Panthers GM Dan Morgan talks about possibility of trading 8th overall pick
Panthers GM Dan Morgan talks about possibility of trading 8th overall pick
The Carolina Panthers may not feel good about their record from the 2024 campaign, but they seem to be pretty content with the consolation prize that the 5-12 mark rewarded them.
After chopping it up with reporters from the scouting combine on Tuesday, president of football operations and general manager Dan Morgan joined this morning's episode of Mac & Bone. Morgan was asked for his feelings about the team's 2025 draft position—which will have them, at least for now, picking from the eighth overall spot.
"I think we feel good about the position we're in at eight," he replied. "Obviously, we don't wanna draft that high because that means that, you know, you had a [crappy] season. But yeah, I think it's a good spot to be in. I think there'll be a really good player there for us. Either way, we're gonna be prepared for any scenario.
"I don't see us trading up. I do see the potential of us trading back and picking up more picks. That's always a possibility. But we're gonna play all the different scenarios and we're gonna be ready when the time comes."
The Panthers haven't been shy about trading up in, or into, the first round of late.
In 2023, the team—headed by previous general manager Scott Fitterer—traded up from the ninth overall pick to the first in setting up the eventual selection of quarterback Bryce Young. Then, since that deal cost them their 2024 first-rounder, Morgan and the Panthers jumped back into the very end of the first round last spring—nabbing wide receiver Xavier Legette with the 32nd overall pick.
Given Carolina's mountain of needs, especially on defense, we should probably take Morgan at his word this year.
But hey, you never know . . .
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Those final 10 minutes of Game 3? ‘An unraveling' for Edmonton in Florida's blowout win
The Florida Panthers were well on their way to a blowout win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday when things began to unravel. The Panthers were up four goals with just under 10 minutes left to play in their eventual 6-1 victory when Edmonton stopped focusing on the game and started going for the hits. The damage from the final 9:31 of game action: 110 penalty minutes, 80 of which came from eight misconducts (five for Edmonton, three for Florida). 'Definitely the third period's an unraveling,' Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. 'I think the game was out of hand. I don't think we would've acted or played like that had the game been a one-goal or a two-goal game. I think our guys were just trying to, I don't know, boys being boys — just trying to make investments for the next game. The first period, obviously the four penalties, which is way too many. We shouldn't have those. But I kind of question some of those penalties.' It began with Edmonton forward Trent Frederic trying to ambush Florida center Sam Bennett, who has been in the agitator role at several points throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs. A missed punch to the back of Bennett's head was followed by a cross-check. And then the slew of skirmishes broke out, the headliner being Florida's Jonah Gadjovich dropping the gloves with Edmonton's Darnell Nurse for a lengthy round of full-on punches. A half-dozen players — Florida's Gadjovich, Bennett and A.J. Greer; Edmonton's Frederic, Nurse and Mattias Ekholm — were ejected afterward. And then it just kept coming. Edmonton's Evander Kane was sent off a few minutes later after slashing Verhaeghe while Verhaeghe was down on the ice. A few more Edmonton cheap shots followed in the final minutes of the game, with the Oilers' Kasperi Kapanen the final player kicked out of the game after a cross-check to Eetu Luostarinen with 4:13 left to play. Through it all, the Panthers stayed composed. They weren't going to stoop to that level, not with the lead they had and with so little time left to play. They have a bigger goal in mind. 'We talked about it in the third,' star Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk said. 'If you have to take a punch, take a punch. If you have to take a cross-check, take a cross-check. Spear, slash in the face, whatever the case is, you've got to take it. We just played a really smart game.' Added captain Aleksander Barkov: 'It's a 60-minute game. We just want to keep doing the same things all over again and play our game. Stuff like that sometimes happens. But I think overall, pretty, pretty happy with the 60 minute effort.' The Oilers, naturally, saw things differently. Edmonton star Connor McDavid said they lost their composure at 'the very end there when we're trying to show a little bit of fight back.' 'When you get into garbage time, those things happen,' McDavid said. 'And I don't mind when those things happen. That's what good teams do — fight your way out of the rink. I don't mind that in garbage time.' Added defenseman Jake Walman: 'There's not an inch out there. Everybody's doing everything they can. That's a grown man's game out there. It's not for the faint of heart. Guys are putting everything on the line you know?' Kane, meanwhile, said the game 'obviously got out of hand' before saying the Panthers 'seem to get away with it more than we do.' 