Out of the Playoffs, What Florida Panthers Can Look Forward to Next

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The Florida Panthers have known they were not going to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a long time now, yet now that it is official, the team can start looking ahead to the future.

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Florida has five games remaining after playing the host Pittsburgh Penguins again today.

There will be a different kind of scoreboard watching to end this season.

The Panthers traded its 2026 first-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks last year as part of the Seth Jones/Spencer Knight deal.

But, Florida made sure the pick was protected just in case its season went off the rails like, well, it did.

If the Panthers end up with a draft pick in the top 10 this summer, they get to keep it.

Chicago would get Florida’s first-round pick next year with the Boston Bruins, who were supposed to have the 2027 pick from the Brad Marchand trade, sliding back to 2028.

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Right now, the Panthers are ranked 25th in the 32-team NHL. If things stay the way they are and no one moves up or down in the lottery, Florida would have the No. 8 pick.

It probably will not stay the way it is right now.

Teams both above and below the Panthers are trying to situate themselves in the best possible position to win the lottery in what will be a deep and talented draft.

Penn State freshman forward Gavin McKenna is the top-ranked prospect per NHL.com and may be the top player taken in the draft.

There will be a lot of good players taken early this year with forwards Ivar Stenberg and Tynan Lawrence, and defensemen Keaton Verhoeff and Alberts Smits all looking like top selections.

Now, while the Panthers have not shown signs of a tank — Saturday’s 9-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins certainly got out of hand — they certainly can help their draft standing with some more losses here in the final 10 days of this season.

The NHL Draft will be held in Buffalo on June 26-27, but the lottery will be on May 5.

It used to be that the 16 teams (or the team who own those picks) which do not make the playoffs had a chance to swoop up and win the lottery.

Now, only the bottom 11 teams will be able to move up to No. 1.

Last year, the New York Islanders had the 10th best odds and won the lottery. They didn’t screw it up either, making a fantastic pick in defenseman Matthew Schaefer.

So, being ranked low does not mean a team is going to win — but it certainly increases their chances to move up either to the first or second pick in the draft.

The Vancouver Canucks will have the worst record in the NHL this year, and with that, they will have a 25.5 percent chance to winning that top pick.

The second-worst team in the league, which happens to be the Chicago Blackhawks, would have a 13.5 percent chance.

Let’s say the Panthers do not win another game to wrap up the season — and, after they beat Ottawa and Boston, one has to think they’ll win a couple more — to finish with 77 points.

That number probably puts the Panthers in the top 5 which is an 8.5 percent chance.

If Florida stays around where they’re currently at, its odds would be 6 percent.

So, there is not much difference.

Last year, Paul Maurice did not push his team at the end of the season for seeding purposes or to try and get home ice advantage.

He wanted a healthy team, and figured things would work out they way they should.

So, it would be hard to see the Panthers even consider some sort of tank job to try and move up in the draft odds order for a few more percent points.

In the end, the Canucks have the best chance to win it — but we saw the Islanders get it last year.

It’s a crap shoot.

The only thing is, the Panthers would not help themselves by winning too many games and risk dropping out of the top 10 and losing the pick to the Bruins.

ON DECK: GAME No. 77FLORIDA PANTHERS at PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

This article: Out of the Playoffs, What Florida Panthers Can Look Forward to Next originally appeared on Florida Hockey Now.

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