After all the balls were selected and cards were revealed, the Florida Panthers stayed in their original position, landing on the thirteenth pick that they were predicted to win.
With all but a 2% chance of landing the first overall selection, the odds were always stacked against the Panthers. In all fairness, though, the thirteenth pick can be rewarding in other ways.
Already filled with an abundance of forwards in their pipelines, the Panthers can focus on drafting a future, top-four pairing defenseman, something they don’t quite have in their minor league system.
Apart from Max Gildon, Riley Stillman, and Thomas Schemitsch, the Cats are very thin on the blue line and could easily snag a defenseman whose potential and skill set is above those aforementioned three.