Panthers Draft History (Part 2)

3rd Round (27 Picks) / 2,492 NHL Games (121 avg.)

Home Runs: Tyson Barrie, Carter Verhaeghe

Busts: Thomas Vanelli, Leevi Aaltonen, Geordie Wudrick

Still in the System: Carter Verhaeghe, Tye Kartye, Nikita Grebenkin

As we get deeper in the draft you can’t expect to have a great hit rate, but there are still a few gems. Tyson Barrie [‘09, #77] was the highlight of 3 picks that were all separated by 1 pick in the middle of the 3rd (Andrej Nestrasil [‘09, #75] and Taylor Beck [‘09, #79] being the other two). Joonas Korpisalo [‘12, #61] is the first goalie we’ve seen on the list, as the Panthers still have yet to pick a goalie in the first two rounds of the draft. Pierre Engvall [‘18, #85] was laughed at during the draft, with one GM liking every pick they made that year but this one, and in the end Pierre has been the most successful from that year. The Panthers played the long game with Carter Verhaeghe [‘13, #69], holding onto the winger all through the lean years and now reaping the rewards.

Of the 27 picks, almost half have yet to play a game (6 still TBD) and only 10 have played over 10 NHL games. It’s hard to say you can really bust with a 3rd round pick, but there have been some more notorious misses. Thomas Vanneli [‘13, #64] and Ivan Lodnia [‘17, #69] were both out of hockey by the age of 23 which is never a great sign, and Geordie Wudrick [‘08] never even really turned pro, the ultimate failure in a pick. Also buyer beware on picking a goalie based solely on their performance in the Olympics, Kristers Gudlevskis [‘14, #79] had his best moment of his career before he was even picked, unless you count being traded for fellow Panthers 3rd round pick Carter Verhaeghe in the NHL

4th Round (43 Picks) / 4,012 NHL Games (100 avg.)

Home Runs: Jesper Bratt, Danton Heinen, Carl Gunarsson, Nicolas Roy

Busts: Jimmy Bubnick, Austin Wuthrich, Nick Henry

Still in the System: Adam Klapka, Glen Gawdin, Scott Ratzlaff 

As you can see from the numbers above, the Panthers have LOVED collecting 4th rounders. The 43 picks is by far the most selections they’ve made in a single round. Now 20 of those picks are firmly in the “Will never play a game territory”, with only 10 of those picks reaching 100 NHL games (Declan Chisholm [‘20, #100] sitting just a single game back). There have been some major home runs though. Jesper Bratt [‘17, #110] has established himself as a top line player in this league and Nicolas Roy [‘15, #92] is firmly a consistent 3rd line centre on some good teams. Scott Wedgewood [‘10, #95] has bounced around over the years, but has found himself as a regular backup the last 5 or so seasons in the NHL. The most amount of games played by a Panthers 4th rounder is Carl Gunnarsson [‘10, #96] with 629 games to his name. 

On the bust end, there’s no shortage of absolute misses, like didn’t even get an AHLer out of it. Everything felt like it was moving in the right direction for Dylan Sadowy [‘14, #95] in D+1, but in the end he managed to put up a grand total of 7 points in the AHL in his career and then faded away in the ECHL. Jimmy Bubnick [‘09, #113] might have been one of those beneficiaries of the new NCAA rules, but he ended his WHL career, played one year at the University of Saskatchewan and wasn’t seen again. Stephen Silas [‘10, #113] played a year in France, that’s cool. Brandon McMillan [‘08] is one of those strange ones, where it felt like it was headed in the right direction, 21 points in 60 games as a 20 year old. He then proceeded to put up only 15 points in the next (and last) 111 games of his career. 

5th & 6th Round (44 Picks) / 3,099 NHL Games (83 avg.)

Home Runs: Justin Braun, Darcy Kuemper, Viktor Stahlberg, Tobias Rieder, Pontus Holmberg

Busts: Mitchell Mattson, Blake Clarke, Gianluca Curcuruto

Still in the System: Dom Divincentiis, Noah Beck, Ryan Tverberg

And now we’ve reached the end of the draft with the 5th, and in recent years, 6th. Darcy Kuemper [‘11, #145] has to be the standout. He’s received Vezina votes and was the starting goalie on a cup winner, hard to hate that from a 5th round pick. Justin Braun [‘11, #121] was also a 5th in 2011 that proved to be a solid dependable defenceman for years, reaching 842 games in the NHL. Throughout the years they’ve secured a bunch of depth forwards like; Viktor Stahlberg [‘09, #144], Tobias Rieder [‘12, #125], Ben Smith [‘11, #122] & Pontus Holmberg [‘21, #167]. 

Twenty- Seven (9 of which might still have a chance) never played in the NHL, with another five who suit up in 10 or fewer games. Brian Burke had great success drafting twins back to back, the Panthers on the other hand so no positives picking the Rupert twins [‘12, #140 & #141], who barely made a dent in the AHL. Mitchell Mattson [‘16, #142] put up a grand total of 8 points in his entire 4 years in the NCAA, his pro career never took off shockingly. They took a gamble on Blake Clarke [‘14, #128], who put up a solid rookie year in the OHL but then had a rough lead into the draft. They should have heeded those warning signs as his time in the OHL just got worse and worse.The Panthers felt like geniuses when they picked Dane Fox [‘12, #121] after he was passed up in the actual NHL, who then tore up the OHL and received an NHL contract in the NHL…..probably should have sold high, great ECHLer though.