Who has the better Cup window? Panthers or Leafs

[Sticksandsun]

TheImpatientPanther had a poll going for these two teams for a couple years.
The majority felt Toronto was in a better position for both threads in 2022 and 2023 IIRC.

Whos the better team the next 3 years? Panthers or Leafs?

Florida Panthers https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/panthers Toronto Maple Leafs https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/mapleleafs

forums.hfboards.com

Wondering if public opinion has changed since these two teams seem destined to fight for the Atlantic crown for the next 3-4 years.
They had one playoff series so far, Panthers winning that one in 5 games.

Florida has two key UFAs in Bennett and Ekblad this year and possible goaltending questions.
Bobrovsky has 1 year left and Spencer Knight hasn't exactly took the #1 job from him but still young at 23.

On defense, they likely need help as well in July, a top 4 RD is needed whether Ekblad stays or not, they need two if Ekblad leaves in free agency.

For Toronto, it's mainly goaltending and finding a middle 6 Center that seems to be their biggest worry.
The obvious UFAs for Leafs are Marner and Tavares. Can they afford to lose Marner?

Woll looks promising but seems injury prone. Stolarz has been great but has never been a #1 and both have no playoff experience either.
The Leafs looked even better defensively this year, although their scoring is down from previous years.

So who has the better Cup window for the next 3-4 years? Panthers or Leafs

Panthers:

Florida Panthers | Salary cap and contracts

Leafs:

Toronto Maple Leafs | Salary cap and contracts

Click to read more...

 

[NVious]

A cup winner has proven something, I could see them falling apart due to age of Bob, UFA losses and other things that come with multiple runs, but even as a Leafs fan I'm not voting for the Leafs.

 

[danpantz]

The team that has been to the last two cup finals and won one of them

 

[tfwnogf]

who has the better cup window the team that won 1 round in 20 years or the team who just won the cup gee I wonder

 

[Sticksandsun]

I get Florida won but I'm asking who has the better window going forward...
This isn't a what has happened thread, it's a future based thread.

 

[onmygameboi]

This is easy, the New Jersey Devils.

 

[pb1300]

Zito getting Barkov at $10 million per alone makes the Panthers the better choice. His per year made it easier for Zito to keep the core together and at a much cheaper overall cap hit, while giving him financial flexibility in the future, when the cap will go up.

The core is just entering their prime, or not even in their prime yet, aside from Bob. They are one of the best run organizations in the league, with top tier management and scouting, and one of the best coaching staffs in the league. And they have built an identity and culture that the Leafs have yet to prove they can reach, or even become.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

There's no need to overthink this. Florida has a much better salary cap structure in the near to mid term. I'm sure people will blame state income tax for that, but the Panthers are paying a hair less for Barkov, Reinhart and Forsling than the Leafs are for just Matthews and Nylander.

Toronto is also run by Brad Treliving. Easy call, IMO.

 

[BB88]

I get Florida won but I'm asking who has the better window going forward...
This isn't a what has happened thread, it's a future based thread.

Florida

Oldest core player is 29y and they are all locked between 5-10M

Bob has 1 year left so they’ll be able to retool the deph.

Toronto could have the edge this year due to how many games Florida has played but years 2, 3 and 4 give me Florida

 

[Ghost of Murph]

While the Leafs are a better all-around team than they've been in recent years, they're still the Leafs. Until that core proves something in the playoffs I have to go with the core that has a track record of playoff success. Panthers, and several other Eastern teams, have a better Cup window over the next few years.

 

[jonlin]

The team that has Barkov, Tkachuk, Lundell, Forsling and Reinhart all locked up until 2030 for 38.875M

The other has Matthews, Nylander, Rielly and Tanev for 36.75M

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

People are seriously still getting fooled by a good Leafs regular season?

50+ years of the same result, and we're still doing this?

 

[FinlandPanther]

The team that won the cup and proved the playoffs are where they play their best hockey.

 

[HabsQC]

Panthers will make deep playoffs runs and the Leafs will sell a lot of Matthews jerseys

 

[vippe]

Florida has a better team
Florida has a better cap situation
Florida has proven playoff players

There's going to be some mental gymnastics to think Toronto has a better cup window at this point.

 

[DoubleGold]

Toronto

 

[teugen]

Is this even a question? No.

 

[NyQuil]

Probably the team that won.

 

[AvroArrow]

Hard to vote against Florida, back to back finals appearances and won a cup while being the most dominant team in the East by a fair margin.

 

[Cup or Bust]

Toronto needs to prove they can even compete for the Cup first. Their core has not shown the ability to have much winning success in the playoffs.

 

[snipes]

Florida

 

[leafsfan5]

we've won one series and we're being compared to the f***ing cup champs with b2b finalist appearances

 

[BHD]

The team that’s been to the SCF in consecutive years after a historic regular season.

 

[Volica]

Kitties.
They have the right guys for the job. Leafs come across like regular season merchants, and have for the better part of a half dozen years now. That, along with Brad Treliving's genius at the helm, I fully expect Toronto to take steps back over the coming few seasons. If Treliving is good at anything, it's sending away picks and potential to make room for overpriced depth signings.

 

[BTO]

The leafs have a Cup window? May as well ask “who has a better Cup window, the Panthers or a giraffe?”