Florida Panthers will contend for years!

[majormajor]

Florida will always be considered a destination for NHL players. Even when this current core starts to decline, the Panthers will always have a fresh batch of star caliber NHL players wanting to play there.

That didn't become a big factor until the team was good though. There were a lot of players that did not want to play for a bad Panthers team.

 

[hockey20000]

nah the decline starts next year

 

[HockeyVirus]

Toronto and Carolina fans with the thousand-mile stare after realizing that the most important contracts are long-term.

A Sabres fan should be most aware fans do not run a team and have no say

 

[Bradely]

Looking at their cap-situation - they have 19M in cap for next season and Ekblad, Bennett and Marchand are the only important players to sign. Ekblad wont get a raise atleast. The team is set for years. They will probably be contending for the next 5yrs atleast. They have 5/6 Top6 players on long-term contracts for 40M until 2030. Their Top 2 D:s for 12.75M combined also.

Barkov 10M UFA 2030
Tkachuk 9,5M UFA 2030
Reinhart 8.625M UFA 2032
Verhaeghe 7M UFA 2033
Lundell 5M UFA 2030

Jones 7M UFA 2030
Forsling 5,75M UFA 2032
Kulikov 1.15M UFA 2028

shits happen. Florida will at some point face some. Time will tell.
But it is currently a well built team... and this year they are real!

 

[Bradely]

Barkovs IQ is his best trait, so I think he'll still be a fine player even in his late 30s.

Agree with you. Same thing was said on Bergeron who remained competitive winning the Selke before retiring. If Barkov can avoid big injuries, he will be fine for alot of time.

On 19, not that sure. IMO he is currently slowing down.

 

[MadLuke]

Barkovs IQ is his best trait, so I think he'll still be a fine player even in his late 30s.

yes he does feel like a Kopitar more than a Toews, but Toews as an example, some people could have said the same in 2015 (he was only 26-27 as well), he did not win a single playoff round after that.

 

[Bank Shot]

Can't argue with OP. Obviously injuries and a couple dumb GM decisions can wreck things. Odds are the latter won't happen since Zito and his team are really good at what they do.

Probably will happen. Every prodigy GM is a genius until they aren't anymore.

Sather. Lamoriello. Holland. Rutherford. Burke. Yzerman. Sakic. Etc. Etc.

Lots of guys out there that had initial or even sustained success, but no GM has been able to recreate Cup contenders consistently throughout their careers.

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

A Sabres fan should be most aware fans do not run a team and have no say

if fans ran the sabres we'd be royally f***'d
Leafs fans are generally very hockey knowledgeable, especially the older ones who've seen it all. Breathe hockey. I respect the hell out of that. I've been to Ontario several times for tournaments and Ontarians generally were kind, polite and accommodating.

Nothing but love for Leafs fans.

 

[BKarchitect]

Goalie Bob is the key for me. How long does he hold up as an elite playoff goalie (which he clearly still is)?

Like all powerhouse teams well into their prime, they’ll have big decisions to make starting this summer.

But Zito has proven a really good GM (weird Chiarot bust aside…it still hurts my head that such a good GM made that absolute bomb of a trade…though it didn’t end up really hampering them) and being in South Florida and a Cup winning environment doesn’t hurt.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

Playing the Leafs is pretty much the golden ticket to advance to the SC finals.

 

[TotalHomer]

Playing the Leafs is pretty much the golden ticket to advance to the SC finals.

Yep. Gotta hope they run it back again "because it was so close" this year. We're not going anywhere in the Atlantic and make their core our bitches everytime.

 

[Andrei79]

Barkovs IQ is his best trait, so I think he'll still be a fine player even in his late 30s.

He's also a perfectionist and works both hard and the right way. He's similar to Crosby, so I don't see how, with his size and IQ as you said, he won't age well unless he has some catastrophic injury.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

They’re dirty as f*** and calling what they do “hockey” is generous. I was fine with ‘em last year, even kinda happy because Reinhart and Okposo, but their bullshit this year is bad for the game. Sorry, just being honest- you gotta knock goalies out to win series, that’s not really a legit win in my mind.

 

[Cool Hand Puke]

The Florida Management have done a great job creating a competitive team and with the no tax advantage have signed players to great contracts.

They will be competitive for sure the next few years.

Jones and Tkachuk were traded for after they signed their contracts no?

