With its final selection in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, the Florida Panthers took towering goaltender Louis-Antoine Denault in the seventh round (217th overall) with the pick the Panthers received from the Minnesota Wild for veteran defenseman Jeff Petry.
After going undrafted in 2025, Denault attended development camp with the Panthers as an invitee and was one of three goalies the team took to the NHL Prospect Tournament in Wesley Chapel, FL in September, so he must have made a good impression before returning for his third season in the QMJHL.
Denault played in 17 games (6-9-1) with the Quebec Remparts before he was dealt to the Newfoundland Regiment on December 27. Following the trade, he appeared in 25 games with his new club and posted a 16-7-2 record, 2.69 goals against average and .913 save percentage.
The postseason saw Denault backstop the Regiment to a first round win over Cape Breton before they were eliminated in six games by the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. His playoff stat line saw him compile a 6-6 record, 3.02 goals against average and .903 save percentage.
This summer Denault was one four goalies at Florida’s development camp along with fellow draft picks Denis Gabdrakhmanov, Olof Glifford, and invitee Ben Hrebik. Denault and Hrebik shared the net for Team Red, who fell 4-1 in the 3-on-3 scrimmage held on the final day of the event.
Like fellow 6’8″ Panthers prospect Cooper Black, the athletic Denault naturally fills the bottom half of the net and forces shooters to have to look upstairs. He handles net-front pressure well and is able to quickly regain his footing to deal with second-chance opportunities. The knock on Denault is that he relies too much on his size and his technique needs work as his puck tracking, rebound control and puck-handling abilites aren’t where they need to be yet. On the plus side, he has shown improvement each year in the “Q” and will get another chance to do as he again assumes the number one role in Newfoundland.