The Florida Panthers have showed over the last decade why they are a losing organization but their draft success in last 5 years is especially bad. If the Florida Panthers drafted correctly in the last 5 years, they would have been a contender by now.
2015
11-Matt Barzal over Lawson Crouse
102-Ethan Bear over Denis Malgin
132-Kirill Kaprizov over Karch Bachman
Matt Barzal and Kirill Kaprizov will some much needed secondary scoring to the team and Ethan Bear can be a solid top 4 defenseman.
2016
23-Tage Thompson over Henrik Borgstrom
38-Sam Girard over Adam Mascherin
Sam Girard is a solid young top 4 defenseman, while Tage Thompson can grew to be a good power forward
2017
10-Robert Thomas over Owen Tippett
Robert Thomas is much better then Owen Tippett at this point in their careers.
2018
No Change in draft picks
2019
52-Nic Robertson over Vladislav Kolyachonok
The Panthers still draft Spencer Knight but draft Nic Robertson over Vladislav Kolyachonok, which is a major upgrade.
2020
No Change in draft picks
Due to the Changes in draft picks, the Panthers have to make several trades:
Florida Panthers trade Aaron Ekblad to the Anaheim Ducks for Sam Steel, Maxime Comtois, Josh Manson and a 1st rd pick '21.
The Panthers add Steel and Comtois, two great young players and Josh Manson as well as a 1st round pick picks for Aaron Ekblad.
The Panthers also trade Keith Yandle to the Calgary Flames for Noah Hanifin, 1st rd pick '21.
The Panthers trade Keith Yandle for Noah Hanifin, a defenseman who is entering his prime and a 1st rd pick.
Ryan Merkley is acquired from the San Jose Sharks for Radko Gudas, Tage Thompson, Grigori Denisenko, 1st rd pick '21.
The Panthers get a very talented defenseman in Ryan Merkley, which really bolter the young defense.
In a separate trade, Noel Acciari is dealt to the San Jose Sharks for a 6th rd pick '21.
This is a cap dump on the part of the Panthers.
Florida Panthers dump Brett Connolly, Frank Vatrano to the Boston Bruins for Anders Bjork, 3rd rd pick '21.
The Panthers unload Connolly and Vatrano to the Senators and gain a valuable depth player in Bjork and a draft pick at the same time.
Lastly, the Panthers send Anton Stralman, Owen Tippett and Vladislav Kolyachonok to Ottawa Senators for Connor Brown, 3rd rd pick '22.
The Panthers dump the Anton Stralman contract along with two prospects to the Senators for Connor Brown, a top 9 forward and a 3rd round pick.
This is how the lineup would look like by the 2020-21 season:
2020-21 Florida Panthers
J.Huberdeau-A.Barkov-R.Thomas
K.Kaprizov-M.Barzal-P.Hornqvist
M.Comtois-S.Steel-Co.Brown
A.Bjork-A.Wennberg-V.Hinostroza
S.Girard-J.Manson
N.Hanifin-E.Bear
M.Weegar-R.Merkley
S.Bobrovsky
C.Driedger
Spares: M.Nutivaara, R.Stillman, C.Verhaeghe, R.Lomberg,
Top Prospects: A.Lundell, N.Robertson, S.Knight
If the Florida Panthers had drafted correctly the last 5 years, they would have be poised to be contenders this upcoming season.
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