With their 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday evening, the Florida Panthers cemented their standing as one of many NHL’s all-time nice groups. They’re simply the seventeenth workforce to ever win back-to-back championships — and solely the fifth since 1990 — and at the moment are the gold normal for profitable within the present-day NHL.
They received right here by way of a masterclass in roster-building that blended some good draft luck, super NHL scouting and an aggressive mindset that by no means left the group happy with simply merely being adequate.
They made their vital draft picks depend
The one factor that could be a little completely different about this Panthers workforce when in comparison with a number of the opposite champions is that solely 5 gamers on the workforce — Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Mackie Samoskevich, Anton Lundell and Dmitry Kulikov — had been truly drafted by the Panthers. And in Kulikov’s case he left the Panthers for a couple of years earlier than lately returning, whereas Samoskevich has solely appeared in 4 playoff video games.
Barkov, Ekblad and Lundell are the one draft picks by the workforce enjoying main roles. However they’re huge roles. All three of them had been first-round picks, with Barkov and Ekblad being top-three picks of their respective draft courses.
When groups are fortunate sufficient to be in these draft positions they should hit dwelling runs with them to construct a contending roster. The Panthers did, and particularly so with Barkov. He has grow to be the most effective two-way facilities within the NHL, mixing top-line offense with elite protection to make him an ideal franchise cornerstone.
They established a transparent identification
A number of groups discuss having an identification, or need to have an identification, however few groups are in a position to pull it off in addition to the Panthers have.
Their expertise speaks for itself, and is the largest a part of their success, however additionally they have a really clear enjoying fashion that administration has tried to domesticate.
That enjoying fashion — imply, nasty, possibly even a little bit soiled. Getting gamers like Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand helped make the Panthers not solely one of many deepest groups within the NHL, but in addition one of many fiercest and most annoying to play towards.
Not each workforce must play that approach or be constructed that approach. However it helps to have a regular of what you are in search of — it doesn’t matter what it’s — and no workforce has pulled that off higher than the Panthers.
All the time an all-in mentality from administration
There are a number of trades and free-agent signings which have turned the Panthers into the workforce they’re, however there are a handful that actually helped set the tone for administration’s all-in mentality.
The primary was after the 2021-22 season when Florida was coming off a Presidents’ Trophy profitable marketing campaign. Regardless of having the perfect file within the NHL, administration was not happy with dropping within the first-round of the playoffs. It responded by buying and selling one of many workforce’s prime gamers — Jonathan Huberdeau — to the Calgary Flames for Tkachuk in one of many NHL’s largest current blockbusters. That not solely helped set its identification, but in addition gave it one other top-tier star.
Then at this yr’s commerce deadline the Panthers made two extra all-in strikes to get defenseman Seth Jones and Marchand in separate offers, making a workforce that was already a champion even higher.
Their NHL scouting has persistently hit dwelling runs
Prime draft picks and massive trades are vital, however hitting sudden dwelling runs can be an enormous assist. And the Panthers have a number of of these. Once they acquired Sam Reinhart from the Buffalo Sabres, he was removed from the participant he’s now. He was a very good, if disappointing former No. 2 total decide in Buffalo. Gustav Forsling, now a prime defender, was a waiver declare. Carter Verhaeghe has been a top-line participant in Florida however was organizational depth in Tampa Bay.
