The Florida Panthers had a relatively busy afternoon during Day 2 of the 2025 NHL Draft.
Florida started the day with five selections but ended up choosing six players after making a trade late in the draft.
While the Cats didn’t make their first pick until the fourth round, there was an overall feeling of enthusiasm surrounding Florida’s newest selections when the draft was over.
Florida Panthers General Manager Bill Zito and his staff of executives and scouts put as much stock into character as they do skill, and while the team hasn’t possessed many high picks in recent years, they have found some quality players at the draft, such as Linus Eriksson, Hunter St. Martin, Gracyn Sawchyn, Marek Alscher and Sandis Vilmanis.
“We're really happy about it,” Zito said of this year’s draft. “Because we were able to add some players…sometimes, you know, you don't have those high picks, but you're still able to add quality players who all the guys think are quality people as well. So that's really exciting.”
Once the dust had settled and all the picks had been made, Zito spoke to the media about several of the players he’d selected.
Here is what he had to say:
Fourth round, No. 112 overall: Mads Kongsbak Klyvo
“He’s actually Danish, but plays in for Frolunda, in the Swedish league, and he's a kind of an underrated skill, scoring touch guy who plays hard, who's got a lot of compete and a lot of speed, so it'll be an interesting guy."
Fourth round, No. 128 overall: Shea Busch
Shea Bush is a power forward from Everett in the Western League. (He’s got) good size, plays in the hard areas. There’s kind of a theme of some of these guys, of getting hard players and hopefully having them prepared for Coach Maurice when they get here.”
Fifth round, No. 129 overall: Shamar Moses
“Shamar Moses is another big, right-shot winger from North Bay in the OHL.”
Sixth round, No. 192 overall: Arvid Drott
Arvid Drott is a fast, hardworking winger from Djurgardens in Sweden. I’m retty sure that's (Patric Hornqvist’s) team.”
Seventh round, No. 197 overall: Brendan Dunphy (pick acquired in trade with Chicago for 2026 seventh round selection)
“Brendan Dunphy is a giant defenseman who's a long-term guy, building his two-way game. He's committed to UConn and playing in Wenatchee in the Western League.”
Seventh round, No. 224 overall: Yegor Midlak
“Yegor Midlak, surprise, surprise, is a Russian goalie. I don't know if (Roberto Luongo) goes there in his free time or whatever, but yeah, those are our picks today.”
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Photo caption: Panthers GM Bill Zito speaks at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale following the conclusion of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. (Florida Panthers)