SenShot 2014 NHL Mock Draft Picks 1-5

#1 – Florida Panthers

Apr 12, 2014; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers center

Vincent Trocheck

(67) is congratulated after his goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first period at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

The Panthers finished with the 29th best record, but won the draft lottery to put their fate in their own hands.

Florida has some flexibility with Roberto Luongo  being the only player on the roster signed past the 2015-16 season, and even then only Brad Boyes, Aleksander Barkov and Brian Campbell are signed past this coming season. They are in the situation where they could add salary that other teams up against the cap need to dump, which also means there could be movement for this pick by adding more assets.

The Panthers need help everywhere, so they don’t need to draft by position, but according to hockeysfuture.com, one of the biggest weaknesses in their system is the lack of offensive talent on the blue line.

That makes the pick pretty simple, should they keep it.

Although I feel the Edmonton Oilers should do almost anything it takes to move up to the #1 spot (including perhaps a Nail Yakupov + the #3 pick deal), to get him, the Florida Panthers select defenseman Aaron Ekblad from the Barrie Colts of the OHL.

Ekblad was granted a special exemption to enter the OHL as a 15 year old, and has played 3 seasons of major junior already.  He is big, skilled and has a bit of a mean streak in addition to posting almost a point per game this season.  He is unflappable and was a key player on Canada’s U20 team as a 17 year old defenseman.

If there is any defenseman in recent memory ready to make the jump to the NHL as an 18 year old, it is Ekblad.