Pick No. 11
Panthers retain their position at the 11th spot for the upcoming June draft inside the BB&T Center.
SUNRISE — The Panthers did not move up or down in the NHL draft lottery Saturday night. Instead, they retained their position at the 11th spot for the upcoming draft on June 26 inside BB&T Center.
The Panthers’ odds of receiving the No. 1 overall pick, which they held last year, were slim. They had just a 3 percent chance of obtaining the top pick. General Manager Dale Tallon and the rest of the organization were hoping the team would move into one of the top 10 picks in the draft.
For a team that made a 25-point improvement this season, the largest in the NHL, the Panthers are expected to add a player most likely from the right wing position to help bolster their offense. Even though the Panthers’ improved to 25th on offense this season after being 29th last year, they still lacked the ability to score at times against the best teams in the league.
The two players who have had promising careers that have been taken with the 11th pick in the draft in the past six years are defenseman Ryan Ellis and center Filip Forsberg. Both Ellis and Forsberg helped the Nashville Predators reach the playoffs this year for the first time in three seasons.
In August, the NHL announced that the format of the lottery would change. The league adjusted the odds of each team winning the first overall selection. The 10 highest-finishing teams that did not qualify for the playoffs each received better odds than they received in previous years, with the four lowest-finishing teams receiving lower odds.
The Edmonton Oilers, who entered the lottery in third position, won the top pick by jumping over the Buffalo Sabres and the Arizona Coyotes. The Oilers, who had a 24-44-14 record, had an 11.5 percent chance of winning the lottery. The Buffalo Sabres, who finished with a dreadful 23-51-8 record, had a 20 percent chance of receiving the No. 1 pick, the most of any team.
In the past three years, the 29th-place team won the lottery.
The Oilers are expected to select center Connor McDavid, who is considered by many the best NHL prospect since Sidney Crosby was drafted with the top pick in 2005. Center Jack Eichel and defenseman Noah Hanifin are also expected to be selected near the top of the draft.
Last year, the Panthers selected defenseman Aaron Ekblad with the No.1 pick.
This past season, Ekblad played in 81 games and was a player who helped the Panthers become a better team, in particular on power plays. He recorded 39 points on 12 goals and 27 assists, statistics that make him one of the top candidates for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the rookie of the year.
Under first-year coach Gerard Gallant, the Panthers went 38-29-15 (91 points) and missed the playoffs by seven points. Last week, Tallon signed 43-year-old superstar Jaromir Jagr to a one-year, incentive-laden deal that starts at approximately $3.5 million.