It has been a troublesome season for the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions Florida Panthers. From the get-go, they were behind the eight-ball, losing captain Aleksander Barkov to a season ending injury during training camp. The Panthers knew they’d not have Matthew Tkachuk from the beginning of the season after he had offseason surgery. So their backs were up against the wall from the beginning.
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Throughout the season, player after player went all the way down to injury. Tomas Nosek missed a lot of the season due to offseason surgery. Dmitry Kulikov missed 4 to 5 months after suffering a shoulder injury in Game 2 of the 2025-26 season. He was just activated on March 1. Seth Jones then suffered a fractured collarbone on January 2nd on the Winter Classic, missing 26 games before returning on Tuesday night in Vancouver.
In total, regular-season man-games lost on account of injury for the Florida Panthers are at 395 games and counting. Now, Brad Marchand was placed on LTIR to activate Jones. There may be a belief his injury in January was season-ending, but he pushed to play within the Olympics and help the Panthers get back to the playoffs.
Once the Florida Panthers were out of the playoff mix, the Panthers shut him down for the season. The expectation is that he must go under the knife. Throughout the season, players like Jonah Gadjovich, Cole Schwindt, Sam Reinhart, Uvis Balinskis, and Sam Bennett have also missed time on account of injury. Playing deep into June for 3 straight seasons takes a toll on the body.
As mentioned throughout the season, one of the best thing for the Florida Panthers was to miss the playoffs and get rest for next season as a substitute of attempting to push for a three-peat. While it’s historic, it’s so hard to do because the whole lot has to go a team’s way for an additional whole season. Plus, once it was revealed that the first-round pick they sent to the Chicago Blackhawks within the Seth Jones trade was top-10 protected, it opened the door for an additional asset to be available within the offseason.
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But simply because the Florida Panthers are having a nasty season doesn’t mean you need to count them as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet told Sirius XM NHL Network Radio on Wednesday morning.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Gord Stellick: “So, taking a have a look at few of the things which are occurring as we get all the way down to push to the playoffs. It’s form of interesting. The Florida Panthers, I consider, have a top 10 retention (protected) pick, in order that they could defer to the Chicago Blackhawks and get that pick.
Do you think that it is a one and back at it for the Florida Panthers? Because I believe plenty of teams may consider that, think that is their one probability to go together with the Cup, or do you think that there was slippage, that they’ll come back to the pack in the massive picture?”
Elliotte Friedman: “Well, I generally would say I consider in them. Look, they’ve been within the finals three Cups in a row. That comes with some wear and tear. I believe I might never query the power of those guys and the need of those guys. I just think all of it piled up on them. I mean, the one thing that I actually do wonder about is, look, he’s a Hall of Famer, (Sergei) Bobrovsky.
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He’s just had a rough yr. And again, I believe that would easily be attributable to wear and tear, and the guy just might need a protracted summer. I might never doubt that guy, but he’s really struggled, and that’s your backbone.
I believe you count out the Panthers at your peril, particularly because it’s a team that individuals wish to go to and play for, right? So, I believe it’s smart when you’re going to have a nasty yr, you would possibly as well go to the underside 10 and get your pick and take your possibilities on next season.
Now, I saw someone sent me a note. Apparently, they moved (Brad) Marchand to LTIR, so I’ve got to think there’s a probability we don’t see him again this season.”
An enormous reason why the Panthers went the Stanley Cup Final three straight years was the play of Sergei Bobrovsky. He wasn’t getting traded despite what some north of the border thought. Bobrovsky desires to stay in Florida and finish his profession there.
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Given how the vast majority of the team is locked as much as the 2030 season, the Panthers will wish to get him locked in to a two or three-year deal within the $6 million to $7.5 million range. Don’t count out GM Bill Zito trading for a goalie to back up Bobrovsky and be the longer term once Bobrovsky is completed.
Barkov covers up plenty of defensive defencies and when he’s back healthy, the Florida Panthers are a tough team to beat. As we’ve got seen with the Tampa Bay Lightning, one of the best thing was for them to have some longer offseasons and are available back stronger. The Lightning are primed to make one other deep run for the Stanley Cup.
Same thing could be said for the Florida Panthers. Rest and recovery will do that team some good. So when next season comes around don’t be surprised they’re once more a favourite to win the Stanley Cup.
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