'It's tough to find the line,' Kane said. 'They're doing just as much stuff as we are. ... There seems to be a little bit more attention on our group.' Did the Panthers, with their aggressive, agitating style, get the Oilers to play into their hand? 'I don't think so,' Knoblauch said. 'We've got some guys maybe who love the drop the gloves a little more and get at it a little bit. We're a big, physical team. We do have some skilled guys, and I don't see our skilled guys getting distracted and getting into that. The guys who like it are getting into it.' As for how this could impact the series moving forward? The Panthers aren't focused on that. 'I just think emotions in all of these games are extremely high,' veteran forward Brad Marchand said. 'And obviously this is the time you're playing and you're enjoying every minute. So it doesn't really matter what happened tonight, we both have to reset, and we're [ready] for the next one now.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Stanley Cup Final live updates: Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers, Game 3
Florida Panthers fans react during a watch party after their team scored against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final at the Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. The best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final is now essentially a best-of-5 set. After splitting the opening games in Edmonton, the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers now play the next two games in Sunrise, with the Panthers looking to take advantage of home ice in their quest to repeat as champions. Advertisement Game 3 on Monday is set for an 8 p.m. puck drop, with the game televised on TNT and truTV and available on streaming via Max. Follow along throughout the game for live updates, news, analysis and commentary. Panthers win Game 3, Edmonton loses its cool In a game with 17 power plays, many of them after the Panthers took a three-goal lead and Edmonton began venting, the Panthers won 6-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final. Rodrigues. Panthers 6, Edmonton 1 On a two-man advantage in an increasingly nasty last 10 minutes filled with misconducts as officials just tried to push this game to a finish, Evan Rodrigues scored from the left circle at 16:10 of the third period. Advertisement Panthers 6, The Oil 1. Competitive phase done, down go the gloves Down 5-1, Edmonton right wing Trent Frederic started crosschecking Sam Bennett in the neutral zone. Dissatisfied with Bennett's response (ignoring it with a chuckle), Frederic stepped up the crosschecks and punches. Jonah Gadjovich flew in to give Frederic more response and satisfaction. A.J. Greer went after Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm with a furious assault. Eventually, Gadjovich and Edmonton's Darnell Nurse dropped the gloves in one of the best and longest fights you'll see in a Stanley Cup Final. Frederic got crosschecking and roughing minors. Nurse got a roughing minor and fighting major. Greer and Bennett got roughing minors. Gadjovich got a fighting major. All of them and Ekholm got misconducts. Ekblad scores, chases Skinner. Panthers 5, Edmonton 1 Redemption Monday for Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. Advertisement Ekblad, minus two and minus one in the first two games, was a plus one after two periodsin Monday's Game 3, had a game-high five hits and fired home a power play goal off a saucy behind-the-back turn from Evan Rodrigues that put goalie Stuart Skinner out of position. The Panthers' second power play goal of the night expanded the lead to 5-1 3:27 into the third period. That was all for Skinner, who put the Panthers on that power play by flipping a hard around attempt into the stands. Skinner gave up five goals on 23 shots End of second: Panthers 4, Edmonton 1 With 44.7 seconds left in the second period, Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse looked at the back of Panthers center Anton Lundell in a board scrum, lightly crosschecked Lundell, lightly crosschecked Lundell, then crosschecked Lundell like Lundell said a 'Yo, mama' snap. Advertisement The dumb penalty indicated the frustration the Panthers once again forced upon Edmonton in one of the second periods of this series. The Panthers have a 5-2 scoring advantage in the three second periods while establishing a physical dominance, no more so than Monday. See below for the Sam Bennett hits that preceded his goal. After dough-popping Connor McDavid midway through the period, Panthers' defenseman Aaron Ekblad smashed Corey Perry into being one with the boards. Perry rose as if feeling all of his 40 years plus someone else's 40 years. Ekblad had a game-high five hits after two periods. Ekblad vs. McDavid went better for the Cats this time Edmonton center Connor McDavid's usual sizzling slashes through the neutral zone got interrupted Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who McDavid made look like a manatee trying to swim on ice on a dazzling Game 2 assist, blasted McDavid with a check a that sent McDavid to the