"Since the end of the season, Panthers General Manager Dale Tallon tried to be coy with the prying media regarding his draft wish list, saying he'd just as soon continue to bolster the defense and that size is still a virtue he covets.

Even he couldn't keep a straight face after drafting seven forwards and three defensemen this weekend, including 5-foot-6 California-born center Rocco Grimaldi with the team's first second-round pick at No. 33.

"Every tournament we saw him play this year in Europe or wherever, he was just dominant,'' Tallon said. "You always look at the size but you see a lot of great players in the NHL who are 5-6, 5-7. …We got plenty of size coming.

"Our mantra going into the draft this year is skill. We looked at our depth chart and we didn't have a lot of skill throughout. This year the deal was let's get as much skill as we possibly can get with speed and character as well.

"We got some toughness, we got some good defensemen, we got some good forwards and we addressed some of our needs for the depth chart.''

Tallon was tired of those 2-1 losses, the 30th-ranked power play.

"I'm selling fun here,'' he said.

Not since 2006 (Michael Frolik) had the Panthers taken a forward with their first-round pick; however, Saint John center Jonathan Huberdeau was a no-brainer in Friday's first round at No. 3.

Tallon continued to stock the offensive cupboard with three centers on his first four picks, including the pint-sized Grimaldi, who had 43 points in 49 games for the USA-Under 18 team. Grimaldi was rated the best little guy in the draft and the top skater at the combine."