Exactly how did the Panthers get the number one pick that year? Was it part of their expansion deal (which also had Anaheim with the #2 pick)?
Yup, Florida and Anaheim did a coin flip at the 1993 Draft (to my surprise, just minutes before the draft started). Florida won and got the choice of either 5th overall in 1993 + 1st overall in 1994 or 4th overall in 1993 and 2nd overall in 1994. Panthers GM Bobby Clarke opted for 5th+1st; Unintentional comedy as the interviewer asked Clarke if he was eyeing Jason Bonsignore as the #1 pick in 1994 and Clarke had a smirk and said no comment.
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It was mentioned on the first page of this thread that Bonk fell because of salary concerns. Somebody uploaded the draft to YouTube and it was an interesting retroactive watch. The rookie salary cap would be introduced with the 1995 CBA six months after this draft, so things could get goofy with salary demands. 1993 top pick Alex Daigle had gotten a 5 year, 12.25 million dollar deal which put him among the highest paid players before he even played an NHL game.
The draft broadcast mentioned that Bonk's agent floated a contract demand of 4 years, 20 million. So you could understand Florida and Anaheim having a bit of sticker shock. I think vadim mentioned earlier in the thread how Anaheim was having issues signing Paul Kariya as it stood. On pure talent, Bob McKenzie said 20/26 teams had Bonk ranked #1 but signing him could be an issue.
There was a thing called Group IV free agency in those days where an unsigned (European trained?) prospect could sign an offer sheet after a certain amount of time. If the original team didn't match, they received no compensation. Calgary signed Teemu Selanne in 1992 and Winnipeg begrudgingly matched. Toronto signed 1994 pick Mattias Ohlund to a Group IV offer sheet in 1997 and Vancouver matched.
I'm not sure if Bonk would have qualified since he played in North America. But perhaps there were worried that you could draft Bonk and then lose him to an offer sheet you couldn't afford to match. Apparently that caused the Sharks to turn down an offer of Peter Forsberg for the #2 pick in the 1993 Draft.