Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 195 pounds at the age of 18, Gudbranson was too big to miss and too intriguing to overlook at the 2010 NHL Draft. The Florida Panthers thought so, and quickly chose him with the No. 3 pick.

Gudbranson had been ranked fourth among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting heading into the draft. A punishing physical force in the corners and in front of his net, the Ottawa native had just finished his second junior season with Kingston of the Ontario Hockey League.

In Gudbranson's final season with Kingston (2010-11), he showed the progress the Panthers had been hoping for (12 goals, 34 points), and he was rewarded with a place on Canada's roster at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship. Canada reached the final and had a 3-0 lead on Russia, but gave up five unanswered goals, lost 5-3 and settled for second place.

To conclude a whirlwind few months, Gudbranson made the Panthers roster straight out of training camp in 2011 and his NHL debut in a 2-0 victory against the New York Islanders on Oct. 8, 2011. He scored his first NHL goal in a 6-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Dec. 11, 2011.

Gudbranson had eight points (two goals, six assists) in 72 games and helped the Panthers reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 11 years.

In five seasons with the Panthers, Gudbranson had 11 goals and 43 points in 309 games. He had 754 hits and 344 blocked shots and averaged 17:46 of ice time per game.

Gudbranson appeared to be what the Panthers had projected for him on draft day, a solid top-four defenseman. But Florida, with salary-cap issues and a surplus on defense, traded him to the Vancouver Canucks on May 25, 2016.

He continued to play the role of a physical, stay-at-home defenseman for the Canucks until being traded again, this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 25, 2019. Gudbranson's time in Pittsburgh was short with 19 games in 2018-19 before he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks seven games into the 2019-20 regular season.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• Traded to Vancouver by Florida with NY Islanders' 5th round pick (previously acquired, Vancouver selected Cole Candella) in 2016 NHL Draft for Jared McCann, Vancouver's 2nd (later traded to Buffalo, Buffalo selected Rasmus Asplund) and 4th (Jonathan Ang) round picks in 2016 NHL Draft, May 25, 2016.
• Traded to Pittsburgh by Vancouver for Tanner Pearson, February 25, 2019.
• Traded to Anaheim by Pittsburgh for Andreas Martinsen and a 7th-round pick in 2021 NHL Draft, October 25, 2019.
• Traded to Ottawa by Anaheim for a 5th-round pick in 2021 NHL Draft, October 8, 2020.
• Traded to Nashville by Ottawa for Brandon Fortunato and a 7th-round pick in 2023 NHL Draft, April 12, 2021.
• Signed as a free agent by Calgary, September 10, 2021.
• Signed as a free agent by Columbus, July 13, 2022.