Lundell and Knight, both former first-round picks, are entering their third seasons in the NHL

The Florida Panthers are a team in win-now mode, full of talented players in their prime years that could very well take the team to the Promised Land.

One thing that this Stanley Cup contending team doesn't have an excess of are those younger, up-and-coming type players. Florida's home grown prospects are currently few and far between, at least at the NHL level.

That's not to say the likes of Mackie Samoskevich, Justin Sourdif, Michael Benning, Gracyn Sawchyn or even Grigori Denisenko could eventually become part of the equation, but as it currently stands, there just aren't many early-20s Panthers who can cut it at the highest level in the world.

This week, Corey Pronman put out his annual rankings of NHL players who are 23 years old or younger. The list contained nearly 170 forwards, defensemen and goaltenders separated into several tiers of talent.

Tiers 1 through 4 featured a total of 17 players, with Connor Bedard the only person in Tier 1, a "Bubble generational player and elite NHL player."

Two of the players on the extensive list are Panthers.

The first one shows up in Tier 5, for players considered "Bubble NHL All-Star and top of the lineup player."

That's where you'll find the No. 21 player on the list, Panthers center Anton Lundell.

The 21-year-old (he'll be 22 in early October) is considered "an important part of the Panthers lineup" with solid size and skills. Pronman points out that Lundell's game "is more substance than flash" which makes sense considering the consistent two-way play he's brought to the table since making his NHL debut as a teenage rookie two seasons ago.

Ultimately, the story surmises that Lundell "projects as a No. 1 center in the NHL."

A bit further down the list comes the second and final Panthers player to be featured, and he shows up in Tier 7, which is for "Bubble top and middle of the lineup player(s)."

Goaltender Spencer Knight, still considered among the top goaltending prospects around, is on this list at No. 83.

Perhaps to put his position on the list into a bit of perspective, former Florida goalie Devon Levi was ranked at No. 165.

As the story points out, it's tough to analyze Knight to this point.

He's had some solid games in the NHL but there have also been some moments of struggle, which is not at all surprising to hear about a 22-year-old netminder.

All eyes will be on Knight early in the season to see how he looks after leaving the Panthers last season to join the NHL/NHLPA joint player assistance program.

He has since completed the program and rejoined the Panthers for the team's development camp last month, and he looked great both on the ice and off.

The question now is where Knight will be when the seasons begins. Will he start with the Panthers at the NHL level, potentially serving as backup to Sergei Bobrovsky, or will the team send Knight to the AHL's Charlotte Checkers in order to receive more playing time?

For all we know, Knight could show up at training camp and play so well that Florida keeps him in the NHL and gives him the playing time anyway.

It all depends on how the Panthers coaching staff evaluates Knight in a few weeks in Coral Springs.

Either way, he'll be resuming his professional hockey journey and will once again be among the top goalie prospects in the game.

Where he goes from there, we'll have to wait and see.