2020 NHL Mock Draft Compilation: Who will the Panthers pick at 12?

The 2020 NHL Draft will be unlike any other.
Panthers General Manager Bill Zito and his staff will not be selecting players from the floor of the Bell Centre in Montreal as they had initially intended. Instead, the coronavirus pandemic has forced hockey operations teams around the NHL to draft remotely from their own arenas. Originally scheduled for June 26, the draft was later pushed to October to accommodate for the adjusted schedule after a long pause.

After finishing the pandemic-shortened regular season fourth in the Atlantic Division with 78 points (35-26-8) in 69 games - and following their four-game defeat to the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers -- Florida will enter the draft with the 12th overall pick in the first round.
Round 1 of the draft will get underway on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. The Panthers owned the 13th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and used that selection on Boston College goaltender Spencer Knight, who went on to have a stellar freshman campaign with the Eagles.
Prior to that draft, all three NHL.com writers, the Hockey News and TSN correctly predicted the pick.
But thanks in part to the uncertainty created by the pandemic, there appears to be a much larger disconnect between media outlets as to who the Panthers will select at No. 12 in this year's draft.
Who will get it right this time around? See which players the experts are picking for the Panthers below:

NHL.com

Adam Kimelman's pick: Kaiden Guhle, D, Prince Albert, WHL
Kimelman's Take: "The Panthers have done well stocking up forward prospects, so with Guhle on the board, now would be a good time to add a top defenseman. Guhle's skating allows him to excel in any kind of game, from up-tempo and attacking to grinding and physical, and with his size (6-2, 186), he's strong enough to use his body to punish opposing forwards."
Mike G. Morreale's pick: Kaiden Guhle, D, Prince Albert, WHL
Morreale's Take: "Guhle is a two-way defenseman who is considered a good skater with a hard shot. He's a great value pick with tremendous upside at this point in the draft after he had 40 points (11 goals, 29 assists) in 64 games last season."
Guillaume Lepage's Pick: Dawson Mercer, F, Chicoutimi (QMJHL)
Lepage's Take: "Mercer (6-0, 180) does everything well. He can play down the middle or on the wing and should provide a boost on special teams. His versatility would be very beneficial to the Panthers, who need to add depth behind Aleksander Barkov."

The Athletic

The Pick: Seth Jarvis, C, Portland (WHL)
Their Take: "I will make the pick for Florida, who despite thinking Yaroslav Askarov is the best player available, cannot rationalize to its fans picking him alongside Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight. Florida picks Seth Jarvis, giving it one of the best players available and a center the organizational depth chart desperately needs."

ESPN

The Pick: Anton Lundell, C, HIFK (Liiga)
Their Take: "In Lundell, the Panthers would be getting the best player available and one who might have a very short NHL timeline. He has been playing professionally full time for the past two seasons and is wearing a letter already for HIFK in Finland. Lundell is not flashy, but he's effective and would have the ability to grow into an understudy role for Aleksander Barkov as a talented two-way center."

The Hockey News/Sports Illustrated

The Pick: Anton Lundell, C, HIFK (Liiga) Their Take: "In terms of fit, this one is perfect. The Cats have an undisputed No. 1 center in Aleksander Barkov, but could use some backup behind him. Lundell is also a big, two-way pivot from Finland and his defensive game is quite advanced for a teenager. Lundell has already won a world junior gold and is playing against men back home."

USA Today

The Pick: Jack Quinn, RW, Ottawa (OHL)
Their Take: "Outside of the top 10 skaters, there's an extremely mixed bag of opinions. This is where it could start to get weird, but Quinn is a solid bet after scoring 52 goals in 62 OHL games last season."

TSN

Watch: Youtube Video
The Pick: Kaiden Guhle, D, Prince Albert, WHL
Their Take: "At 12, Kaiden Guhle helps the Florida Panthers on defence."

The Score

The Pick: Anton Lundell, C, HIFK (Liiga)
Their Take: "Florida should be looking for hungry, reliable pros under new GM Bill Zito. Lundell is precisely that. The Finnish league center registered 28 points in 44 games last year by playing a simple, intelligent game. He's good in the faceoff circle, he can kill penalties, and he's already in a leadership role with HIFK as an alternate captain despite being a teenager (he turns 19 on Saturday). Sure, there are flashier options, but there's a lot to like about Lundell."

Bleacher Report

The Pick: Dylan Holloway, C, Wisconsin (NCAA)

The Hockey Writers

The Pick: Jake Sanderson, D, USNTDP
Their Take: "There were a lot of young talented wingers on the board at this selection, but with the likes of Grigori Denisenko and Owen Tippett on the way for the Panthers I couldn't pass up a future one-two punch on the blue line of Jake Sanderson and Aaron Ekblad. Anton Stralman and Keith Yandle will both be 34 at the start of the 2020-21 season and the Panthers are in desperate need of an injection of youth into their blue line. Sanderson is an extremely efficient player, excelling in both the offensive and defensive aspects of the game. He makes transition up the ice look easy and has the ability to finish players and set-up teammates in opposition territory.
At 6-foot-1, he has the size to excel in the NHL and his ability to control the play will work nicely alongside Ekblad. The Panthers will be tempted to take a pure goal scorer if someone like Noel Gunler is still on the board, but Sanderson's potential upside is too good to pass up on.
Full disclosure - Sanderson won't be here at No. 12. It's very likely that he's a top-10 prospect, and I don't think he'll make it past the Jets. However, jumping on him at 12 for the Panthers could just be perfect. The smooth-skating defender could very well be a one-and-done player in the NCAA in 2020-21, jumping to the Panthers the year after. Florida could be a team right on the edge of success, and adding one of the best defenders of this class could help that in a big way."

Puck Prose

The Pick: Dawson Mercer, F, Chicoutimi (QMJHL)
Their Take: "The Panthers could use a center here, but I can't justify picking Jarvis over Dawson Mercer, who had one heck of a draft season. Had he not suffered an injury, he might have been a top 10 prospect. Mercer has hands as soft as a pillow and terrific offensive instincts. He looked very solid in a limited role at the 2020 World Juniors and if the 2021 World Juniors is held, Mercer should play a huge role on the team."

Last Word on Hockey

The Pick: Kaiden Guhle, D, Prince Albert, WHL
Their Take: "After five years of not picking a defenceman in the first round of the NHL Draft, the Panthers will change things up this year and pick Kaiden Guhle. For a team that desperately needs to replenish their defence pool, the Panthers would be doing it in a big way by getting Guhle 12th overall. Guhle is a solid two-way defender possessing great skating and puck-moving abilities. However, it's his strong defensive game that stands out the most. Guhle uses his skating to control the gap between him and his opponents and not allow them to beat him wide. He also likes to take part in the physical game and will make the big hit, but is smart about it. He won't take himself out of the play to do so. Last Word's Ben Kerr believes Guhle can be an elite top pairing, shutdown defenceman if he reaches his potential. A top pairing of Guhle and Aaron Ekblad in the future for the Panthers would be scary."

Rotoworld

The Pick: Anton Lundell, C, HIFK (Liiga)
Their Take: "Scouts rave about Lundell in many different ways, but the biggest highlight is his two-way game. The Panthers have the Finnish master of that craft in Aleksander Barkov, and now a protege in Lundell. The 6'1" Finn has played against men for the last two seasons, playing a regular shift with HIFK in the top-level Finnish league, and impressing scouts with his elite shot and his defensive work. If there is a prospect outside the top few who could take a regular shift in the NHL next season, it's Lundell. If there is a prospect with the lowest risk in the draft, it could be Lundell, too."