The four seasons under the stewardship of Bill Zito have been a golden era for the Florida Panthers franchise. The franchise has won a Stanley Cup, two Eastern Conference titles, two division titles and have made the playoffs all four seasons Zito has been at the helm. This is in comparison to a 26 year period where the team could only boast one Eastern Conference title and two division titles. The Panthers have accomplished more in the four years under Zito than they have in the entirety of their existence before he was hired.

How was this former agent turned GM able to engineer such a stunning turnaround? Much credit has to go to Zito’s pro scouting department who have helped him identify undervalued players and have brought them in and transformed them into superstars- for example Carter Verhaeghe and Gustav Forsling. He hasn’t been afraid to make trades- making a move for Sam Reinhart at the 2021 draft. This only served as an appetizer for what was one of the biggest trades in NHL history, when he traded 115 point man Jonathan Huberdeau and top pair stalwart Mackenzie Weegar for Matthew Tkachuk. Almost every single move in the pro scouting department- free agency, trades, European free agents and waivers have been hits for the former Brewers batboy. However, I’m not interested in that. I want to see how he performs at the draft table.

The Panthers under Zito have adopted the idea of “F*** them picks.” The franchise has only drafted in the first round twice under Zito, the last time being 2021, and won’t do so again until 2026 (which I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes 2027). Zito clearly prefers the safer option of pro scouting, in which immediate impacts are more likely to be made than with amateur scouting, in which prospects can take years to develop.

The 2020 Draft was Zito’s first time running a draft, and this was not a normal draft. This was conducted virtually, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and Zito’s first pick would be 12th overall. Zito went for Anton Lundell, who has been by far his best draft choice as a GM.

Lundell has played 216 of the 260 Regular Season NHL Games played by players drafted by Zito, has won a Stanley Cup and just signed a 6 year $30 million contract to remain in Broward County. So far, Lundell has scored 43 goals and 112 points in his regular season career. Although his offensive numbers have tailed off a bit since the arrival of Paul Maurice- Lundell going from 44 points as a rookie to 33 to 35, his defensive game has continued to improve. He was already a highly regarded for his defensive prowess entering the draft, being compared to Panthers Captain, two-time Selke winner, and former roommate Aleksander Barkov, but Lundell has shown dramatic improvements in his two way game overall since Maurice took over. Lundell had a phenomenal 2024 postseason, finishing fourth on the team in points (even ahead of regular season points champion Sam Reinhart) with 17, including 14 assists. His production was extremely consistent throughout the postseason, putting up 3 to 5 points in each series, including 5 assists in the Finals. Lundell doesn’t have the same offensive output as other players picked after him like Seth Jarvis and Dawson Mercer, but he is a perfect fit for the Panthers system, and is a perfect fit for the culture of winning and excellence installed by Bill Zito. Look for Lundell to blossom more, take on more leadership opportunities and gain more ice time over the coming years.

Bill Zito isn’t exactly patient with his prospects, and has often used them as trade fodder to boost the immediate lineup. This was exactly what happened to 2nd round pick Emil Heineman, 3rd round pick Ty Smilanic, and 7th round pick Devon Levi.

Heineman was selected out of Sweden with the 43rd overall pick as a Left Winger. However, he wouldn’t remain in the organization long, as he was sent to the Calgary Flames just six months after being drafted for Sam Bennett. Bennett, of course, has been a valuable contributor in the Panthers recent runs, while Heineman would be traded a second time before making his NHL debut, spending 10 months in Calgary’s pool before being shipped off to Montreal in the Tyler Toffoli trade. Heineman made his NHL debut last season with Montreal and is fighting to make the roster. With Patrik Laine out long term, an opportunity may be available for the Swede to make the Panthers pay for getting rid of him.

Smilanic also ended up in the Montreal system. Smilanic was traded to the Canadiens as part of the Ben Chiarot deal, which has widely been considered to be Zito’s worst trade as a GM. However, Smilanic failed to earn an ELC with the Canadiens after some mediocre numbers in the NCAA. He got a shot last season with Montreal’s ECHL affiliate, but a lackluster campaign sees him without a team, and with his LinkedIn page showing him having interest in personal finance, perhaps we see him enter the world of business.

Levi meanwhile is considered Zito’s biggest steal, despite never playing a game for the organization. Levi burst onto the scene at the 2020-21 World Juniors, helping Team Canada reach the Gold Medal game, where they lost to fellow Panther Goalie prospect Spencer Knight. This would dramatically increase Levi’s value, which allowed the Panthers to include him as a piece in the Sam Reinhart trade. This deal has worked out well for both sides. Levi has played 30 games for the Sabres and looks set to learn the ropes as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s backup this season. He’s only 22 years old, and will likely be a future starter in the NHL. While this could hurt the Panthers down the line, Sam Reinhart did score the goal that won the Panthers the Stanley Cup, so I don’t think too many fans in Sunrise will look back on this trade in anger, especially considering Rhino signed an 8 year deal.

