Glifford has a high ceiling as he brings a combination of size, mobility and attitude
Glifford has a high ceiling as he brings a combination of size, mobility and attitude
The Florida Panthers didn’t have many selections to make at the 2023 NHL Draft.
Of the five picks that the Panthers had to work with, they used one of them on a goaltender.
Swedish goalie Olof Glifford is already a good size, listed at 6-foot-4 and 198 pounds.
Seeing him in person, those numbers appear to be accurate.
Glifford missed a decent part of last season while recovering from a hip injury, but he was more than solid when he came back.
Still, the lack of action, and overall injury concerns, may have been part of why Glifford was still available for Florida in the fifth round when they selected him at No. 159 overall.
Roberto Luongo, who oversees Florida’s Goaltending Excellence Department, said there were several reasons they snatched Glifford up when they did.
“One of the things is talent, first and foremost, but he's got a good frame, and he's a guy that we think that, even though he's 18 and he still has a long way to go in his development, we identify the talent and we look at the upside,” Luongo said. “I think he's just at the early stages of his upside and there's a lot of untapped potential there. That's a guy that we're excited about, that we can work with over the next few years, and hopefully see him in the NHL.”
Speaking to Glifford about being picked by the Panthers, the youngster humbly admitted he didn’t think he was going to drafted at all.
“I talked with Florida some weeks before, but I didn't have any idea that I was going to get drafted,” Glifford said during development camp. “When I got drafted, it was just screaming, and it was happiness.”
Getting a chance to see him up close and personal at Panthers development camp, it’s easy to see what the team’s goaltending excellence department zeroed in on Glifford at the draft.
For a goalie with good size, Glifford maneuvers in and around the goal crease well, with little wasted movement.
Hand placement was consistent and strong while out in front of his body, something that’s great to see from such a young tendy.
Glifford also uses his size well, but there is still a lot for him to learn about how to eliminate unnecessary movements and making himself even bigger in the net.
He’s another product of the Swedish goaltending school that continues to produce high-end young puckstoppers.
Glifford actually admitted to having a poster of Luongo on his wall when he was growing up overseas.
And for those wondering, it was Luongo during his Vancouver Canucks days.
“I might have to fine him on that,” Luongo joked. “I’ll make sure we change that.”
Looking ahead, Glifford wants to continue logging as much ice time as he can.
After missing so much time with his hip injury, he’s ready to make up for lost ground and put to good use everything he learned during development camp.
“I think that I need to take small steps at a time,” Glifford said. “I was injured the year before, so I just want to be able to play a lot, as much as possible, and get in as many games as I can.”