The Florida Panthers hold a full team practice at Amerant Bank Arena on Dec. 7. Heading into the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, the talk was all about young defensemen. That year, there were two blueliners who were thought of as potential top picks. They were Chris Phillips, who ended up going first overall to Ottawa, and Andrei Zyuzin, taken second by San Jose. The year before that, in 1995, the top three picks were all defensemen – Bryan Berard to Ottawa, Wade Redden to the Islanders and Aki Berg to Los Angeles – and in 1994, the first two players off the board were rearguards. They were Oleg Tverdovsky, who went second to the expansion Mighty Ducks, and Ed Jovanovski, the No. 1 pick in 1994 made by the Panthers. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] Jovanovski had been a rookie during the 1996 season, and his standout play received quite a bit of attention during Florida’s improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final. In a story ahead of the 1996 NHL Draft, The Hockey News did a deep dive into what had made defenseman such a hot commodity at the time. It came in the June 1, 1996 magazine, Vol. 49, Issue 36 in a story titled The Thick Blueline written by then-Editor-in-Chief Steve Dryden [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/thn-archive-dont-hate-on-pavel-bure-for-scoring-so-many-goals-]. THN Archive is an exclusive vault of 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit THN.com/archive [https://archive.thehockeynews.com/] and subscribe today at subscribe.thehockeynews.com [https://subscribe.thehockeynews.com/]. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Panthers continue road trip in Vancouver on night Canucks honor Roberto Luongo [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-continue-road-trip-in-vancouver-on-night-canucks-honor-roberto-luongo] Defenseman Gustav Forsling remains an unsung hero for the Florida Panthers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/defenseman-gustav-forsling-remains-an-unsung-hero-for-the-florida-panthers-] Three takeaways: Missed shots, power play chances haunt Panthers in shutout loss to Seattle [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/three-takeaways-missed-shots-power-play-chances-haunt-panthers-in-shutout-loss-to-seattle] Kraken wrap tentacles around Panthers, suffocating Florida in 4-0 shutout [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/kraken-wrap-tentacles-around-panthers-suffocating-florida-in-4-0-shutout] Carter Verhaeghe heating up as Panthers top line dominates both ends of the ice [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/carter-verhaeghe-heating-up-as-panthers-top-line-dominates-both-ends-of-the-ice] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
