Florida Panthers trade up to pick No. 58, select center Linus Eriksson

The Stanley Cup Champions gave up a rather high future pick to acquire someone of interest to them.

On Saturday at Sphere in Las Vegas, the Florida Panthers acquired the 58th overall pick in the NHL Draft from the Toronto Maple Leafs. In return, the Maple Leafs received the Panthers’ seventh-round pick in this year’s draft, as well as their 2025 second-round pick.

The Panthers went on to take forward Linus Eriksson from Djurgårdens IF of HockeyAllsvenskan. Eriksson came into the draft ranked 10th among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting, and the No. 41 prospect according to Daily Faceoff draft expert Steven Ellis.

“I continue to find new ways to like Eriksson’s game the more I watch him, Ellis said. “A potential second-round pick, Eriksson is a smart forward who builds his game on speed and offensive awareness. He’s great with the puck, has excellent hockey IQ and can grind shifts out like a bottom-six player.”

It was the Panthers’ first pick in this year’s draft. They originally traded their first-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers, which was later flipped to the Edmonton Oilers.

The transaction marked the second time the Leafs have traded one pick to fall back further in the draft. On Friday, they moved the 23rd pick to the Anaheim Ducks for the 58th pick. With the seventh-round pick, Toronto has three picks in the final round of this year’s draft, not to mention they have three coming up in the fifth round. In total, the Leafs have seven in the 2024 draft.

For 2025, the Leafs have just five on the board, as they traded away their first four picks. The Panthers have six scheduled for next year’s draft, all coming in the final four rounds.