‘I know I belong here’: Klyvo soaking in first camp with Panthers

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – How do you say “whirlwind” in Danish?

On Saturday, Mads Kongsbak Klyvo was at home in Denmark with his family celebrating after the Florida Panthers had selected him in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft.

On Monday, he suddenly found himself 10 minutes from the beach in South Florida.

"I got here yesterday,” Klyvo said with an exhausted smile following the opening day of development camp at Baptist Health IcePlex. “I took the plane at 10 in the morning Danish time, and then got here at 10 pm. Pretty overwhelming, but I'm really excited to be here."

That excitement was evident on the ice.

One of 31 prospects attending this week’s camp in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Klyvo is beginning the next phase of a journey that he hopes will someday end in the NHL.

For every prospect, a first camp is both a peek into the future and a carrot on a stick.

“It feels good to have a base,” Klyvo said. “I know I belong here now.”

After spending draft capital to build the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion juggernaut they’ve become, the Panthers waited a long time before using their first pick on Klyvo.

On paper, it’s easy to see what they liked about him.

Spending the majority of the 2024-25 campaign playing in Gothberg, Sweden for Frölunda HC in the J20 Nationell, Klyvo, who measures up at 6-foot-2 and 194 pounds, ranked seventh on the team in both goals (14) and points (29).

When asked about his decision to play in Sweden rather than in his native Denmark, the 18-year-old winger said it essentially came down to a combination of opportunity and location.

In addition to Sweden offering a tried-and-true development path from the junior ranks to the pros, Gothberg, where Frölunda plays, is only about 60 miles across the Kattegat – a sea area connecting the Skagerrak to the Danish Straits – from his hometown of Frederikshavn.

“Hockey in Sweden is a lot bigger,” Klyvo said. “Frölunda, where I play, is pretty close to my hometown. That was pretty natural for me. The whole setup in Frölunda is professional.”

But even though he left home, he’s still showing up and showing out for his country.

Appearing in both the U18 and U20 D1A IIHF World Junior Championships last season, Klyvo helped Denmark earn promotions in both age groups. At the U18 tournament, he was one of Denmark’s top players, notching nine points (four goals, five assists) in five games.

Marking his calendar, Kylo is already looking forward to turning heads at the 2026 U20 World Juniors.

“I’m really excited for the World Juniors,” Klyvo said of the tournament, which will be held in Minnesota from Dec. 26 through Jan 6. “I think that’s probably the biggest international [junior] tournament in the world. There’s a lot of hype and such. I’m looking forward to it.”

So are the Panthers.

“Those experiences really, really help with development,” president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito said of Klyvo’s tournament experience. “They’re also really helpful with scouting. The better competition you can see them play at, the better they are.”

For a full roster and schedule of this week’s camp, click HERE.

All sessions are free and open to the public.