FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers will host a draft watch party at Baptist Health IcePlex on June 26, the team’s first chance to celebrate a first-round pick with fans since the 2021 NHL Draft.
The Panthers hold the ninth overall selection after originally trading their first-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2025 Seth Jones/Spencer Knight deal, Florida Hockey Now reported. The team currently owns seven picks across the two-day draft, which runs June 26-27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Doors at the IcePlex open at 5 p.m. ET with inflatables, interactive games, vendors, food and beverages. A pre-draft panel moderated by Panthers play-by-play announcer Steve Goldstein begins at 6 p.m. ET on the Baptist Rink, with reserved seating for Territory Members. Radio play-by-play voice Doug Plagens and analyst Billy Lindsay, a Panthers alum, will broadcast live on 104.3 WQAM and Audacy.com starting at 6 p.m. ET.
ESPN and ESPN+ draft coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET. Fans can watch from the stands inside the Baptist Rink or join a public skate session on the ice. A Learn to Curl session on the SeatGeek Rink also starts at 7 p.m. ET. Shopping at Pantherland and dining at The Federal Bar & Restaurant will be available throughout the evening.
The team is also partnering with the Broward Education Foundation on a school supplies drive. Fans in attendance are encouraged to bring notebooks, pens, crayons, erasers, folders, markers, highlighters, scissors, rulers, glue sticks and hand sanitizer.
The draft party kicks off a busy offseason stretch in South Florida. Panthers Development Camp is scheduled for late June or early July at the IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, NHL free agency opens July 1, and training camp is expected in early to mid-September ahead of a late September start to the 2026-27 season.