Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito sent the Pittsburgh Penguins the Cats’ seventh round pick in 2023 to acquire Pittsburgh’s seventh round pick (214th overall) in 2022 and used it to select Liam Arnsby
A hard-working, physical forechecker who appeared in 46 games with the OHL’s North Bay Battalion during his draft season, Arnsby produced 26 points (9G/17A) which ranked ninth on the club.
His offensive totals saw a slight increase (five more goals, one more assist in nine less games) over his first year in North Bay. Not the best of offensive stats, although he did flip his plus/minus rating from -25 to +9, a marked improvement.
Arnsby appeared in all 13 of the Battalion’s postseason games, collecting six assists as the club advanced to the conference finals before falling to eventual league champions Hamilton.
He was unranked in Neutral Zone’s NHL Draft Final Rankings Top 305 and carried a C grade (NHL Draft consideration but unranked in our final list).
They had this to say on Arnsby:
February 2022: A heart and soul type of player. Arnsby is a relentless worker who reads the ice and anticipates the next play at an elite level. He is quick and confident in his decisions with and without the puck. He is above average moving in any direction, particularly in small ice areas. He competes for pucks in board play and in traffic. Plays all situations for his team.
May 2020: Liam is a late 2003 who has earned ice time in every situation including an opening game draw against his former teammate Shane Wright. He showed very good poise on line rushes and if anything tried to do a little too much after zone entry, but I liked his confidence and willingness to make plays. Defensively he was physical and ended Kingston’s puck cycling quickly. He’s a young kid with good vision and an excellent motor. I love his compete and how he battled to the end.
After attending both development camp and training camp with the Panthers, Arnsby returned to North Bay for his third season of major junior. He established new highs with the Battalion, finishing with 12 goals, 18 assists, 78 PIM nad a plus-12 rating in 54 games.
Again, very modest growth offensively (an uptick of three goals and one assists from the prior season) however, Arnsby was much more effective in the postseason. He scored seven times and added four assists in 20 games as North Bay advanced to the seventh game of the conference finals before bowing out to eventual league champion Peterborough.
His playoff performance indicates the defensively sound Arnsby may indeed have some untapped scoring tools to go along with his brand of high-energy grit. Unfortunately, that hasn’t carried over to his regular season play as of yet.
The Panthers got another up-close look at Arnsby at development camp and will see him again in the fall. He’s got one more year to earn an entry-level contract or he can re-enter the 2024 draft.
Highlight: Here’s Arnsby lighting the lamp at 2022 Prospects Showcase in North Carolina.
A closer look at Liam Arnsby's first period goal 🔍 pic.twitter.com/3RnxnyN6YO
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) September 16, 2022