On July 13, Oakville's Nathan Staios signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers.
"Nathan is a highly skilled defenseman who possesses an excellent playmaking ability," said Florida Panthers General Manager Bill Zito about Staios. "This past season, he established himself as one of the best defenders in junior hockey, and we are excited that he will continue his career within our organization."
21-year-old Staios will most likely be playing for the Florida Panthers AHL affiliate team, the Charlotte Checkers.
Nathan spent his development year in the Ontario Hockey League, where he played for Windsor Spitfires and the Hamilton Bulldogs.
In his time with both teams, Staios scored a combined 148 points in 237 career OHL games.
This season, Nathan was awarded the Max Kaminsky Trophy for most outstanding defenseman in the entire OHL. He was a big part of the Hamilton Bulldogs' run to the memorial cup final along with their OHL championship.
Nathan was originally undrafted, but he persevered in order to get to this position and get a chance with an NHL club.
He talked with reporters in Florida about how he was able to get to this position saying, "It was always a goal of mine to get drafted, but when I didn’t, it was just added motivation for me to improve and get better as a player and get better overall at my defensive game."
Nathan’s family is also no stranger to the NHL as his dad Steve had a lengthy NHL career that spanned 16-seasons and 1,001 games.
Steve spent time with the Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Atlanta Thrashers, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and New York Islanders.