FORT LAUDERDALE — To say his last 48 hours have been a whirlwind would be an understatement.
Mads Kongsbak Klyvo — the Danish forward taken No. 112 by the Florida Panthers in the fourth round of the NHL draft — was at home in Denmark, gathered around the TV with his family, when he heard his name called on Saturday afternoon.
Just 48 hours later, the 18 year old was on the ice in Fort Lauderdale.
“It’s been pretty overwhelming,” Klyvo said on Monday after the Panthers’ first practice of player development camp. “I got a call quite quickly after the draft, and then we figured out a flight to Miami, and then I got here yesterday.”
After soaking up the life-altering moment and swiftly hopping a jet to South Florida, Klyvo was surrounded by nearly every other one of the Panthers’ top prospects as the team opened the camp at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale on Monday.
“I think I took the plane at 10 in the morning, Danish time, and got here at like 10 p.m. yesterday,” Klyvo said. “Pretty, pretty overwhelming, but I’m really excited to be here.”
Klyvo, plus all but one of the five other players taken by the Panthers in the draft, will participate in three days of practice, including Tuesday and Wednesday, culminating with a scrimmage on Thursday.
Klyvo—the Panthers’ highest draft pick — is joined this week by forwards Shea Busch, Shamar Moses and Arvid Drott, selected 128th, 129th and 192nd, respectively, and defenseman Brendan Dunphy, taken 197th. Only Yegor Midlak, the Russian goalie taken with the 224th and final pick of the draft, is absent.
Jared Staal is the coach of the Panthers’ minor league affiliate in the East Coast Hockey League and will be leading the coaching staff at Florida’s development camp.
Staal said he came away from day one impressed with how the Panthers’ draft picks, including Klyvo, navigated the pressure of the past few days.
“It’s not easy. … And there can be some anxiety there,” Staal said. “I thought it was very impressive. It can be a lot, but it didn’t seem like a lot. They worked hard, and I thought it was a great day on the ice for them.”
Klyvo and the other prospects taken in this year’s draft class are only getting their first taste of the big leagues this week and will return to their respective amateur leagues next season. Players drafted out of major junior leagues have their rights owned by the team that drafted them for two years if they don’t sign a contract with a team.
Klyvo will return to the J20 Nationell, the Swedish amateur league in which he scored 29 points and 14 goals in 42 games last season. However, other prospects, like those taken in previous draft classes, are there fighting to stay in the pros and potentially lock in a spot on the Panthers’ actual roster.
“It’s a different mindset,” said Hunter St. Martin, the forward who was drafted No. 193 by the Panthers in the 2024 draft and signed an entry-level contract with the team last October.
“Last year, you’re just trying to learn, just kind of have your foot in the door. This year, I want to make the team. I have aspirations to play pro this year, so I think that’s a totally different mindset.”