Do the Florida Panthers have what it takes to repeat next year?

[FerrisRox]

lost montour to seattle...also losing ekman-larsson to the leafs....

i think its gonna be hard for them to repeat next year...

Montour is a loss, but Ekman-Larsson is easily replaceable and I think they are actually improved at forward with a re-vamped fourth line.

I wouldn't be surprised, at all, to see them back in the mix.

 

[McShogun99]

It's either them or Tampa since only Florida teams make the final in the east.

 

[Melrose Munch]

They could, but so much has to go right to win the Cup. Gotta think the Canes break through sooner or later, right?

Canes don't have any game breakers. Even Toronto has Matthews.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Canes don't have any game breakers. Even Toronto has Matthews.

This is certainly their biggest weakness.

Still, tough to picture them being the Eastern San Jose sharks forever.

 

[FerrisRox]

Canes don't have any game breakers. Even Toronto has Matthews.

The problem is, his game is broken in the playoffs.

 

[Canovin]

They could make the finals again. I don't see them winning the cup tho. They will be a weaker team next playoffs

 

[KevinFinnerty]

rangers beat them with no Trouba

 

[JianYang]

Three straight finals is only a feat done by Tampa since.... the early 80s?

It's hard to keep the engine finely tuned for that long, and Tampa was a better team than this Florida iteration.

My opinion is that it won't happen.

 

[Ogelthorpe]

Making it to the finals 3 straight years is a lot to ask of a team. It’s just so mentally and physically exhausting playing that much hockey over the course of three years…. I wouldn’t bet on it happening.

 

[Mogo]

The D core is a question. But so was it last season. We played near 30 games to start the season with

Forsling-OEL
Mikkola-Mahura
Kulikov-Balinskis

as our top 6 and did fine

 

[JKG33]

That's great. 1 team in the last 40 years. There was no cap, no real free agency, money wasn't as big an issue 40 years ago. And 76% of the league made the playoffs, which would be the equivalent of Seattle or Calgary making it last year.

Could Florida do it? Sure. But they should at least get to the Final again? That is a tall order, no matter how good Florida is. Bob is 36 in Sept. Reinhart is a career average 30g guy(even with the Panthers prior to last year) who jumped to 60 in his UFA year. Can he do that again? Does Florida need him to do that again? Only time will tell.

Um what? You do realize Tampa went to the finals 3 straight years just 2 seasons ago right? Mostly under the same set of rules currently in place...

The Pens went to two straight twice in less less than 10 years. The Hawks and our Kings were the only ones stopping each other from 3 straight.

Is it difficult? Absolutely. Is it this near impossible scenario you're describing? Absolutely not

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

Um what? You do realize Tampa went to the finals 3 straight years just 2 seasons ago right? Mostly under the same set of rules currently in place...

The Pens went to two straight twice in less less than 10 years. The Hawks and our Kings were the only ones stopping each other from 3 straight.

Is it difficult? Absolutely. Is it this near impossible scenario you're describing? Absolutely not

Not to take anything away from Tampa, but Those were 70 / 56 game seasons. One of the most commonly cited reasons for why it's so hard to get back to a third straight Finals is fatigue, and I would say that the Lightning had a bit of an edge over the Panthers there.

I do think fatigue will be a factor for the team this season, but we'll see.

 

[Breakers]

Three straight finals is only a feat done by Tampa since.... the early 80s?

It's hard to keep the engine finely tuned for that long, and Tampa was a better team than this Florida iteration.

My opinion is that it won't happen.

And they did it with a shortened season

82 makes it brutal

 

[T REX]

I doubt it.
I'm not even sure they'll make the playoffs.

This another great prognostication? Kudos. Don't ever change.

 

[Suntouchable13]

It's not really about them per se, it's about who can usurp them. Quite frankly, I don't see much in this Eastern Conference that can usurp them right now. Probably Boston and NYR will threaten then again. That's about it.

 

[BlueBaron]

Kind of depends which Bob they get next year.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

It depends how motivated they are. Almost always once a team wins it all, the drive has taken a hit.

 

[Dog]

Chances of repeat is highly unlikely. Though Tampa did it in 2020-2021 so it's possible but odds are against it.

 

[Maple Leaf]

No they lost their key players star goalie Stolarz and defensive stalwart OEL

 

[T REX]

And they did it with a shortened season

82 makes it brutal

If you talk to the players they say the sequestered cup was the hardest cup to win.

Completely cut off from everyone. Crazy.

 

[LevelingSolo]

Three straight Finals in this era seems unlikely

EDIT: Actually Tampa did it, but two of those were rona shortened so there's probably a difference

 

[12ozPapa]

I just cannot get past the thread title

 

[LudwigVonKarlsson]

They are a fantastic team but it's hard to see them making 3 finals in a row despite how weak the east might appear to be.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Just say you didn’t watch the games vs Rangers.

Just say the Rangers lost.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

I think this year they have another big shot at going for it.

I think 2025 2026 is a potential drop off year.