 

[Cool Hand Puke]

They’re dirty as f*** and calling what they do “hockey” is generous. I was fine with ‘em last year, even kinda happy because Reinhart and Okposo, but their bullshit this year is bad for the game. Sorry, just being honest- you gotta knock goalies out to win series, that’s not really a legit win in my mind.

 

[NikolaTesla]

Theyll decline fast if they can't resign Bennett.

 

[avocadosmoothie]

Jones and Tkachuk were traded for after they signed their contracts no?

Barkov + Reinhart + Verhaeghe + Lundell + Forsling + Ekblad + Bobrovsky + + +

 

[coolboarder]

Can't take things for granted because it happened to the Canucks, they were set for years to come with great shape and cap hit were reasonable after 2011-12 and they came down like a cliff and their value tanked with too many NMC/NTC. We never recovered from that. So never take things for granted. So my point is, even a great player can decline at anytime unexpectedly that can be a domino effect.

 

[ps241]

the one factor is Barkov turning 30... could age very well obviously but started to play big minutes since he was 20 years old, raking injuries all the time.. (but that reduced his mileage...), you never know, can be an other Kopitar, can be an quicker decline.

He is 29 now and turns 30 in September. Nothwithstanding a new major injury (which is true for every player) and with his style of game I would say he has 3 to 4 more seasons of prime play at a minimum and I doubt he falls off a cliff after that. He plays that two way game like Kopitar and Bergeron where they are not flashy players but they are extremely talented and effective in all aspects of the game. Not saying he will necessarily age like those guys physically but I think his game will age in a similar fashion. None of these guys beat you with their blazing speed but they kill you with their IQ and balanced skill set.

 

[Fatass]

Looking at their cap-situation - they have 19M in cap for next season and Ekblad, Bennett and Marchand are the only important players to sign. Ekblad wont get a raise atleast. The team is set for years. They will probably be contending for the next 5yrs atleast. They have 5/6 Top6 players on long-term contracts for 40M until 2030. Their Top 2 D:s for 12.75M combined also.

Barkov 10M UFA 2030
Tkachuk 9,5M UFA 2030
Reinhart 8.625M UFA 2032
Verhaeghe 7M UFA 2033
Lundell 5M UFA 2030

Jones 7M UFA 2030
Forsling 5,75M UFA 2032
Kulikov 1.15M UFA 2028

Panthers are at their peak of compete on this cycle. Players naturally age out of their peak though. So the Panthers will be good for another season or two, but then the inevitable decline that comes with age will eat away at their core players. Younger, healthier, more willing to sacrifice to win clubs will climb over them. That’s the nature of the league now.
So I see the Panthers as being Cup competitors this year and next. Then they will start the decline. They will still be good, like Tampa still is, but will not be really a team that can win it all.

 

[BruinLVGA]

Looking at their cap-situation - they have 19M in cap for next season and Ekblad, Bennett and Marchand are the only important players to sign. Ekblad wont get a raise atleast. The team is set for years. They will probably be contending for the next 5yrs atleast. They have 5/6 Top6 players on long-term contracts for 40M until 2030. Their Top 2 D:s for 12.75M combined also.

Barkov 10M UFA 2030
Tkachuk 9,5M UFA 2030
Reinhart 8.625M UFA 2032
Verhaeghe 7M UFA 2033
Lundell 5M UFA 2030

Jones 7M UFA 2030
Forsling 5,75M UFA 2032
Kulikov 1.15M UFA 2028

This was the perfect low-hanging fruit statement, wasn‘t it.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Jones and Tkachuk were traded for after they signed their contracts no?

They did get the Hawks to retain $2.5m on Jones for 5 years. Don't remember another team retaining that much long term. Kessel was only for about 3 years if memory serves.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

 

[Statto]

Probably will happen. Every prodigy GM is a genius until they aren't anymore.

Sather. Lamoriello. Holland. Rutherford. Burke. Yzerman. Sakic. Etc. Etc.

Lots of guys out there that had initial or even sustained success, but no GM has been able to recreate Cup contenders consistently throughout their careers.

I dunno… Sather had 5 cups in 7 years, as coach also. That’s pretty much sustained success.

 

[wetcoast]

Success is fleeting.

They'll start slowly declining next year, then fall off a cliff a few years from now.

Pretty much this as their pipeline is weak and father time catches up as well as players leaving in FA.

Also their star players in Barkov and Tkachuk are already guys that you can pencil in as missing time in the regular season.

Picking up Jones really helps them smooth out the slide to the cliff but I think this is their last shot at the SC in the near distant future, after that other teams will emerge.