The NHL last expanded in 2021, welcoming the Seattle Kraken to the league, and, like so many other professional leagues, which are all businesses, it’s inevitable that there will be a 33rd and 34th team one day. Recently, The Athletic pieced together a mock Expansion Draft, based on the 2026-27 rosters, and made an interesting selection from the Florida Panthers.
Right now, the Panthers find themselves in a unique situation. Most of the roster is around 30 years old, with many of the core players, who helped win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2024-25, locked into lengthy deals with limited movement options. Therefore, the franchise will have to protect many familiar names like Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Brady Tkachuk, Anton Lundell, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, Gustav Forsling, Seth Jones, Aaron Ekblad, and Akira Schmid.
For entertainment purposes, The Athletic hypothetically asked Brad Marchand to waive his NMC so they could save Lundell from being exposed. After figuring out who could be “available” from the Panthers, the writers selected 27-year-old Eetu Luostarinen, a member of the Florida teams that captured the Stanley Cup in 2024 and 2025.
Initially drafted in the second round (42nd overall) at the 2017 Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes, Luostarinen came to the Panthers via a 2020 trade with Erik Haula, Chase Priskie, and Lucas Wallmark for Vincent Trocheck. In seven seasons, he’s scored 61 goals and 162 points in 447 games, with a career average of 15:07 per game.
It will be interesting to see whether Luostarinen will be available in a future Expansion Draft, since he recently signed an eight-year, $40 million extension with a no-move clause until 2032.
Which formers Panthers left via recent Expansion Drafts?
During the 2021 Expansion Draft, the Panthers protected Barkov, Bennett, Verhaeghe, and Ekblad, along with Anthony Duclair, Patric Hornqvist, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mason Marchment, Gustav Forsling, MacKenzie Weegar, and Sergei Bobrovsky. In the end, the Kraken selected goalie Chris Driedger. During his two seasons with the Panthers from 2019 to 2021, he compiled a 21-8-4 record in 35 games, backing up Bobrovsky.
Going back even further to the Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Draft in 2017, Florida’s protection looked quite different. Those names included Barkov, Huberdeau, Trocheck, Ekblad, Nick Bjugstad, Alex Petrovic, Mark Pysyk, Keith Yandler, and James Reimer. Ultimately, the Golden Knights picked future Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Marchessault, who remains the franchise’s leading goal scorer heading into the 2026-27 season. Undrafted, Marchessault made his way to the Panthers for one season in 2016-17, scoring 30 goals and 51 points in 75 games.
As per usual with every NHL offseason, expansion talks pop up in the headlines, giving fans plenty of opportunities to talk about what cities could work and which ones don’t make sense. There’s been no recent indication the NHL will expand, but when the day comes, if the Panthers’ core remains intact, there’s a chance someone with multiple Stanley Cups on their resume could find themselves on the outside and moving on via the draft.
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