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LBC’s 2021 Florida Panthers / NHL Entry Draft First Round Open Thread

Cats hold the 24th overall pick in tonight’s first round

Thanks for joining us as the Florida Panthers begin what will be a two-day process of bolstering their prospect ranks. Or perhaps general Bill Zito will address more immediate concerns via trade as this might be the right year to move a first-rounder, as the prospect rungs of hockey and the scouting process of it were ravaged by COVID shutdowns.

The Panthers currently hold a total of six picks this weekend. They have their own in each of rounds 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 and Winnipeg’s pick in the seventh round. Florida traded its third round pick for Brandon Montour and acquired the seventh-rounder from the Jets 2.0 for defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich (remember him?). Florida’s own seventh round pick was part of the six-asset swap with the Chicago Blackhawks on April 8.

After selecting rapidly ascending Finn Anton Lundell with the 12th overall pick last year, the Cats hold the 24th overall pick tonight. Zito will actually step to the virtual podium 23rd as the naughty Arizona Coyotes (that’s bad desert dog!) have forfeited the 11th overall pick.

Some prospects that could be on the Cats radar (or not) at 24 include Isak Rosen, Aatu Raty,  Zachary Bolduc, Zachary L’Heureux, Nikita Chibrikov, Fabian Lysall and Xavier Bourgault. In SBN’s Mock Draft, LBC selected defenseman Carson Lambos for the Cats as many a desired forward were scooped by my fellow site managers.

Tonight’s broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. with ESPN2 having the television coverage for those of us here in the States.

There are multiple teams with multiple picks (Columbus has a whopping three first-rounders and New Jersey, Minnesota, Detroit and now Buffalo each have two) so this first round, which is already set to be wildly unpredictable, could get very interesting indeed.

The 2021 NHL Entry Draft is upon us. Keep it here all day and all night. Enjoy!

First Round Order

1. Buffalo

2. Seattle

3. Anaheim

4. New Jersey

5. Columbus

6. Detroit

7. San Jose

8. Los Angeles

9.  Arizona (from Vancouver)

10. Ottawa

11. Arizona (pick will be forfeited)

12. Columbus (from Chicago)

13. Calgary

14. Buffalo (from Philadelphia)

15. Detroit (from Dallas)

16. NY Rangers

17. St. Louis

18. Winnipeg

19. Nashville

20. Minnesota (from Edmonton)

21. Boston

22. Edmonton (from Minnesota)

23. Dallas (from Washington via Detroit)

24. Florida

25. Columbus (from Toronto)

26. Minnesota (from Pittsburgh)

27. Nashville (from Carolina)

28. Colorado

29. New Jersey (from NY Islanders)

30. Vegas

31. Montreal

32. Chicago (from Tampa Bay vis Columbus)

ESPN2 Draft Broadcast (8 p.m. ET)

SBNation NHL Complete Network Coverage

Usual Twitter Suspects:

Litter Box Cats (Duh)

Handy Resources

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