he added, he is looking forward to meeting them in person eventually.
“It was a little funny talking to some of the young men and saying ‘I hope to meet you someday’.” Zito joked.
“That was a little strange.”
Listed below are the players the Panthers drafted in the second day of the draft.
C Emil Heineman (second round, 43rd overall): The 18-year-old center played in Sweden’s top junior league last season and scored 26 goals with 41 points in 29 games.
Heineman will likely evolve into a third or fourth line forward at the NHL level as he plays a physical game with some scoring punch.
“This is a dream come true, I have been dreaming of this since I was a little kid,” he said on Wednesday afternoon.
“Everything I heard from the Panthers was all positive, but I am still shocked. It’s a lot to take in, but it is fun.”
F Ty Smilanic (third round, 74th): A freshman at Quinnipiac, Smilanic scored seven goals with 22 points in 34 games for the U.S. National Team Development Program U-18 team.
Smilanic joins defenseman Chase Priskie as Panthers with Quinnipiac ties although Smilanic has yet to play a college game.
F Justin Sourdif (third round, 87th): The 18-year-old played in 57 games in the Western Hockey League for Vancouver last season, scoring 26 goals with 54 points.
In 2019, he was part of a Silver-winning Team Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
D Mike Benning (fourth round, 95th): A member of a true hockey family, Benning will continue his career at the University of Denver.
First off, Benning’s father Brian was an original Panther, playing in Florida’s first two seasons (1993-95) before retiring with 568 career NHL games.
Mike Benning said he wore his dad’s old Florida Panthers workout shorts after being selected by the Panthers and snapped a shot and sent it to dad.
“It’s kind of amazing that my dad was here at one time and this is a great experience, a great organization to be a part of,” Mike Benning said.
“My dad had a pair of retro shorts, lounging shorts and I put them on before the draft. They are, like forever-ago shorts with Florida on them. So I snapped a quick picture of that when I got drafted so I don;t know if that’s foreshadowing or what, but I thought it was pretty cool.’’
Benning’s older brother Matt is an NHL defenseman, uncle Jim is GM of the Canucks, cousin Brandon is a scout for Vancouver and grandfather Elmer was a scout with the Canadiens.
The 18-year-old had 75 points in 54 games for Sherwood Park of the Alberta Junior Hockey League earning league honors for outstanding defenseman.
D Zach Uens (fourth round, 105th): As a freshman at Merrimack College, the 19-year-old recored 18 points and led his team in penalty minutes with 68.
D Kasper Puutio (fifth round, 153rd): Now playing in Finland for Karpat, the 18-year-old had 28 points in 56 games for Everett and Swift Current of the WHL last season.
F Elliot Ekmark (seventh round, 198th): A member of Sweden’s Bronze-winning team at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the 18-year-old scored 12 goals for his junior team last season.
G Devon Levi (seventh round, 212th): Dominated the Central Canada Hockey League going 34-2-1 with eight shutouts, a 1.47 GAA and a.941 save percentage. The MVP of that league, Levi is a freshman at Northeastern.