Panthers keeps pick No. 15 after lottery
The ping pong balls did not bounce the Florida Panthers’ way.
Instead, Saturday night’s NHL draft lottery went as expected, and the Panthers remained with the No. 15 pick in the June draft.
Florida entered Saturday with the slimmest odds among non-playoff teams of getting the No. 1 pick. It was given a 1 percent chance of earning the top pick, presumably destined to be used on Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.
The Panthers finished this season with 96 points, missing the playoffs by one point and becoming the second NHL team to ever miss the postseason with at least 96 points.
The franchise entered the evening with a 96.7 percent of retaining the No. 15 selection, an outcome that Panthers general manager Dale Tallon was preparing for. (The Panthers had a 1.1 percent chance at No. 2 and 1.2 percent chance at No. 3.)
“We’re preparing for 15 and if it happens that we win the lottery, then that’s a bonus,” Tallon said earlier this week. “That’s the way we’re looking at it. We’re not going in there expecting to win. This way, we’re prepared for whatever happens.”
The draft 23 in Dallas.
The Panthers have six selections — their own first-, fifth- sixth- and seventhround picks, in addition to Arizona’s second rounder (No. 34) and Vegas’ fourth rounder (TBD). Florida traded away its second-, third- and fourth-round selections.
While the top half of the first round is determined via lottery, the final six rounds of the draft are organized by regular-season is June 22 and record
“Since our 96-point season ended, my focus has been dedicated to scouting and preparing for the draft,” Tallon said Saturday night. “Now that we know that we’ll own the 15th overall pick, and two of the top-35 picks in the draft, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to add more talented, high-character young players to the Florida Panthers organization.”
The Panthers should still end up with high-end talent at No. 15. Henrik Borgström was taken with the No. 22 pick in 2016 and Owen Tippet went No. 10 last year. Both players are regarded as top prospects for Florida and each saw playing time with the team this season.
Borgström and Tippett are expected to contribute to Florida’s forward corps next season.
Had the Panthers moved into the top three picks, it would have been the largest jump in NHL draft lottery history. Last year, Philadelphia made history by rising from No. 13 to No. 2. No other team had ever ascended double-digits in the lottery.
Florida has won the lottery three times before. In and postseason results. 2002, the Panthers traded the pick to Columbus, who selected forward Rick Nash at No. 1. In 2003, the team sent the pick to Pittsburgh, who chose goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury at No. 1. In 2014, the Panthers used the pick to draft defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who just completed the first season of an eight-year contract extension.
Next season will be the Panthers’ second under coach Bob Boughner, with the core of Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Huberdeau, Keith Yandle, Mike Matheson and Ekblad intact.
The Panthers missed the playoffs the last two seasons and have not won a postseason series since 1996.
Here is the draft order: Buffalo, Carolina and Montreal will pick in the top three. (Actual order was to be announced during the second intermission of the San Jose-Vegas game Saturday night.); 4. Ottawa; 5. Arizona; 6. Detroit; 7. Vancouver; 8. Chicago; 9. N.Y. Rangers; 10. Edmonton; 11. N.Y. Islanders; 12. N.Y. Islanders; 13. Dallas; 14. Philadelphia; 15. Florida.
mdefranks@sun-sentinel .com