Panthers select 5 in second day of 2018 NHL Draft
SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers selected five players during day two of the 2018 NHL Draft at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
“It’s been an exciting two days for our organization,” said Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Dale Tallon. “We’ve added great skill, speed, size and character to our system. We are thrilled to have these young men join the rest of our prospects in South Florida next week for development camp and look forward to their continued development with the Panthers.”
Florida selected forward Serron Noel in the second round (34th overall), forward Logan Hutsko in the third round (89th overall), forward Justin Schutz in the sixth round (170th overall), defenseman Cole Krygier in the seventh round (201st overall) and defenseman Santtu Kinnunen (207th overall) in the seventh round.
At the Draft, the Panthers acquired the 89th overall pick from Nashville in exchange for Florida’s 2019 third round pick.
Noel, 18, appeared in 62 games with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League, recording 53 points (28-25-53). The 6-foot-5, 204-pound native of Ottawa, Ontario ranked second on the Generals with 28 goals.
On the international stage, Noel represented Canada at the 2018 IIHF U-18 World Junior Championship, producing six points (2-4-6) in five games. He won gold with Canada at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.
Noel is the son of Dean Noel, a Canadian Football League running back who played parts of five seasons with the Ottawa Rough Riders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Hutsko, 19, appeared in 37 games with Boston College as a freshman, producing 31 points (12-19-31) and helped his club clinch a 2017-18 Hockey East regular season title. The 5-foot-10, 172-pound native of Tampa, Florida, was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Year and earned Hockey East All-Rookie Team honors.
Schutz, 17, appeared in 40 regular season games with Red Bull Hockey Akademie of the Czech U-18 league, recording 62 points (24-38-62). He led the Czech U-18 league in assists and finished second in scoring. The 5-foot-11, 176-pound native of Kassel, Germany, posted four points (1-3-4) over five playoff games.
On the international stage, Schutz captained Germany at the 2018 U-18 World Championship Division 1 A tournament. He scored two goals in four games and was named Germany’s top player.
Krygier, 18, appeared in 58 regular season games with the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League, recording 17 points (3-14-17). The 6-foot-3, 192-pound native of Orlando, Fla., notched two points (1-1-2) over seven postseason games. He is committed to Michigan State for the 2018-19 season.
His twin brother Christian was also selected by the New York Islanders in the 2018 seventh round (196th overall). Krygier is the son of veteran player Todd Krygier who played 543 NHL games for the Hartford Whalers, Washington Capitals and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, recording 243 points (100-143-243).
Kinnunen, 19, appeared in 43 games with Pelicans U-20 of the Finnish junior hockey league, recording 24 points (4-20-24). The 6-foot-2, 154-pound native of Lahti, Finland played in 11 games with Peliitat of Mestis, the Finnish second-tier league, registering four assists. In four relegation games with Peliitat, Kinnunen posted two points (1-1-2).
Florida selected Grigori Denisenko in the first round (15th overall) of the Draft on Friday, June 22.
The Panthers annual development camp takes place from June 26-June 29 at the Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs, Fla. All on-ice sessions are free and open to the public.
