Panthers Win Season Finale in Blowout, Hurt Draft Odds

SUNRISE, Fla. — For the third consecutive season, the Florida Panthers won their final game of the season at Amerant Bank Arena. However, unlike the previous two seasons, tonight’s 8-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings didn’t end with the Stanley Cup on the ice.

Instead, the Panthers will pack up shop and head their separate ways for the summer, with hope that they return next year playing for the Cup again.

Wednesday night’s win shined light on a few rookie Panthers who have been in the lineup due to the never-ending injuries in Florida.

Defenseman Mike Benning scored his first-career NHL goal 9:39 into the second period, finding the back of the net in his 18th game. The 24-year-old wasn’t done there, scoring his second of the night three minutes later.

Forward Wilmer Skoog, who was skating in his third career game, picked up his first NHL point 4:57 into the first on the Panthers opening goal after Vinnie Hinostroza scored his sixth of the season. Skoog would get a second assist later in the game on Benning’s first goal.

Defensemen Ludvig Jansson and Mikulas Hovorka also got their first NHL points on assists, while Marek Alscher got the second and third points of his career in the game as well.

With Florida’s regular season over, their attention — at least the management side — will be focused out west, on San Jose and St. Louis.

The Panthers ended Wednesday night ninth from last in the NHL standings, putting them in serious jeopardy of losing their first-round pick. If Florida’s pick falls outside of the top-10, it will be sent to Chicago to complete last year’s Seth Jones trade.

If San Jose and St. Louis both get one more point this season, the Panthers will finish the season eighth from last in the league — which guarantees the pick lands within the top-10.

Barring a catastrophic collapse by the Panthers, they’ll end the season with 84 points.

To guarantee a top-10 pick, San Jose and St. Louis would need 1 point respectively to finish ahead of Florida in the standings.
— Alex Baumgartner (@ABaumgartner91) April 16, 2026

The NHL Draft lottery has two winners, with those teams only able to move up a maximum of ten spots in the draft order. Finishing eighth entering the lottery means the farthest Florida can fall in the draft is to No. 10. Finishing ninth or tenth last — which is the highest Florida can finish this season — leaves the chance of them getting jumped a real possibility.

Last year, the New York Islanders jumped from tenth to first in the draft lottery. Their reward was selecting Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick. The Utah Mammoth jumped from 14 to 4. They took Caleb Desnoyers.

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