NHL Draft: Where Did All of the Florida Panthers Picks Go?

Hockey’s annual feel-good party — otherwise known as the NHL Draft — starts tonight in Los Angeles although the Florida Panthers will mostly be spectators.

Again.

And, again, they are fine with it.

The biggest moments in the draft come in the first round, and while celebrities and superfans introduce each team’s early picks, the Panthers do not have any first round picks to announce.

Again.

The lost draft picks are the price general manager Bill Zito paid in trade which helped produced two Stanley Cup championships.

Nobody is complaining.

The Calgary Flames will pick 32nd tonight, and that would have been Florida’s selection — if it had not sent it to Alberta as part of the Matthew Tkachuk trade.

Three straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final and back-to-back championships have certainly made for a worthwhile sacrifice.

For those who may have forgotten, Florida received Tkachuk and this Calgary’s fourth-round Calgary pick in return for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and Florida’s 2025 first-round pick.

That fourth-round pick will be Florida’s first this year, barring any deal beforehand.

Florida already traded away one of its two fifth-round picks to Columbus for goalie Daniil Tarasov. The Panthers did get a second next year and a sixth in 2027 from the Capitals for Justin Sourdif on Thursday night.

Where did the rest of Florida’s picks go?

The 64th selection, the final one of the second round, goes to Toronto as a result of an exchange at last year’s draft enabling Florida to get a second-round pick in 2024.

Florida used the pick to select center Linus Eriksson 58th overall from Sweden.

Eriksson captained Sweden to a bronze medal finish in the 2024 U18 World Championships.

Florida’s third-round pick this year goes to Ottawa, as part of the trade for Vladimir Tarasenko as a rental last year. Florida also relinquished a 2026 third-round pick in the deal.

Florida’s first pick of the draft will come on Saturday, No. 112 in the fourth round, from Calgary; the Panthers also have their own fourth-round pick at 128.

The Panthers get the first pick of the fifth round at No. 129 — which comes from San Jose as part of the 2023 draft trade which sent Anthony Duclair to the Sharks and Steven Lorentz to Florida.

All told, the Panthers (as of right now) have five picks — all on the second day — in this year’s draft.

Florida has not had a first-round pick since 2021 when it took Mackie Samoskevich 24th overall.

What happened to the others?

Their 2022 pick went to Buffalo for Sam Reinhart; 2023 to Montreal for Ben Chiarot, and 2024 to Philadelphia for Claude Giroux which also cost Owen Tippett who is prospering with the Flyers.

This year’s first-round pick goes to Calgary, and next year, the Blackhawks for Seth Jones.

How about 2027?

Boston gets that one for Brad Marchand.

Relinquishing first round picks is not the usual way of building a team but with Zito’s unique deal-making ability, he had built a championship team through trades, free agency and the waiver wire after inheriting a strong core from Dale Tallon.

Zito might be spending his time during the draft wheeling and dealing again.

He has $19 million in cap space per PuckPedia and only 16 players signed for next season.

Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Marchand will command most of that if Zito is able to sign all three.

If all three resign Zito will likely have to unload a player or two via trade and not extend offers to other key unrestricted free agents such as Nate Schmidt, Nico Sturm, and Tomas Nosek.

Under the radar bargains AJ Greer, Uvis Balinskis, and Jonah Gadjovich at under $1 million are under contract for another year.

Zito will be looking for similar contributors at similar price points when free agency opens Tuesday.

2025 NHL DRAFT

• Where: Peacock Theatre, Los Angeles
• When: Friday (first round) 7 p.m.; Saturday (second-seventh rounds), noon
• TV: Friday ESPN/ESPN+; Saturday NHLNet/ESPN+
• Florida Panthers Selections — Round 1: None (to Calgary); Round 2: None (to Toronto); Round 3: None (to Ottawa); Round 4: No. 112 (from Calgary), No. 128; Round 5: No. 129 (from San Jose); Round 6: No. 192; Round 7: No. 224.

2025 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS

FLORIDA PANTHERS

UP NEXT

• 2025 NHL Draft: Friday-Saturday, Los Angeles (Panthers have five picks in Rounds 4-7)
• Start of NHL Free Agency: Tuesday, noon
• Panthers Development Camp, Fort Lauderdale IcePlex: Early July
• Panthers Rookie Camp, Fort Lauderdale IcePlex: Early September
• Prospect Showcase hosted by Tampa Bay Lightning: Early September
• Training Camp: Mid-September
• Exhibition Games: Starts Sept. 21 @ Nashville (doubleheader)
• Opening Night: Oct 7-9 (opponent, time, date TBA)