Priority, as always, is depth

Team’s 1st pick will be best available, then focus shifts to needs

SUNRISE — The day before losing two of their top three right wings to the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, Florida Panthers director of amateur scouting Jason Bukala said the team’s goal was to select the best player available at No. 10 of the first round of Friday’s NHL entry draft in Chicago.

Nothing has changed, despite losing right wings Jonathan Marchessault in the expansion draft and Reilly Smith in a trade for a 2018 fourth-round pick to the Vegas Golden Knights.

“Not at all,” Panthers general manager Dale Tallon reiterated Thursday. “We’ll approach it the same way and take the best player available, then in the later rounds go more for needs as far as our depth chart is concerned.

“We’re confident we’ll get a good player at 10. Our scouts have worked really hard and put together a real tight list and we’ll continue to draft well as we have the past 5-6 years. … Our goal in every draft is for all the players to play on our team.”

This past season, 13 players played for the Panthers who were their original draft picks, including a core group of Vincent Trocheck, Aleksander Barkov, Nick Bjugstad, Jonathan Huberdeau, Alex Petrovic, Aaron Ekblad and Michael Matheson.

The Panthers also have picks in Saturday’s second, third, fifth and sixth rounds. The consensus on most mock drafts is that after the top five outstanding projected picks, the next group of 15 prospects are fairly similar and basically a coin flip.

Most mock drafts have Brandon (OHL) center Nolan Patrick and Halifax (QJMHL) center Nico Hischier going Nos. 1 and 2 to the Devils and Flyers respectively. From Nos. 3 to 5, it’s an assortment pack of Eden Prairie (Minn.) High center Casey Mittelstadt, Finnish defenseman Miro Heiskanen and Windsor Spitfires (OHL) center Gabriel Vilardi.

In recent seasons, high draft picks have jumped right into the faster-paced NHL and have excelled, such as Florida’s Ekblad and Barkov. This season Hart Trophy winner Edmonton’s Connor McDavid scored a league-leading 100 points at 20; Toronto’s Auston Matthews, 19, the Calder Trophy winner, scored 40 goals; and Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine, 19, is coming off a 36-goal season.

Tallon said he’s not afraid to play teenagers, but he and Bukala prefer to preach patience, especially when it comes to young defensemen.

“Somebody’s going to help us, maybe not now, but certainly in the future,” Bukala said. “I’d say it’s unlikely [this season], but there are kids who are so prepared physically and mentally who have already done the weight training. The biggest mistake we could make is rush them if they’re not quite mature enough to deal with the daily grind of being a pro.”

Tallon said he’s willing to move up or down in the draft to get their targeted player. Recently hired Panthers coach Bob Boughner was a longtime coach of the Spitfires and is still the team president, so he certainly has inside information on Vilardi, a 6-foot-2 center, who scored 29 goals and 61 points while leading Windsor to a Memorial Cup title.

“He’s a big, strong forward with fantastic touch,” Bukala said. “He’s got excellent hockey sense, can create space, play down low in the offensive zone and by the net or the slot. Having said that, he can also kill penalties.”

Tallon has shown an affinity for University of Minnesota products such as Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau, so he may trade to pick up Mittelstadt, a 6-1 center who had 64 points in 25 games for his powerhouse high school team before becoming a Gopher.

“He’s a different player than Nick, but has got above-average pace, is real creative with the puck with an offensive upside,” Bukala said. “He’s got to round out his game and get in better shape, which will happen in college. He’s been highly touted on our radar for a couple of years.”

More likely to be on the board for Florida at 10 is NHL.com’s prediction, 6-foot center Martin Necas, who scored 7 goals and 15 points in 41 games for the top adult league in the Czech Republic.

“He had a great year but did suffer some ups and downs in the men’s league over there because of his age and size,” Bukala said. “He was a leader on his national team, is a dynamo on the power play, is shifty on the perimeter and makes plays.”

Draftsite.com predicted Florida would take Mississauga (OHL) right wing Owen Tippett because he’s a 6-foot sniper now needed with the loss of Marchessault. Tippett tallied 44 goals in 60 games.

While the Panthers certainly need more offensive help than defense, Tallon and Boughner are both former NHL defensemen who believe success begins on the blue line.

Tallon has an affinity for Finnish players such as Barkov, last year’s firstround pick Henrik Borgstrom, 2014 thirdrounder Juho Lammikko and recent signee Henrik Haapala. So opting for any of a quartet of Finns, including beefy forward Kristian Vesalainen, defensemen Heiskanen if available, Urho Vaakanainen, or more realistically, Jusso Valimaki, wouldn’t be a stretch.

“Heiskanen’s got everything you’re looking for, great size, good head, but most importantly speed,” Bukala said. “You can’t teach speed.

“Valimaki came to North America to play, so he’s made that adjustment. He’s more of a steady-Eddie and not as dynamic offensively. He moves well and has a good head.

“So what you’re hearing coming out of my voice is there’s a lot of similarities between a lot of players in the first round, and we’re splitting hairs.”