The state of Florida will soon be rebranded the state of hockey, as the Florida Panthers have once again won the Stanley Cup following a 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Florida has produced 4 of the last 6 Stanley Cup champions, and every Eastern Conference finalist since 2020 as well. Tampa Bay went back-to-back in 2020 and 2021 before losing to Colorado in 2022, while Florida lost to Vegas in 2023 before rattling off back-to-back cups of their own the last two seasons.
The Panthers proved once again that they were the best team from top to bottom in the NHL, as they frustrated Connor McDavid and the rest of the Oilers offence all night long. McDavid didn’t mince words after his team’s loss, telling reporters “Obviously, their forecheck was great. They tilted the rink. They were able to kind of stay on top of us all over the place. Never really able to generate any momentum up the ice. Kept trying the same things over and over again, banging our heads against the wall. Credit to them. They played well.”
“They have great players,” McDavid continued. “How many guys had 20-plus points in the postseason? They’re as deep as it comes.”
Indeed the team had little trouble generating offence throughout the series, capped off by 4 goals from Sam Reinhart, and another from Matthew Tkachuk in their lopsided Game 6 victory. Overall, they would average 4.67 goals per game as a team in the Stanley Cup finals.
A large reason for that offensive output was former rival turned trade deadline acquisition Brad Marchand who put up 20 points (10G, 10A) across 23 postseason appearances. His 10 markers were good for 4th most amongst skaters in the playoffs.
“It’s incredible. It’s a feeling you can’t really describe,” Marchand said. “Seeing the family and everyone up there and everyone that supported me and helped me get to this point, words can’t put this into reality how great it feels. Such an incredible group.”
Florida may be the current poster child for franchises griping about the lack of state taxes creating a perceived competitive advantage. However, this team, by and large, was built through the draft and via trades.
Marchand was brought in at the trade deadline from Boston. Seth Jones was brought in from Chicago on March 1st after being viewed as an untouchable contract by the majority of the league. The team made a franchise altering deal in 2022 to acquire Matthew Tkachuk from Calgary. Sam Bennett was acquired from the Flames a year prior to that, as was Sam Reinhart who came over from Buffalo. Meanwhile Aaron Ekblad (1st overall), Anton Lundell (12th overall), and Aleksander Barkov (2nd overall) were homegrown picks.
The only truly game changing free agent signing the franchise has made over the last decade was bringing in Sergei Bobrovsky on July 1st 2019. And he joined the team after 3 straight years of them failing to qualify for the playoffs, so it’s not as though he was hitching his wagon to a team on the rise at the time either.
“We’ve got to be a dynasty now,” Tkachuk said. “It’s three years in a row, finals, two championships. This team is so special. Stanley Cup champion. This never gets old.”
While their “dynasty” status may still be up for debate, one thing is for certain, and that’s the fact that the Panthers lineup was top to bottom the deepest, and most complete in the NHL this year. But like all budding dynasties in the salary cap era, keeping this group together may be toughest challenge to date.
Marchand will command top dollar on the free agent market, and has already been linked to teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and even his old team in Boston. As will 2025 Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett who figures to see his AAV likely double from the $4.43M he’s been making the last 4 years.
Even defensive pillar Aaron Ekblad’s name has come up as a potential cap casualty this offseason with teams such as the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings being potential landing spots for the blue liner. With a projected $19M in salary cap space, and multiple roster holes to fill, including signing a back up goaltender, departures are inevitable in Sunrise this offseason.
But that’s something the team will deal with at a future date. For now, they’ve reservations at the Elbo Room to attend, hangovers to sleep off, and championship parades to plan.
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