George Richards, FHN Publisher
As the NHL Draft starts Tuesday, new general manager Bill Zito hopes to add some solid prospects to the Florida Panthers’ organizational depth.
The draft will be held online this year (it was originally scheduled to be held at Montreal’s Bell Center in June) and the Panthers have a bunch of picks.
The first round will be held Tuesday and the Panthers have the 12th overall selection. Rounds 2-7 will be conducted Wednesday and Florida has a total of eight picks in the seven-round draft.
Whether they keep them all — or add to it — through trades remains to be seen.
What we do know is what the Panthers currently have in the system.
Due to trades and the like, Florida does not have many of its own first-round picks still in the organization although the previous three top picks could have an impact on the team for years to come.
In speaking with a number of scouts and Florida front office personnel, here are the top 10 prospects within the system — and where they are at right now:
The Top 10 Florida Panthers prospects
1. G Spencer Knight (Boston College)
The selection of Knight by the Panthers at No. 13 last summer came as a bit of a surprise, especially knowing how hard Florida was going after two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky.
Well, the Panthers did sign Bob to a seven-year deal so with Knight in the organization, it appears the team’s goaltending situation is set for the foreseeable future.
Knight, as John Vanbiesbrouck told me at the Vancouver draft last June, could be a star in the making.
“The Panthers picked a legacy goalie,’’ said Vanbiesbrouck, who is now assistant director of hockey ops for USA Hockey.
“He is going to be a top-five goalie in the NHL and I have no doubt of that. … I’m ecstatic for him and for the Florida organization. It is a great pick. If this draft wasn’t so deep with talent, he would have gone higher.”
Drafting goalies high can be a risky proposition, but Knight looks like the real deal. His freshman season at Boston College only strengthened his standing: Knight was simply outstanding for the Eagles.
As a goalie prospect, Knight is big, moves extremely well and has a great head on his shoulders. He is back at BC for his sophomore campaign as he and the Eagles hope for a national championship run which was taken away from them last spring.
2. F Owen Tippett (AHL Springfield/NHL Florida)
After being one of the final cuts in training camp, Tippett had a breakout season in his first pro season with Springfield earning a spot on the AHL All-Star team after scoring 19 goals with 40 points in just 46 games.
Tippett did not play in the All-Star Game due to a wrist injury which needed surgery and ended up costing him the rest of his season. Had he not been hurt, Tippett likely would have been recalled by the Panthers in February.
When the Panthers came back in July, Tippett was with them although he saw little time with the top 12 during training camp and did not play in Toronto.
“Any time you get a chance like this, it is a great opportunity to take it all in and learn from it,” Tippett said during summer camp.
“I’m coming off what I thought was a good year for myself and for my team in Springfield. When you come here, you have to be a sponge and take it all in.”
Florida has big hopes for Tippett and he is expected to play a big role on the big club moving forward.
Tippett did play in seven games for the Panthers not long after being the 10th overall pick of the 2017 draft but was sent back to junior as he was again in 2018.
“He is a very talented player and when he came to us, there were some things he needed to work on,” Eric Joyce, Florida’s assistant GM in charge of Springfield, said in January.
“He is an unbelievable kid, a great teammate. He listens to the coaches here, does everything they ask him to do and he has been successful. He is right on the doorstep of making the jump. We are incredibly happy with him.’’
3. F Grigori Denisenko (KHL Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
Like Tippett, Denisenko is expected to play a big role with the Panthers moving forward and should be with Florida to start the 2020-21 season perhaps within the top-six.
Denisenko has been playing in the KHL the past two seasons and did not stand out. Where he was played — and how much — played a big part of that. Denisenko was limited to fourth-line minutes and did not get much of a chance to show what he’s got. He should get that chance with the Panthers.
Playing amongst his peers on the international stage, Denisenko has excelled and that glimpse has given the Panthers hope that he is destined for great things once he gets to the NHL. He signed his ELC over the summer and will be ready to roll when training camp eventually opens.
Denisenko has terrific speed, great hands and is a highlight-making forward. “He is,” one scout said, “an elite talent.”
4. D Brady Keeper (Springfield/Florida)
The Panthers feel like they found themselves a gem when they signed Keeper as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Maine.
Although a bit of a raw player who is figuring out what is expected of him as a pro, Keeper drastically improved after a disappointing showing at training camp.
