"In past winters, Jonathan Huberdeau and his family packed up their RV and headed south from Quebec. The last stop would be South Florida, where they would take in a Panthers game, usually against their beloved Montreal Canadiens.

Along the route, the Huberdeau clan found places like parking lots at Walmart or Cracker Barrel to crash for the night.

"We would stay everywhere, sleep everywhere," Huberdeau said Thursday afternoon. "We wouldn't park at the [Sawgrass Mills] mall across the street because there were too many people always. We liked going there. There's a lot of people from Quebec in Florida around Christmas."

The Panthers might just offer Huberdeau and his family nicer accommodations in the near future.

Huberdeau could be the newest member of the Panthers if Florida takes the 6-1 center with the third overall selection in Friday's NHL Draft at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. There have been reports that Florida was in talks with Edmonton to move up to the top selection and take Canadian center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, only that appears unlikely. The Panthers will select no higher than third."