bench and briefly to the locker room. Advertisement McDavid was back for his next shift. Two Sams call and raise. Panthers up, 4-1 Just 1:20 after Perry's goal, the Panthers began pounding out the kinds of goals that have allowed them to own the second periods in this series. Sam Reinhart matched Perry's goal to restore the Panthers' two-goal lead and Sam Bennett expanded it to 4-1. First, center Aleksander Barkov hounded Oilers defenseman John Klingberg around the Edmonton net and right into referee Francis Charron along the deep left boards. Klingberg lost his feet and the puck. Carter Verhaeghe fed Reinhart in the left circle and Reinhart struck for a 3-1 lead. Advertisement Four minutes later, Bennett obliterated Vasily Podkolzin at the Panthers line, smashed Klingberg against the boards, then, when Eetu Luostarinen stripped a still dazed Podkolzin at the blue line, accelerated into space. Luostarinen gave the breakaway to Bennett instead of taking it himself, and Bennett proved the worth of his teammate's generosity by beating Skinner. About that Panthers penalty gets one back Just 20 seconds from another successful penalty kill, Edmonton worked the puck around high in the zone while rotating until Panthers defenseman Seth Jones left the Corey Perry alone in front of the net. Not a good idea, even if Perry's almost as old as the last Super Bowl tickets bought by Dolphins fans. Advertisement Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard spotted Perry, fed him on the doorstep and the Panthers lead was down to 2-1 at 1:40 of the second. End of first period, Panthers lead special teams duel, 2-0 Somebody had to score on the power play as the Panthers and Oilers refused to allow referees Wes McCauley and Francis Charron to swallow their whistles, putting each other on the power play seven times in the first period. Only 8:45 of the first period was spent five-on-five, only 10:01 spent at even strength. The Panthers maintained good offensive zone time on their power play and actually created one or two chances on each power play. Finally, their rotten (at home) power play bore fruit when Carter Verhaeghe walked into the left circle and beat Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner over the right shoulder with a snipe. Advertisement That put the Panthers up 2-0 at 17:45 of the first period, made the Panthers two for 32 at home in the playoffs on the power play and gave defenseman Nate Schmidt another assist, his ninth of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Panthers snuffed all three Edmonton power plays, preventing the circle-to-circle passes through the penalty killing box from Connor McDavid while also respecting his shot. Also, the Panthers kept goalie Sergei Bobrovsky's sight lines clear and efficiently cleared rebounds. Appropriately, the period ended with Panthers center Anton Lundell going to the box for roughing. Really, Lundell was sent off for sparking a post-horn mini-rumble with an extra poke at Skinner as time expired in the period. That brought the predictable pushing-and-face washing response from the Oilers, which brought the predictable defense of Lundell from the Panthers. Marchand, who ended Game 2, gets the Game 3 party started On the game's second shift, off a face-off in the right circle of the Edmonton zone, Panthers center Anton Lundell circled the net right to left and tried to pass back to Eetu Luostarinen at the right post. When Luostarinen couldn't handle the pass, Lundell circled the net, came out from behind the left post and tapped the puck to Brad Marchand. Advertisement The 37-year-old Game 2 double overtime scorer fired home his eighth goal of these playoffs 56 seconds into the game. Panthers 1, Edmonton 0. Marchand has the Panthers last three goals in the series. He's the oldest player to score in each of the first three games of a Stanley Cup Final, replacing Frank Mahavolich, who was 35 when he did it in the 1973 Stanley Cup Final for Montreal against the Rangers. RNH is in; starting lineups Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is in. Full starting lineups: Panthers: Verhaeghe-Barkov-Reinhart/Forsling-Ekblad Oilers: RNH-McDavid-Perry/Ekholm-Bouchard Bobrovsky vs Skinner in net. A look at the lineups With A.J. Greer drawing into the lineup for the Panthers, the only change from Game 2 is on Florida's fourth line. They'll start out as follows... Advertisement Forward lines Carter Verhaeghe-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart Evan Rodrigues-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Brad Marchand A.J. Greer-Tomas Nosek-Jonah Gadjovich Defense pairs Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad Niko Mikkola-Seth Jones Nate Schmidt-Dmitry Kulikov Goaltenders Sergei Bobrovsky Vitek Vanecek Edmonton, meanwhile, has swapped around its defense pairs and still has to formally say whether Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is playing. He was listed as a game-time decision but went through warmups and took line rushes. Here's how the Oilers should look if he is indeed in... Forward lines Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Connor McDavid-Corey Perry Advertisement Evander Kane-Leon Draisaitl-Kasperi Kapanen Trent