Former Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma is among six front-runners the Florida Panthers will be sitting down with this week to discuss the vacant head coaching job, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The Panthers braintrust is in New York City to interview Bylsma for the first time this week, while the other five candidates have all met or spoke to general manager Dale Tallon about the position. According to the paper, this weeks interviews will also include team co-owners Vinnie Viola and Doug Cifu, as well as CEO and President Rory Babich. As mentioned by TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger last week, the other leading candidates are believed to include Ron Wilson, Canadiens assistant Gerard Gallant and Red Wings assistants Tom Renney and Bill Peters. The Panthers fired interim coach Peter Horachek in April after Florida went 26-36-4 under him this past season. Horachek had no previous NHL coaching experience before replacing Kevin Dineen on Nov. 8. The Sun Sentinel also reported on Tuesday the Panthers were leaning toward selecting OHL Barrie Colts defenceman Aaron Ekblad with the first overall selection in the NHL Draft on June 27 because hes considered the most NHL-ready of the prospects. "Ekblad is this years player most likely ready to step in and play in the NHL, Scott Luce, the Panthers director of scouting, told the Sun Sentinel last week. "Hes physically mature and has lots of mileage underneath him at the OHL level. The Panthers finished 29th in the standings and had an 18.8 per cent chance of winning the lottery, behind only Buffalo (21-51-10), which had a 25 per cent shot. The draft will be held in Philadelphia on June 27-28. NMD Online Australia . - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum. Cheap NMDs Australia .twitter.com/TeZD3KOvlA — Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) September 24, 2014 Sorry for the delay, we just got back from lunch at Papa Vons #NBAFastFood pic. http://www.nmdaustraliasale.com/superstar-shoes-australia/gold.html .S. Olympic hockey management team have been making what he called "ghost rosters" since August. NMD Buy Australia . With the players association in the midst of meetings in Las Vegas, a vote will be held on Friday to decide the CFLPAs presidency and other executive positions. Ultra Boost Cheap Australia . A broadcast source said the deal is for five years. The agreement calls for a minimum of 17 regular-season games as well as the East and West Division finals being broadcast annually on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNEWS.Fall is upon us and while the weather will become cooler, at least in the northern reaches of the hockey world, the prospects for the 2014 NHL Draft are heating up. No team has been hotter in the OHL than the Kingston Frontenacs with Sam Bennett and Roland McKeown leading the way. Bennett is showing he deserves to be in the conversation for first overall. Hes a well-rounded player who is impacting the game in so many positive ways and continues to get better. McKeown is dominating from his defence position and leads the OHL with a whopping plus-15 rating. Anton Karlsson is excelling in the Swedish Super Junior Elite League for Frolunda. He captained Team Sweden to gold at the World Under 17 Challenge in January and could suit up for Sweden at the World Junior Championship this coming Christmas. A theme with respect to type of player is beginning to emerge at this early stage; that off big, powerful and skilled wingers.dddddddddddd NHL teams are looking for these types of players and the 2014 Draft offers them with the likes of Michael Dal Colle, Nicholas Ritchie, Leon Draisaitl and an emerging Brendan Perlini. We have seen drafts dominated in the first round by defencemen (2012), high-end offensive ability (2013) and now power-type wingers in 2014. History tells you they wont be waiting long to hear their names called at the draft. This is the early stages of prospect evaluation, the list is in flux and as we see more games, the players will define themselves further. Its the beginning of the process with lots of evaluation to go. We have taken a top 60 at this time knowing that and have listed 30 more players who are intriguing and have shown good potential. We will focus our efforts on ensuring we know them a little better for the next ranking. ' ' '