Let's look at a worst case scenario for the Florida Panthers 2011-12 season, shall we? I know these aren't the pleasant predictions we'd like to hear on the eve of a season where the Panthers could finally become the competitive force we're expecting, but hear me out on this one. In my doomsday prediction, I see Jose Theodore dropping games like a hot potato, Tomas Fleischmann never recovering from his condition, Kris Versteeg continuing his sub-par Maple Leafs' season, Ed Jovanovski playing 30 games due to injury and Evgeni Dadonov taking a major step back in his development. Essentially, none of Tallon's offseason acquisitions form chemisty, no reliable starting goaltender and another season in the league basement. If one of these unfortunate predictions becomes a reality, does that mean Tallon has failed? What if everything I predicted becomes a reality, has Tallon failed? If you would answer yes to either of these questions, you're only looking at one half of Dale Tallon's duties as a general manager.

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It was a very busy and very eventful draft weekend, and as expected the Panthers and GM Dale Tallon were very busy yet again. The Panthers came in with the third overall pick and decided to stand pat, drafting Sea Dogs forward Jonathan Huberdeau. As we've all heard before, Huberdeau is a top-notch offensive talent who will need another year or so of time in juniors to mature, but will likely be competing for a spot on the Cats in the next two camps. He'll bring a much-needed jolt of offensive flair and production to a very shallow forward corps in Florida.

But what about the rest of the draft picks? The big-name players taken in the first thirty picks are usually covered ad nauseum and it's rare to hear more about the guys taken in the lower rounds. As many hockey fans know, some real diamonds can be dug up from the lower rounds (see: Henrik Zetterberg), so we're going to take a look at some of the prospects drafted by the Cats this Saturday. Join us after the jump for more.

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After a big night which saw the drafting of Jonathan Huberdeau and a purely cap-motivated transaction featuring much-maligned Rostislav Olesz rolling to the Blackhawks for Brian Campbell, the Panthers head into Day Two with 2 selections in round two, 4 in round three, and 1 each in the fifth, sixth, and seventh. For now.

No deals involving picks...yet; how much longer will that be the case?

With the later picks in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Dale Tallon has selected Yaroslav Kosov 124th overall in the 5th round, Edward Wittchow 154th overall in the 6th round, and Iiro Pakarinen 184th overall in the 7th round. There was no 4th round draft pick this year, it was part of the deal that brought Mike Santorelli to the Panthers (Nashville Predators picked Josh Shalla).

More after the jump, including Florida's entire 2011 haul...

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The Florida Panthers absolutely dominated the 3rd round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in Minnesota by selecting 4 players, Vincent Trocheck 64th overall, Logan Shaw at 76th, Jonathan Racine 87th and Kyle Rau at 91st overall. Trocheck and Rau are centers, Shaw is a right wing and Racine is a defenseman.

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With the San Jose Sharks' 59th pick acquired in an earlier trade, the Florida Panthers selected Swedish defenseman Rasmus Bengtsson. 18-year old Bengtsson played 45 games scoring 9 points (2G/7A) with Rogle BK of the second highest professional league in Sweden (HockeyAllsvenskan).

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The Florida Panthers have traded second round picks with the San Jose Sharks, trading down their #47 pick for the Sharks #59 and a 3rd rounder in 2012.

This trade may have been stemmed because Dale Tallon simply didn't see anyone on the board he liked at that pick, but the payoff is pretty good. Tallon keeps a second round pick and gains a valuable 3rd rounder in the process. San Jose drafted Matthew Nieto, a left wing from Boston University. The Panthers picked Rasmus Bengtsson of Sweden