Frederic-Adam Henrique-Connor Brown Vasily Podkolzin-Mattias Janmark-Viktor Arvidsson Defense pairs Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard Darnell Nurse-John Klingberg Brett Kulak-Jake Walman Goaltenders Stuart Skinner Calvin Pickard Series schedule ▪ Game 1 — Oilers 4, Panthers 3 (overtime): The Panthers had a two-goal lead early in the second period but couldn't hold on as Edmonton tied the game early in the third and won it on a Leon Draisaitl power-play goal with 31 seconds left in overtime. ▪ Game 2 — Panthers 5, Oilers 4 (double overtime): The Oilers tied the game with 17.8 seconds left in regulation to force overtime for a second consecutive game. Brad Marchand scored the game-winner 8:05 into the second OT period to secure the Florida win and even the series 1-1. Advertisement ▪ Game 3: Tonight ▪ Game 4: Thursday, June 12, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena ▪ Game 5: Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Edmonton's Rogers Place ▪ Game 6 (if necessary): Tuesday, June 17, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena ▪ Game 7 (if necessary): Friday, June 20, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Edmonton's Rogers Place Pregame reading Need to catch up ahead of Game 3? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald's coverage over the past few days. ▪ 'He just finds a way': Panthers' Brad Marchand, at 37, has another big playoff moment ▪ After excelling on road all playoffs, it's time for Panthers to produce at home in Cup Final Advertisement ▪ Panthers vs. Oilers Stanley Cup Final changes rinks. And, probably, little else ▪ Panthers know Bobrovsky's importance in Cup Final. 'We're not taking him for granted' ▪ Panthers' top line hasn't scored yet in Stanley Cup Final. Is it a cause for concern? ▪ Legendary lineages: Have the Panthers joined South Florida's sports dynasties from the past?
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Reinhart's first goal of Stanley Cup Final a big one in Panthers' Game 3 rout of Oilers
Forget what the game log says. Monday night was the true return of Florida Panthers star Sam Reinhart. Reinhart scored a goal – his first in six games — and set up another with a filthy pass to Aaron Ekblad in Monday's 6-1 Panthers win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. For the Panthers' regular-season leader in goals, it was his best game since suffering an apparent knee injury early in the Eastern Conference Finals. Reinhart went top shelf three minutes into the second period to beat Stuart Skinner – the same netminder he victimized in Game 7 nearly a year ago — to jumpstart a dominant closing half of an overwhelming Panthers performance. 'The Sam Reinhart goal was the inflection point,' said Panthers coach Paul Maurice, who won his 1,000th NHL game (combining the regular season and postseason) Monday. '2-1, especially with what both teams had been through in the first two, there was no [safe] lead at that point, and Sam's goal was very important to us.' In the micro sense, Maurice of course is correct. Reinhart's goal gave the Panthers much-needed breathing room in the second period, and the Oilers didn't respond well. Oilers coach Kris Knoblach said his team 'unraveled' Monday, and the stat sheet backed that up. Edmonton racked up a staggering 85 penalty minutes and a suspension for Evander Kane isn't out of the question after his inexcusable and dangerous stick found Carter Verhaeghe's neck when the Panthers forward was defenseless on the ice. But from a wider lens, Reinhart's breakout game is even worse news for Edmonton. After two overtime games in Alberta, the Panthers looked like far and away the better team Monday. 'We're a very deep team,' said forward Brad Marchand, who scored for the third time in as many SCF games Monday. 'Not just offensively. A lot of guys play a 200-foot game. That's one of our strengths.' Florida is strongest when Reinhart is at his best. And Monday's performance was huge given his uncharacteristic couple of weeks. Reinhart has been largely a non-factor since the dirty hit laid on him by Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho in the Eastern Conference Finals. Reinhart missed two games after Aho's hip check to his knee and struggled to find his form upon his return. He was minus-3 in the first two games of this series with zero points in nearly 60 minutes of ice time. Monday was the ultimate reversal. His goal – set up by Verhaeghe just 80 seconds after Corey Perry cut a two-goal Florida lead in half – was great. His assist on Aaron Ekblad's third-period power play goal was even better. Reinhart went no-look behind his back, a move that fooled Skinner so utterly that Ekblad couldn't have missed the net if he tried. But it wasn't just offense for Reinhart, the two-way star who finished second in the Selke Trophy voting behind teammate Aleskander Barkov. Reinhart led all Panthers with three blocked shots Monday. 'I think you guys have seen it enough,' Reinhart said of Florida's style of play. 'We try to play the same very night and keep it as simple as possible. 'We're trying to take away some time and space.' Time and space? Luxuries Edmonton no longer can afford after a second straight loss.
