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The Florida Panthers have the look of a seasoned and grizzled veteran team that's ready to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
They still have to finish off the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the Panthers are one game away from advancing to their third consecutive Stanley Cup Finals. They've done so in dominant fashion, which is in stark contrast to their Eastern Conference Finals series two years prior against the Hurricanes.
The Panthers have won all three games by a combined margin of 16-4. While Game 3 was a closer battle compared to the first two games — it was 1-1 after two periods — Florida quickly pulled away in the span of a few minutes afters scoring five consecutive goals, including four goals in a five-minute frenzy during the third period. The Hurricanes haven't led for a single second of this series.
By comparison, the Panthers won all four of their games by just one goal in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals series against the Hurricanes, with two of those games going to overtime.
It's an example that shows how far the Panthers have come over the past few years, emerging as a true hockey powerhouse.
“I just think everybody on our team, we are not in this position right now because of one person,” star forward Matthew Tkachuk said during media availability prior to Game 4. “We're here because of a whole team and the depth and guys coming in and out of the lineup, and different guys stepping up at different times of the year throughout the playoffs. That's what makes our team successful is the camaraderie, how much fun we have, how much we move for one another, and just how much we care about one another.”
While the Panthers have been on the hockey map over the past few years, finishing with an NHL-best 122 points during the 2021-22 season, it wasn't until they made the blockbuster trade for Matthew Tkachuk that they started to turn their fortunes around in the playoffs.
Tkachuk was certainly the driving force behind the 2023 Panthers' surprise run to the Stanley Cup Finals as the eighth seed against the Vegas Golden Knights, but it became more of a team effort during last year's championship run, culminating in an epic seven-game series win over the Edmonton Oilers.
It was during that season that Sam Reinhart emerged as the Panthers' lead points scorer, which continued for the second consecutive season this year. Reinhart scored 57 goals during the 2023-24 season, including the game-winning goal in their Game 7 win over the Oilers.
Reinhart was absent for Game 3 after suffering a lower body injury in Game 2 — his status for Game 4 is still up in the air, according to head coach Paul Maurice — and the Panthers still easily defeated the Hurricanes, 6-2.
“He's not cleared, but he hasn't been ruled out either,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “I know that sounds ambiguous, but it's not — it's exactly where he's at. We're hopeful that it's not long term, it's day to day. He still has to get back on the ice and there's still some steps.”
While the Panthers' leading goal scorer's status is in question, it may not matter against a Hurricanes squad that is simply overmatched by Florida. It's not that Carolina is bad — it's that the Panthers' depth is so deep and it's only gotten better due to the midseason additions of Stanley Cup champ Brad Marchand and veteran defenseman Seth Jones.
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Both veterans have proven instrumental in the Panthers' current postseason run, with Marchand scoring the game-winning goal in overtime against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 of the previous series and Jones scoring two points in the decisive Game 7 win over the Maple Leafs.
“In the playoffs, all elements are present,” Maurice said. “That's not true in the regular season, it's a function of 82 games and the travel and different teams at different developmental curves. There's a level of physicality that's not in the regular season. Everybody plays hurt in the playoffs. In the playoffs, all of the elements of our game are intensified. So the best players can do all things. The very best players can excel, they can make all the plays.”
Despite Tkachuk coming back from a two-month layoff following a groin injury during the 4-Nations Face-Off Tournament and playing at less than 100%, the Panthers have shown off why they're the deepest team in the league and why they win games when push comes to shove. Outside of the major additions of Marchand and Jones, everybody on Florida's roster seems to be scoring. Ten Panthers players have at least 10 points this postseason.
Yes, this is a team that's built better than any squad in the NHL to win a Stanley Cup this season. And it's the best one — despite the Panthers finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference standings — since Florida made their first run to the Stanley Cup in this era back in 2023.
“I think Panthers culture is just the buy-in from everyone,” Jonah Gadjovich, who is in his second season with the team, said. “Everyone giving it everything they got, no quit. It's just all that harder stuff that we're prepared to do. Whatever it takes to win. That's what every guy in that room is prepared to do at the end of the day and I think that's why we've had success over the past few years.”
The Panthers will await the winner of the Western Conference Finals, a back-and-forth affair that could see them have a rematch against the Oilers or face off against a revamped Dallas Stars squad led by Mikko Rantanen that is desperately seeking its first Stanley Cup of this era.
One thing is for certain — this Panthers team is battle tested and the betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup.
With a proven core featuring Tkachuk, Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett alongside new veteran additions in Marchand and Jones, this is the best version of the Panthers that we've seen since they've emerged as contenders.
