{"id":33758,"date":"2018-08-02T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T12:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=33758"},"modified":"2018-08-02T07:42:18","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T11:42:18","slug":"florida-panthers-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/08\/02\/florida-panthers-prospects\/","title":{"rendered":"TSP: Top Florida Panthers Prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the 2018 Top Shelf Prospects series.\u00a0 As we go through the Summer of 2018 LWOH will be featuring a team-by-team look at the top prospects in the NHL. We will be following the order of the first round of the NHL draft (as if there were no traded draft picks) and you can find all the articles here<\/a>.\u00a0 Since we had an\u00a0extensive NHL Draft preview<\/a>, we will not be reviewing the players who were drafted in the 2018 draft, as there have been no games since then, and our reports on them will not have changed.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"What we will be doing is linking you to those articles, as well as taking a look at prospects that were acquired before this year\u2019s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2018-19 roster of the NHL team in question. We will also bring you one sleeper pick \u2013 a player who was either drafted in the 4th-round or later, or was an undrafted free agent signing who we pick as our dark horse to make the NHL. For those wondering, the cut-off for what is or isn\u2019t a prospect is typically about 50 NHL games played (including playoff games) or is 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and we may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Florida Panthers Prospects<\/h1>\n

The Florida Panthers<\/a>\u00a0had a slow start to the 2017-18 season. The team made a late charge up the standings, but it was not enough to overcome the hole they had dug. In the\u00a0end, they finished just one point behind both the New Jersey Devils<\/a>\u00a0and Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> for the final playoff spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

Searching for secondary scoring, the Panthers added Mike Hoffman<\/a><\/strong> following a complicated set of trades involving the San Jose Sharks<\/a> and Ottawa Senators<\/a>. It was the club’s one big move of the off-season so far. The Panthers hope that he will add some second-line scoring spark in their line-up.<\/p>\n

2018 NHL Draft Picks:\u00a0Grigori Denisenko<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Serron Noel<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Logan Hutsko<\/strong>,\u00a0Justin Schutz<\/strong>,\u00a0Cole Krygier<\/strong>,\u00a0Santtu Kinnunen
\n<\/strong>Graduations: MacKenzie Weegar<\/a><\/strong>, Denis Malgin<\/a><\/strong>,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Top Prospect: Henrik Borgstrom<\/h2>\n

Centre — shoots Left
\nBorn August\u00a06th, 1997 —\u00a0Helsinki, Finland
\nHeight 6’3″ — Weight 185 lbs [191 cm \/ 84 kg]
\nDrafted by the Florida Panthers in the 1st round, #23\u00a0overall, at the 2016 NHL Draft<\/p>\n