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Wednesday Caterwaul: Florida Panthers Open Forum

Jun 24, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Edmonton Oilers forward Adam Henrique (19) and Florida Panthers forward Anton Lundell (15) reach for the puck during the first period in game seven of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

The Athletic ranked the Florida Panthers 23rd in its NHL Pipeline Rankings for 2024.

Let’s take a look at what Corey Pronman had to say about the Cats. He’s not all that jazzed about Florida’s current crop of prospects, but did like the work of Bill Zito in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Interestingly, he has 2024 third-round pick defenseman Matvei Shuravin ranked one spot higher than Swedish forward Linus Ericksson, who was taken in the second round.

Top Five players in the pipeline (Player eligibility: All skaters who are 22 years old or younger as of September 15, 2024, regardless of how many NHL games they’ve played, are eligible.)

(1) Anton Lundell Analysis: Lundell played a notable role on a contender for the second straight season. Lundell’s pure talent level may not wow you. He has offensive skill but he isn’t a high-end puck skills type and his speed is just OK. Rather, it’s the intelligence, details and compete in his game that make him a highly valuable player. Lundell is very creative and instinctive with the puck. He makes a lot of difficult plays and can do so in traffic. He wins battles and creates offense at the net. He is also a reliable two-way center. He may never post big numbers, but he’s a top-six center you can win with and coaches trust.

(2) Matvei Shuravin Analysis: Shuravin’s production in Russia’s junior league won’t jump out at you, but he has a lot of traits that NHL teams will be looking for and has looked good versus juniors and men this season. He’s a 6-foot-3, mobile defenseman with puck-moving skill, and those are always highly sought after. Shuravin has a low panic threshold and, with his skating, has a smooth, effortless game style that leads to a lot of puck possession for his team. He is good on retrievals and generates a lot of controlled exits and entries. Shuravin also competes well enough and doesn’t shy away from physical play.

(3) Linus Ericksson Analysis: Eriksson was a top player for a good J20 team this season in Sweden and a leader for Sweden’s U18 club. He wasn’t a dominant junior player but in the second half of the season, when he advanced to the Allsvenskan, he showed quite well versus men. He’s a well-rounded center. Eriksson is a strong skater who creates offense with speed and has the transition game to be a quality pro. He has good skill and playmaking ability. He is a creative player with a pass-first mentality who sees seams well and can generate offense from the perimeter although I wouldn’t call him a highlight reel type. Eriksson’s work ethic is good enough. I wouldn’t call him the type who is going to run over opponents, but he gets to the inside and gives an honest effort every night. He was also the captain for his Swedish age group. He could be a bottom-six NHL center.

(4) Mackie Samoskevich Analysis: Samoskevich had a good rookie pro season leading Charlotte in scoring. He’s a talented winger with a lot of NHL offensive traits. He’s a quick skater with very good hands who can create scoring chances with pace. He also has an excellent shot and is a threat to score from range. Samoskevich has improved his effort over time, but he still tends to stay too much on the outside of the offensive zone. He looks like an NHL forward due to his talent, but given he’s not that big, I would like to see more consistent effort from Samoskevich to say he’s going to have a long NHL career.

(5) Simon Zether Analysis: Zether was very good at the Swedish J20 level over the last two seasons, leading to a promotion to Rögle’s main team for most of the season. He was good for Sweden’s U18 team the prior season as an underager, but this season at the U19 level for Sweden he was very ordinary. Zether is a big center with legit offensive skills. He shows great creativity and tight-area play with the puck. He doesn’t have great speed, but he can beat defenders wide due to his hands, frame and willingness to attack the middle. He makes enough plays to be a strong junior scorer. Zether competes well and can play both ways. The big debate on him with scouts is the aforementioned skating issues. He is good enough to potentially overcome those issues and play in a bottom six, but he’ll need to score at a decent clip to do so while providing good defensive play.

Eight others who may play (in alphabetical order)

Jack Devine: had a huge season in college, being a leading player on the NCAA champions in Denver. He’s very skilled and intelligent, and his skating has progressed from a major issue to being passable for his size. Drafted No. 221 in 2022

Kirill Gerasimyuk: Drafted No. 152 in 2021

Stepan Gorbunov:  Drafted No. 169 in 2024

Ludvig Jansson: Drafted No. 125 in 2022

Graycn Sawchyn: a very skilled forward who skates well enough. He is 5-foot-11 though and I’m not sold the offense in his game is special enough at this point for that frame. Drafted No. 63 in 2023

Justin Sourdif: competes well, has skill, and has been solid as a pro, but his so-so skating may keep him from full-time NHL duty. Drafted No. 87 in 2020.

Sandis Vilmanis:  Drafted No. 157 in 2022

Talking Points