NHL Prospect Watch: Florida Panthers

In the lead-up to the 2026-27 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for every NHL team. To be included in this list, a player must be recently drafted, signed to an NHL contract, or meet the NHL’s criteria for rookie status.

The Florida Panthers’ prospect pool features three recent WHL Champions.

Marek Alscher

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound defenceman made his NHL debut in April of 2026 and stayed with the Panthers for their last four games of the regular season. The team went 3-1-0 over that stretch, with Alscher averaging more than 20 minutes on the ice while picking up three assists and a +4 rating. The 22-year-old stayed steady in his second season in the professional ranks, notching 11 points (3G-8A) in 52 games with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers before getting called up to the show. Alscher, from Kladno, Czechia, spent three seasons with the Portland Winterhawks, bagging 66 points (22G-44A) over 178 regular-season games, while helping the squad reach the 2024 WHL Championship Series. He was drafted by the Panthers with the 93rd overall pick in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft.

Shea Busch

A season that could have easily gone off the rails turned into the comeback of a lifetime for North Vancouver, B.C.’s Shea Busch. The 6-foot-3, 216-pound winger was off to a hot start with 13 goals and five assists in the first 12 games of the campaign with the Everett Silvertips, but suffered an upper-body injury that left him sidelined until the first round of the 2026 WHL Playoffs. Busch scored in his return to the ice, went on a six-game point streak, and ended up with 13 points (7G-6A) in 16 games to clinch Everett’s first WHL Championship, highlighted by a hat trick in the title match. He added another assist as the Silvertips battled to the Memorial Cup Final and is currently representing Canada at the 2026 World Junior Summer Showcase in hopes of representing Canada in IIHF competition for the first time in his career. Busch, 19, was selected with the 128th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft.

Arvid Drott

Stockholm, Sweden’s Arvid Drott is gearing up for his first North American season after signing a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with the Medicine Hat Tigers, who chose him with the 59th pick in the 2026 CHL Import Draft. The 6-foot-187-pound winger posted 25 points (15G-19A) in 28 appearances with Djurgardens IF U20 side, in addition to one call-up to Djurgarden’s SHL squad. Florida snapped him up with the 192nd overall pick in the sixth round of the 2025 NHL Draft.

Brendan Dunphy

Twenty-year-old Brendan Dunphy spent 2025-26 with the University of Connecticut, where he tallied six points (2G-4A) in 37 outings. The 6-foot-5, 207-pound rearguard joined the Wenatchee Wild last season, where he put up 22 points (4G-18A) en route to hearing his name called in the seventh round (197th overall) of the 2025 NHL Draft.

Jonas Kemps

Six-foot-6, 196-pound defenceman Jonas Kemps is about to embark on his rookie season with the Seattle Thunderbirds after signing with the club in May. The Sebastopol, California product spent last season with the USHL’s Chicago Steel, where he logged nine points (2G-7A) in 57 tilts. He was drafted with the 98th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2026 NHL Draft.

Gracyn Sawchyn

The former Edmonton Oil Kings alternate captain handled plenty of adversity in his first season of professional hockey with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. He rattled off 23 points (6G-17A) in 35 games, but missed a large chunk of time after suffering an upper-body injury in January. He was able to return to close out the season in April and finished sixth on the Checkers in points-per-game. The 6-foot, 154-pound forward spent three seasons in the WHL with the Thunderbirds and Oil Kings, racking up 200 points (67G-133A) in 166 games. Sawchyn captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup with the T-Birds in 2023 and cracked the WHL East Division Second All-Star Team in 2024-25. Now 21, Sawchyn was picked up with the 63rd overall pick in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft.

Hunter St. Martin

The speedy Tigers graduate registered 13 points (5G-8A) in 46 games in his first spin with the Checkers after winning the WHL in 2025. St. Martin, 21, earned his entry-level deal with Florida after being selected 193rd overall in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Draft. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound winger spent four seasons with the Tabbies, posting 133 points (71G-62A) in 209 games, highlighted by a 39-goal run in 2024-25 that saw the Tigers finish first in the Eastern Conference. The Edmonton, Alta. native recorded 17 points (7G-10A), highlighted by seven points in the Final, to hoist the Ed Chynoweth Cup and advance to the Memorial Cup Final.