Barkov >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Jones
And Ekblad starts to find his offensive touch

i think he's always had it, 10+ goals in 6/7 seasons (not including this one)

since 2018-2019 season his PPG increased

If you’re talking contracts too then easily Barkov and ekblad but you could just have easily had Barkov and draisaitl

I think the Panthers actually drafted quite well. Call me crazy but I don't think Draisaitl turns out the same if Florida drafts him, and I am a big fan of Ekblad. I think Ekblad is one of the most underrated players in the league, and hopefully with the rise of the Panthers he can start to get the respect he deserves.

I'd want Draisaitl more than Ekblad, but swapping Barkov and Jones wouldn't be in the Panther's favor. Best result would be drafting both Draisaitl and Barkov, and using the assets they traded for Reinhart with and putting them towards another defenseman. I'd trust Weegar on either side of a top pairing, so handedness shouldn't matter. Things probably wouldn't turn out the same if they'd drafted Draisaitl instead though, so it's unlikely they'd be in the same position regarding everything else, this is a fun thought exercise though!

obviously Draisaitl more than Ekblad. But Ekblad was far from a bad pick. Barkov is 5x more valuable than Jones. If I am Florida I am still quite happy with my drafts.

Just going off fantasy pts ekblad is better than most of the predators' second line and almost all of vgk w/injuries

I'd take Barkov and Ekblad all day. The crazy one to me is if you could go back to July 1, 2019 and imagine the Panthers sign Panarin instead of Bob.

If we signed Panarin then we wouldn't have as good of a record this year

Counterargument: goaltending is random and is never worth 10m AAV. Yeah Bob is carrying right now but the swing in goalie impact is way more dangerous to spend that kind of money on vs a star forward.

With Barkov and Ekblad you have a great balance. Barkov is one of the best players in the league and doesn't get the high praise as some.

Draisatl clearly has the best offensive output for sure and would have been the better pick but Ekblad is a very good hockey player.

Overall I don't think the results would be much different if you switched the combos.

More points and offensive output from LD and SJ but better two way game with AB and AE.