Keeper went to Springfield, was a big part of that team and really opened some eyes (especially those of Quenneville) in Florida’s summer camp. Keeper is 6-2 and 195 pounds and isn’t afraid to throw his body around. He’s also pretty good with the puck.
“Right off the hop, I dug myself into a hole,” Keeper said in July. “I was overweight coming into camp, but as the season went along, I kind of learned how to be a pro. I learned the game better, and continued learning how to play. I didn’t want to make the same mistake.
“I took it as one last-chance, I guess, not to mess up again. I stayed in shape, was eating right and doing the right things. I feel much better now than I did at the start of the last camp.”
Keeper, who made his NHL debut in Ottawa not long after signing with the Panthers in 2019, played in one game for the Panthers this season and it was in Game 2 against the Islanders after playing as the extra defenseman in the exhibition loss to the Lightning.
In 61 games with Springfield this season, Keeper had six goals and 18 points.
5. D Chase Priskie (Springfield/Florida)
Although Zito did not trade for Priskie last February, he has helped pave his way to the NHL by already trading two defenseman in the past few days.
Priskie came to the Panthers as part of the four player return in the Vincent Trocheck deal with Carolina in a homecoming trade. Priskie, you see, is vying to become the first player who was born and raised in South Florida to play for the Panthers.
The Pembroke Pines native was drafted in the sixth round by Washington in 2016 but spent four seasons at Quinnipiac and did not sign with the Capitals.
Priskie did sign a free agent deal with Carolina, only to be traded to his hometown team midway through his first pro season.
In 52 games for AHL Charlotte, Priskie scored six goals with 31 points after being hurt during training camp. He could return to the Checkers if he doesn’t make the Panthers out of camp after Florida took over that affiliation from Carolina.
Priskie was part of the Panthers during summer camp but did not see any action in Toronto after missing time with an undisclosed injury. Priskie is said to be healthy now and working toward training camp in the coming months.
6. F Eetu Luostarinen (Springfield/Florida)
Another part of the Trocheck trade, Luostarinen scored eight goals with 25 points in 44 games with Charlotte — and played in eight with the Hurricanes this past season before ending things with Springfield.
Luostarinen, who has already started his 2020-21 season on loan in Finland, was also part of Florida’s summer camp and did not see any playing time in Toronto.
“This is a player who we really wanted from Carolina,” a Panthers’ front office member said. “He needs to put on some weight, but he is a really good player.”
7. D Johnny Ludvig (WHL Portland)
Drafted in the third round last summer, Ludvig has a terrific season as captain of the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL and signed his entry-level deal with Florida in March.
Ludvig recorded 62 points off 17 goals in 60 games for Portland including nine power play goals.
One scout compared Ludvig’s career trajectory to that of 22-year-old Riley Stillman who played parts of two seasons in the AHL before making the move to the Panthers last spring and played himself into a second-pairing role.
“Ludvig is going to arrive sooner-than-later,” said the scout.
8. F Aleksi Heponiemi (Springfield)
Heponiemi had a tough debut in the AHL this past season, struggling to do much with Springfield and ending with just three goals and 14 points in 49 games for the Thunderbirds.
The Panthers still think Heponiemi will not be held back by his slight frame (he is listed at 5-9 and 143 pounds) and really liked what they saw from him leading to them drafting him in the second round three years ago.
“It has been a little bit of a struggle for me, learning how to play with the physicality of the game,’’ Heponiemi told me in January.
“You have to battle here and I have to get used to that. I think it is coming along but it is coming along slowly. I need to put on some pounds and I think that will make it a little easier on me.”
Heponiemi is getting a head start on this coming season by playing in Sweden.
9. F Serron Noel (OHL Oshawa/Kitchener)
This past season was not was expected for Noel as he scored 18 goals with 47 points in 48 games split between the Oshawa Generals and then the Kitchener Rangers.
Still, Noel signed his ELC with the Panthers and the 20-year-old who was a second round pick in 2018 is going to get a look. At 6-6 and 220 pounds, he is hard to miss.
Where Noel would fit into the Panthers is not yet known, but he has a terrific skill set and a big shot that finds its way through traffic.
10. C Cole Schwindt (OHL Mississauga)
A little bit of a surprise in making this list, Schwindt beat out Boston College senior Logan Hutsko for No. 10.
Schwindt is a center who could slide into a third or fourth-line role in the next couple of years. He will return to the Mississauga Steelheads after scoring 28 goals with 71 points in 57 games last season.
This could be a really big year for Schwindt — a third-round pick by the Panthers just last year.