On draft day in 2007, the Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators swapped a major piece and a pair of futures, with Florida landing goaltender Tomas Vokoun for a 2007 second-round pick, a 2008 first-round pick, and a 2008 second-round pick. Jacques Martin and David Poile were the general managers on the deal, and while the picks eventually helped Nashville bring in Nick Spaling and Colin Wilson, Vokoun was the centerpiece.
For the Panthers, Vokoun became the steady hand in net during the post-Luongo 1.0 era. He was the kind of starter a team could lean on night after night, appearing in 248 games and making 243 starts in Florida.
His Panthers numbers tell the story of a goalie who gave them quality even when the team around him didn’t always deliver it: 101 wins, 108 losses, 30 overtime losses, a .923 save percentage, and a 2.57 goals-against average. He even chipped in 10 assists from the crease.
Vokoun also earned recognition while wearing a Panthers sweater. He was a one-time All-Star for Florida and was the team’s selection for All-Star voting on two other occasions. His strongest award finishes came in 2008-09, when he placed ninth in Vezina Trophy voting, and again in 2009-10, when he finished 23rd in Hart Trophy voting.
Before arriving in South Florida, Vokoun had already built a long run in Nashville after joining the Predators in the 1998 expansion draft. He appeared in 383 games for the Predators and started 362 of them, putting up 161 wins, 159 losses, and a combined 46 ties plus overtime and shootout losses.
His Nashville line also included a .913 save percentage and a 2.54 GAA. Individually, he was in the mix for league honors there too, finishing 13th in Calder Trophy voting in 1998-99, 10th in Vezina voting in 2002-03, earning an All-Star Game nod and an eighth-place Vezina finish in 2003-04, and then ranking fifth in all-star voting among goalies, 16th in Hart voting, and fourth in Vezina voting in 2005-06.
The picks Nashville received from Florida didn’t just sit idle. Nick Spaling came out of the 2007 second-rounder and spent five seasons with the Predators, playing 297 regular-season games and producing 40 goals and 44 assists for 84 points. He finished at minus-22 with 70 penalty minutes, won 49.2% of his faceoffs, and added 133 blocked shots and 173 hits before later moving on to Pittsburgh, Toronto, and San Jose.
The other two assets from the Vokoun trade helped shape another draft-day move a year later. In 2008, Nashville bundled those picks with a first-round selection that became Josh Bailey and a second-round pick that became Aaron Ness to move from No. 9 to No. 7 and take Colin Wilson.
Wilson went on to spend eight seasons with the Predators, playing 502 games and posting 95 goals and 142 assists for 237 points. He finished his Nashville run at plus-37 with 124 penalty minutes, 185 blocked shots, and 324 hits, and he became an important presence up the middle for several years.
Even with the team’s limited success during his time there, Vokoun’s Florida tenure stands out. He carried a heavy workload, with a season low of 55 starts, and gave the Panthers the kind of dependable goaltending that defined that stretch. For all the draft-pick movement around the trade, Vokoun was the player who mattered most, and he remains one of the greatest goalies in franchise history.
In Other News...
Panthers Fans Are Split On A Summer That Just Changed Everything
Summer around the Panthers has already taken on a strange, fast-moving feel, with the kind of roster churn that can reset expectations before camp even opens. Around the league, there have been plenty of headline-grabbing moves, from Kevin Hayes heading to Ak Bars Kazan to Cal Petersen landing a tryout with the Capitals, but Floridas biggest ripple came from a deal that immediately changed the shape of the conversation in South Florida.
The bigger jolt for Panthers fans is the uncertainty layered on top of the excitement, because one of the clubs most familiar pillars is no longer part of the picture. While the front office has added a major new name and given the roster a different kind of identity, the loss in goal leaves a real question about how all of it will fit together when the season starts. [Read more 🡒]
Anton Lundell Has Become More Tied To South Florida Than Fans Realize
Anton Lundell has spent enough time in South Florida now that he sounds less like a visiting star and more like someone making a case for his adopted home. The Panthers center, who has lived in the area since his teenage years, recently talked through the Fort Lauderdale spots and routines that have become part of his off-ice life, from fishing outings to local restaurants and familiar stretches around the city.
Visit Lauderdale also tapped Lundell as an official brand ambassador, a sign of how naturally he fits the regions pitch. He pointed to the kind of attractions that sell the area to players and residents alike, with places to eat, places to get outside and events that give the market a little extra personality beyond hockey season. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers PTO History Makes This Camp Speculation Worth Watching
Training camp is about to open with Florida carrying a roster that is mostly set, but the Panthers have long been willing to leave a little room for a veteran trying to earn a spot on a professional tryout. That history is part of why the current camp chatter has some traction, especially with speculation swirling around Patrik Laine as a possible PTO candidate. Nothing has been confirmed there, but the idea fits a pattern the Panthers have used before when they saw a chance to add a proven name without locking themselves in.
The franchise has gotten real mileage out of that approach over the years, with PTO success stories that helped round out the roster at the right time. Those examples are what make this kind of camp watch worth following now, because Florida has shown it can turn an open invitation into useful depth when the fit is right. Whether this year produces another one of those finds is still unclear, but the Panthers track record gives the speculation a little more weight than usual. [Read more 🡒]