As for the prospects still with the organization- there are three. Third round selection Justin Sourdif, and fourth round selections Michael Benning and Zachary Uens.

Other than Lundell, Justin Sourdif is the only player from the 2020 Panthers Draft Class who has played an NHL game for the Panthers. After making the Opening Night roster for the 2023-24 season, the Canadian power forward played 3 NHL games, before returning to Charlotte for the rest of the season. Sourdif has put together two strong campaigns in Charlotte and was on the bubble competing for an NHL roster spot at training camp before an injury during practice derailed his efforts. Sourdif won’t be out long term, but will almost certainly begin the season with the Checkers. Sourdif has the makings of being a solid bottom six power forward, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him regularly up in the NHL. The question is whether or not he can outcompete the massive amount of depth the Panthers have up front with guys such as Will Lockwood, Mackenzie Entwhistle, Rasmus Asplund and Zac Dalpe all being proven NHLers almost certain to start the year in Charlotte, while 2021 prospect Mackie Samoskevich is also competing with him.

In regards to the two fourth round defenders still with the team, Benning seems to have the edge. Benning played all of last season in Charlotte, playing in 72 Games and putting up a solid 26 points from the blueline. With the Panthers roster being loaded all over the place, there is also a backlog on the blueline, and Benning will likely find himself struggling to make the team this year. Benning projects as the team’s #12 defenseman on the depth chart, behind guys such as Tobias Bjornfot, Uvis Balinskis, Matt Kiersted, Jaycob Megna and recent European signing Mikulas Hovorka. At only 5’9″, Benning is at a massive disadvantage against the considerable height of the Panthers defense corps, with Adam Boqvist being the only projected sub-6 foot defender to play against the Bruins on October 8th. Even still, Boqvist is 5’11. Benning’s small size may be an issue with Paul Maurice’s system with emphasizes brawn, size and strength. However, he had a good season in Charlotte last year and if he can build on that, perhaps he can force his way into the team at some point this season.

The backlog of defenders in the Panthers system meant that Zach Uens was left in the ECHL last season. Uens had a solid campaign with the Everblades putting up 20 points in 61 games, but struggled in 2 games with the AHL Checkers, recording a -3. Uens is not going to make the Opening Night NHL roster and the expectation this season is to force his way into being a regular in Charlotte’s lineup. He’s also entering the last year of his ELC. This is a critical year for the Belleville native’s hopes of keeping his NHL dream alive.

Unfortunately for 5th round selection Kasper Puutio and 7th round selection Elliot Ekmark, they didn’t earn ELCs with the Panthers and their rights have lapsed.

Puutio going unsigned was a bit of a surprise, as he seemed to be highly regarded in the Panthers system, and had represented Finland regularly at the World Juniors. Perhaps he turned down an ELC to play professionally in Finland. I doubt it though. Puutio is currently playing in the Finnish Liiga. If he manages a decent enough European career, perhaps he comes over sometime in the future like Uvis Balinskis did, but unfortunately it wouldn’t be with the Panthers.

Ekmark was definitely the weakest pick in what was a very strong debut draft class for Zito. The Swede has not made it back to the SHL after spending 7 games there in the 2022-23 season and is currently playing in the third tier of Swedish hockey.

A common theme of the Dale Tallon drafts was “Oh we could’ve got this guy here, this guy was a stud”. You can’t really say that about Bill Zito’s 2020 draft. Lundell is the only player in the class with a ring at the moment. The only real nitpick you could make was picking Heineman over Brock Faber who went two picks later, but even Faber still isn’t with his drafted team, having been sent to the Wild by the Kings who drafted him. The real reason Zito had such a good draft isn’t that the talent has necessarily produced at the NHL level, but rather what he’s been able to do with said talent to turn it into players who have been valuable contributors for the Panthers (Reinhart and Bennett). This isn’t a generational draft class like the 2017 Dallas Stars, but it is definitely one of the stronger draft classes the Panthers have had in their franchise history, but that is probably due to the complete ineptitude of past Panther GMs in the draft. Overall, I would give this class a grade of a high A minus on the curve of comparing it to other Panther draft classes, but a low B plus in terms of overall quality.

Part Two- Covering the 2021 NHL Draft Class will be released sometime in the Summer of 2025. I think it is fair to give the 2021 class another year of development before I put them to the sword in terms of judgment.