Meet the Panthers’ 7 selections from the 2022 NHL Draft, including 2 mid-round defensemen
The Florida Panthers entered the 2022 NHL Entry Draft knowing they’d need to extract some value from the later rounds. They didn’t have any picks in the first or second rounds after trading them for a pair of top-six forwards last year, so their picks on Day 2 of the Draft — they started Friday with six of them — were going to be the whole haul, unless they made some trades.
In the end, the only trade the Panthers made was a minor one to add a seventh-round pick, so their seven-player class is the main takeaway from their two days in Montreal.
Round 3: Marek Alscher, D, WHL Portland
The Panthers used their first pick of the 2022 NHL Draft to try to bolster their defense.
Florida selected Marek Alscher, 18, with the No. 93 overall pick in the Draft. He’s a 6-foot-3, 196-pound defenseman from the Czech Republic, who played last year with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. In 61 games, Alscher recorded 16 points with a plus-minus of plus-20.
Alscher was something of a surprise at No. 93. The NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked the him as just the No. 177 North American Skater in the 2022 Draft, but his size gives him the potential to be a reliable role player on a bottom two pairing at the NHL level.
Round 4: Ludvig Jansson, D, Sweden
The Panthers double dip on defense to start Day 2 of the NHL Draft, plucking Ludvig Jansson out of Sweden with the No. 125 pick.
Jansson, 18, is ranked as the No. 35 European skater in the Draft by the NHL Scouting Bureau and recorded five points in 47 games last year with Sodertaljke SK of Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan.
At 6-foot and 176 pounds, Jansson is a different type of defenseman than Alscher because of his skating ability and offensive instincts.
Round 5: Sandis Vilmanis, LW, Lativa
With the No. 157 overall pick in the fifth round, the Panthers took their first forward of the 2022 Draft and it’s a highly productive one.
Sandis Vilmanis, an 18-year-old left wing from Latvia, recorded 32 points in 40 games with Lulea HF’s under-20 team in Sweden’s J20 Nationell. The 6-1, 192-pound winger scored 18 goals in the J20 league with a plus-minus of plus-20.
NHL Central Scouting ranks him as the No. 39 European skater in the Draft.
Round 6: Joshua Davies, LW, WHL Swift Current
Florida had two selections in the span of four picks in the sixth round of the Draft and used the first — No. 186 — on a feisty, physical Canadian forward.
Joshua Davis, an 18-year-old left wing, played 64 games last year for the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League and logged 36 points with 119 penalty minutes.
The 5-9, 197-pound winger is the No. 69 North American skater in the Draft, according to NHL Scouting.
Round 6: Tyler Muszelik, G, USA Hockey National Team Development Program
With the second of their two rapid-fire picks, the Panthers added a goaltending prospect at No. 189.
Tyler Muszelik, an American goaltender from the USA National Team Development Program, is Florida’s penultimate selection of the Draft. The 6-2, 195-pound goalie posted a .900 save percentage in 35 games last year.
Muszelik, 18, is the No. 4 North American goalie in the class, according to NHL Scouting. His addition helps the Panthers replenish some of their organizational depth at the position after they traded away goaltending prospect Devon Levi to the Buffalo Sabres at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft as part of the trade to acquire forward Sam Reinhart.
He has signed with the New Hampshire Wildcats for college.
Round 7: Liam Arnsby, C, OHL North Bay
Florida traded for an extra seventh-round pick Friday to take Liam Arnsby, 18, at No. 221.
The Panthers traded their seventh-round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft to the Pittsburgh Penguins to get the extra pick in 2022.
The 5-10, 170-pound forward is the No. 115 North American skater in the Draft, according to NHL Scouting, and recorded 26 points in 46 games last year while captaining the North Bay Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League.
Round 7: Jack Devine, RW, Denver
Florida finished up its Draft by taking right wing Jack Devine, an 18-year-old American, with the No. 221 pick Friday.
The 5-11, 177-pound winger was a freshman last year for the Denver Pioneers and scored 19 points — 16 assists — in 36 games in his first season of college hockey. He also recorded assists in both of Denver’s games at the Frozen Four.
He’s the No. 65 North American skater in the Draft, according to Central Scouting.
This story was originally published July 8, 2022 at 11:16 AM.
