Lose for a Draft Pick? No, the Florida Panthers Are Playing It Straight

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SUNRISE — Losing down the stretch would, believe it or not, be good for the Florida Panthers. Paul Maurice knows this.

That does not mean that is how he is approaching the end of this season.

The Panthers are out of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the two-time defending champions no longer that. There is nothing to defend right now.

Except for what they bring to the ice every night.

The Panthers will be able to keep their 2026 first-round draft pick if it lands within the top 10 this year and, a regulation loss to the Detroit Red Wings in tonight’s season finale would insure that is the case.

Florida traded its 2026 selection to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Seth Jones/Spencer Knight deal, and, the Boston Bruins have Florida’s pick in 2027 for Brad Marchand.

But, the Blackhawks pick is top-10 protected. Last week, it looked like the Panthers would have no problem keeping it.

Then the Panthers blew out Toronto on Saturday night. Monday, they beat the New York Rangers 3-2 after Cole Reinhardt, one of a host of newcomers on the roster, scored his second goal of the night with 1:50 remaining.

Maurice is in a tough situation. He knows getting the first-round pick — hey, the Panthers could win the draft lottery on May 5 and add a tremendous talent — would be an absolute best-case scenario for what has been an injury-plagued and so-called lost season.

But he is also as big as a competitor as you will meet.

It goes against every fiber of his being to coach his team to lose.

And he will not do that.

“Be careful what you wish for,” Maurice said when asked about the ramifications of (gasp!) actually winning these final games following Monday’s victory.

“We’ll let the kids who hit the ice play as hard as they possibly can, we’ll worry about what it gets to when it gets to. You can’t get involved in that. It’s not right for the game. It’s not right for the culture of our room. I know we were associated with that idea in Toronto, but we have about 14 guys out of our lineup in Toronto, and we won a game on Saturday night.

“I’ll take that.’’

Walk around the Panthers these final days and what you see is a new team coming together.

Well, not a new team, technically.

The Panthers had $75 million of their lineup not dressed for the past two games, ones gamblers around the world probably bet against.

Most of the team, right now, has either played for Florida’s minor league team in Charlotte, or were players who were headed to the American Hockey League before the Panthers claimed them (Reinhardt, Donovan Sebrango) off waivers.

They are, for the most part, young players getting an NHL opportunity they know, deep down, may not ever come again.

And they are playing like it.

And Florida’s coaches are treating them right.

Most days after practice or morning skates, you can find assistant coach Jamie Kompon moving from stall to stall with his laptop, showing players like Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell video of what they need to do to get better or matchup assignments for the coming game.

Neither of those players has been in the Florida lineup, so, Kompon has been visiting rookie players he may have had to introduce himself to just days ago — treating them just like he would the bigger names.

These young Panthers, despite their lack of NHL experience, are trying to go out on a high note before returning to Charlotte for the start of the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs.

Draft pick be damned.

That is not their concern.

The Panthers securing a high draft pick does nothing for them. Playing well on this biggest of stages, certainly can impress the Panthers or perhaps open up a door somewhere else.

“They’re playing hard,’’ Maurice said. “They practice hard when we do practice, they’re wired in the meetings and wired in the games. It’s just fun to be around. We’re going to have a pretty seasoned team going back for the American League playoffs.”

The way the Panthers are treating these final games this season is reminiscent of the last although the stakes are much different.

Florida did not roar into the 2025 postseason, but Maurice and his staff did not force anything.

The Panthers did not dress banged-up players trying to chase home-ice advantage for the first-round of the playoffs.

Instead, they let things play out. Florida ended up finishing third in the Atlantic Division which meant opening in Tampa for the first round.

The Panthers opened every playoff series last year on the road.

Things worked out OK.

They worked out as they should have.

It seems like Maurice is taking the same approach now.

”You just try to do the right things the best you can, as often as you can,’’ Maurice said. “What you think you can control in this game, you just can’t. You think you need that home-ice advantage, and it might be the worst thing you possibly get. …

“Play as hard as you can. Whatever happens, happens.’’

As for that top/bottom 10 finish, the Panthers seem to be OK despite the four points gained that they really would have been better off not getting.

The Panthers, even with a win tonight against the Red Wings, will still have a shot at securing that top-10 pick.

The St. Louis Blues rallying to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins and get to 84 points on Tuesday, was good for the Panthers.

It would certainly behoove the Panthers to finish eighth from the bottom of the league standings — where they currently sit — to insure they would not be leapfrogged by two teams ranked higher than they are winning the lottery and moving up to the first and second overall picks thereby bumping everyone else down.

In that scenario, at No. 8, the Panthers would fall no lower than No. 10 and keep a draft pick Bill Zito can use in Buffalo or keep as trade currency.

Just don’t expect the Panthers to bag it tonight.

That is not their style.

“I don’t think we’re quitting on anything,’’ Zito said last month. “But we are realistic.”

ON DECK: GAME No. 82

DETROIT RED WINGS at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
• **Where:**Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SW Fla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL/Panthers App
• Last Season: Detroit won 2-1
• This Season (Panthers Lead 2-1) — At Detroit:Wings 4, Panthers 1 (Oct. 15); Panthers 3, Wings 1. At Florida: Panthers 4, Wings 3 (March 10); Wednesday
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 42-22-7, 5 ties
• **Up Next for the Panthers:**Season Complete; NHL Draft Lottery, May 5

This article: Lose for a Draft Pick? No, the Florida Panthers Are Playing It Straight originally appeared on Florida Hockey Now.