FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning each selected six players at the 2026 NHL Draft at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., restocking their prospect pipelines with a combined dozen picks spanning forwards, defensemen and goaltenders.

Panthers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Zito said the franchise targeted players who fit a specific organizational profile. “We’re looking forward to working with these young men, and making them Florida Panthers,” Zito said. “Each of these players, in our minds, fits the mold that they could plug in with our team.”

Florida’s highest selection was forward Simas Ignatavicius, taken 40th overall in the second round. The 6-foot-3, 201-pound Memphis, Tenn., native skated in 52 games with Genève-Servette HC of the Swiss National League in 2025-26, accumulating 13 points with a plus-seven rating. Ignatavicius, 18, becomes the fourth Lithuanian ever drafted in the NHL, following Darius Kasparaitis, Dainius Zubrus and Andrey Pedan. He has played in Genève-Servette’s system since 2020-21 at the U15, U17 and U20 levels.

The Panthers also grabbed forward Ryder Cali with the 48th overall pick. Cali, 17, produced 36 points — 16 goals and 20 assists — in 47 Ontario Hockey League games with the North Bay Battalion. The 6-foot-2, 218-pound forward, originally born in Lugano, Switzerland, represented Canada at the 2026 U18 World Junior Championship, posting one assist and a plus-five rating over five games. He is committed to Providence College for 2026-27.

Florida’s later-round picks included defenseman Jonas Kemps (98th overall), a 6-foot-6 blueliner from the USHL’s Chicago Steel who logged nine points in 57 games and is committed to Michigan State for 2027-28; forward Vilho Vanhatalo (168th overall), a 6-foot-4 Tampere, Finland, native who played for Tappara Tampere — a club partly owned by Panthers Captain Aleksander Barkov — and led Tappara’s U18 league with 37 goals the previous season; forward Cole Zurawski (181st overall), who produced 46 points in 63 OHL games with the Owen Sound Attack and is committed to Notre Dame; and goaltender Louis-Antoine Denault (217th overall), a 6-foot-8 netminder from Quebec City who posted a .913 save percentage in 25 QMJHL games with the Newfoundland Regiment and attended Florida’s development camp in 2025.

The Lightning, meanwhile, traded up to the 52nd overall pick to select forward Oleg Kulebiakin from the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads. The 5-foot-10, 178-pound St. Petersburg, Russia, native recorded 29 goals and 73 points in 64 games, leading Halifax in assists, points and power-play points with 26. Kulebiakin is committed to UMass for the 2027-28 season.

Tampa Bay used the 90th overall pick on defenseman Tomas Kralovic from Bratislava Slovan of the Slovakian league. The 6-foot-3, 202-pound blueliner recorded six goals and 31 points in 52 regular-season games and added four goals and six points in 17 playoff contests. Kralovic also appeared in five games for Slovakia at the 2025 World Junior Championships, recording two assists.

The Lightning added Swedish forward Morgan Anderberg at 134th overall from the Vaxjo Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League. The 5-foot-11, 174-pound Stockholm native played 39 regular-season games and 10 postseason games, notching a goal and three points in the playoffs. He also represented Sweden at the World Junior Championships.

At 154th overall, Tampa Bay selected USHL Rookie of the Year Cooper Soller from the Sioux Falls Stampede. The 5-foot-10, 172-pound Los Angeles native recorded 26 goals and 49 points in 62 games, ranking second on the team in goals and fourth in power-play goals with seven. Soller skated in all 14 Clark Cup playoff games, helping Sioux Falls capture its fourth USHL Championship.

The Lightning also selected goaltender Stepan Shurygin at 186th overall. Shurygin, 18, spent the 2025-26 season as the starting goalie for the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, posting a 24-27-7 record and .888 save percentage. His 59 games played marked the most of any OHL goalie, and his 1,704 saves paced the league. He spent the previous three seasons playing in Russia.

Both Florida franchises will look to evaluate their new draft classes at upcoming development camps, with the Panthers directing fans to FloridaPanthers.com/DraftCentral for continued draft coverage and the 2026-27 season approaching.