Three successive trips to the Stanley Cup Finals and now back-to-back champions, the Florida Panthers have mirrored the dynastic run of their cross-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, from 2020 to 2022. Now, however, the Panthers look to have pulled off the incredibly improbable in the salary cap era.
After a huge offseason of moves across the league, the Panthers managed to retain their core, the majority of the key surrounding pieces, and filled in for the few losses very well. This is despite some likely set for huge paydays were they to hit the open market. So, did any other NHL teams do enough to close the gap on the Cats?
Trailblazing in the Eastern Conference
On paper, Florida had a rather quiet run out in the free agency. Nate Schmidt and Vitek Vanecek went while Jeff Petry and Daniil Tarasov came in, filling the supporting cast gaps with like-for-like signings. Where the real magic was worked was before the free agency opened with some shrewd in-house dealing.
General manager Bill Zito, able to sell this incredible run of success, managed to encourage superstar players Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett, as well as new key piece Brad Marchand, to ignore the lucrative open market. The former duo signed on for rather team-friendly deals that keep the elite core intact.
It’s very much the same team that’s won back-to-back Stanley Cups, so it absolutely makes sense that the leading Canadian sports betting odds herald the Cats as the outright favourites again at +500 to win the championship. Their biggest enemy will be fatigue, as braving three runs to the end in this sport is incredibly taxing.
Looking to pounce on the Panthers should they begin to tire looks to be the Carolina Hurricanes. Already a stacked team, they added Nikolaj Ehlers and K’Andre Miller and will get a full season of Logan Stankoven. The Canes certainly look to be Florida’s primary conference competitors coming into the 2025/26 season.
Western Conference Reaches its Boiling Point
Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers have fallen at the final hurdle two seasons running. Powered by their incredible offensive players and an improved defence, once again, the team didn’t address their issues in goal. They also lost several key experienced pieces among their skating lines, which is why they’re out at +800 now.
Perhaps more fatigued than the Panthers, unless the Oilers see huge improvements from their goaltending corps or trade for a truly elite shot-stopper, their Western Conference rivals will rightly smell blood in the water. While the Colorado Avalanche remain primed to strike and added Brent Burns, two other teams seem more ready.
First is the Vegas Golden Knights. They landed the biggest fish of the open market in Toronto Maple Leafs star winger Mitch Marner. While Vegas worked a trade with the Buds to get a more favourable contract, so he was added before the free agency, bringing in Marner has made a very strong team even better.
Still, the Dallas Stars look to have perhaps the most complete roster in the Western Conference on paper – even with some big-name losses this offseason. They’ve been to three consecutive Conference Finals under Pete DeBoer, and now, Dallas has hired Glen Gulutzan to finally get this stacked roster over the line.
The Florida Panthers, through doing relatively little, enjoyed the best offseason of all NHL teams and are already the Stanley Cup champions. They look to be the best of the bunch in their conference, so Western frontrunners like the Stars, Avs, and Golden Knights will be hoping that they run out of steam by the time the Finals arrive.
