The National Hockey League (NHL) is structured to promote parity. The salary cap and free agency are designed to give each team an equal shot at the Stanley Cup every season. The Florida Panthers are using those same rules to build a dynasty.
Losing good players each year is part of the cycle, and the Panthers have mastered that transition.
Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk did not mince words when asked about a three-peat.
“Hell yeah. Absolutely, absolutely,’’ Tkachuk said as he skated around the ice celebrating after the final whistle.
How did the Panthers pull off winning a second straight Stanley Cup?
The Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers in dominating fashion in Game 6, closing out the series 4 games to 2. They became just the 10th franchise in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup back-to-back. They’re also the first to do it since the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
“Everybody wrote us off from the start of the playoffs,” forward Brad Marchand said. “They had everybody beating us in every round, and we just had that fire and we knew we had something special, and it’s incredible to be a part of this group right now.”
The Panthers dominated a team with perhaps the two best players in the league for most of the series. It was a clinic in how to forecheck and play smothering defense. Not all rosters are built to play that way because it can be exhausting. The Panthers, at times, can make it look easy.
“Some guys played some big minutes, shutting down two of the best players in the world,” Sam Bennett said. “That’s not an easy job by any means. So, it really took everyone, and everyone bought in.”
Can the Panthers become the fourth team in history to three-peat?
The question is, can they buy in for a third straight year? That’s a feat no team has accomplished since the New York Islanders 42 years ago. There’s a reason for that. The salary cap and free agency make it tough to keep the same roster together year after year.
Take Sam Bennett for example. He won the Conn Smyth trophy as playoff MVP after leading the team with 15 goals. He’s a free agent this off-season and will command big bucks, perhaps over $10 million per year. If the Panthers want to make another run, they’ll probably need to pay up. His coach, Paul Maurice, says it’s well-deserved.
“For Sam Bennett to be here today with this group of guys, to have the success he’s had, there’s a lot of heaviness that he had to unload,” Maurice said. “There’s a lot of work that had to go into it. He just didn’t show up with his talent and say, ‘Okay, feed me and then I’ll show you how good I am.’”
Other impactful free agents include defenseman Aaron Ekblad, a Panthers lifer who has been with the team for 11 seasons, and future Hall of Famer Brad Marchand, who was acquired at the trade deadline from Boston. All Marchand did was score goals in 4 of the 6 final games and post 20 playoff points.
“What he brought to this team, I truly don’t think we win a Stanley Cup without him,” Bennett said. “His leadership, his will to win. It’s inspiring.”
What other factors are standing in the way of a three-peat?
The salary cap means the front office will have some tough choices, and now that they are two-time champions, other teams will pay top dollar for their services. Marchand may be playing for his third team in six months come September. The same revolving door took place last season when key stars like Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson left.
Another factor that may be somewhat overlooked is that after making their third straight trip to the Finals, the Panthers have now played 314 games. That’s the most in NHL history over a three-year stretch.
The mental and physical grind of that gauntlet, along with the travel from the far southeast corner of the country, will take its toll at some point. That means the roster depth Florida leaned on to win the last two Stanley Cups will be needed even more if they’re to make a run at a third straight.
Yes, for the next couple weeks it will be one big Panther party, but the grind starts again in just three short months.
