Vanbiesbrouck at the Top of Florida’s Talent Pool

Florida Panther owner H. Wayne Huizenga, draft veteran, witnessed the birth of his second professional team within an eight-month span and it was not much different than the first time around with baseball’s Florida Marlins.

Once again, his new family--the 24 players selected by the Panthers in Thursday’s NHL expansion draft--were, with a couple exceptions, like anonymous orphans thrown together.

It was the same a few steps away at the draft table of the fledgling Mighty Ducks here at the Grand Theatre. Essentially, goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck is the Panthers’ hockey equivalent of Bryan Harvey and a lot cheaper with a $1.15-million yearly contract. Vanbiesbrouck found his way to Florida from the New York Rangers after a four-day career as a Vancouver Canuck this week.

Florida selected goaltenders Vanbiesbrouck, Quebec’s Mark Fitzpatrick and Toronto’s Daren Puppa. Even Panther GM Bob Clarke was a little confused, calling Fitzpatrick “Fitzgerald.” Which is understandable since the Panthers also selected forward Tom Fitzgerald from the Islanders. Fitzgerald scored nine goals and had 27 points last season, and the Panthers’ leading scorer is Oiler forward Scott Mellanby, who had 15 goals and 17 assists.

“I’ve never heard of a lot of these guys,” Huizenga said. “But I never heard of a lot of the baseball players we selected. If Dave Dombrowski depended on me to pick baseball players, I’d be in trouble.

“There’s a lot of young, unknown names. Everyone talked about the no-names we took in baseball, yet today they’re not no-names.”

Draft-Day Panthers

The players drafted by the Florida Panthers at Thursday’s NHL expansion draft, in order selected:

Goaltenders

John Vanbiesbrouck, Vancouver; Mark Fitzpatrick, Quebec; Daren Puppa, Toronto.

Defensemen

Milan Tichy, Chicago; Paul Laus, Pittsburgh; Joe Cirella, N.Y. Rangers; Alexander Godynyuk, Calgary; Gord Murphy, Dallas; Steve Bancroft, Winnipeg; Stephane Richer, Boston; Gord Hynes, Philadelphia.

Forwards

Tom Fitzgerald, N.Y. Islanders; Jesse Belanger, Montreal; Scott Levins, Winnipeg; Scott Mellanby, Edmonton; Brian Skrudland, Calgary; Mike Hough, Washington; Dave Lowry, St. Louis; Bill Lindsay, Quebec; Andre Lomakin, Philadelphia; Randy Gilhen, Tampa Bay; Doug Barrault, Dallas; Marc Labelle, Ottawa; Pete Stauber, Detroit