Florida Panthers out to defend the Stanley Cup, and the core from the title team is intact
By The Associated Press
Posted 9/30/24
The back-to-back Eastern Conference champions are trying now to become back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. Florida brings back the core of the team that won it all last June, from Sergei Bobrovsky to …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
Florida Panthers out to defend the Stanley Cup, and the core from the title team is intact
Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov speaks during NHL hockey media day, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Posted
By The Associated Press
Florida Panthers
Last season: 52-24-6, won Stanley Cup.
COACH: Paul Maurice (869-736-99-144 over 26 seasons, 94-56-14 over two seasons with the Panthers, 1 Cup championship).
SEASON OPENER: Oct. 8 vs. Boston.
DEPARTURES: D Brandon Montour, D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, F Nick Cousins, F Ryan Lomberg, F Vladimir Tarasenko, F Kyle Okposo, G Anthony Stolarz.
ADDITIONS: D Nate Schmidt, D Jaycob Megna, G Chris Driedger, F Jesper Boqvist.
GOALIES: Sergei Bobrovsky (36-17-4-6, 2.37 goals-against average, 0.915 save percentage), Chris Driedger (1-1-0-0, 2.51, 0.917 with Seattle), Spencer Knight (spent last season in AHL).
The back-to-back Eastern Conference champions are trying now to become back-to-back Stanley Cup champions and bring back the core of the team that won it all last June — Sergei Bobrovsky, Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Anton Lundell, Gustav Forsling, Evan Rodrigues, Carter Verhaeghe and more. It's going to take some time for the Panthers to figure out how to replace a couple of key pieces — Brandon Montour among them — and the power play is likely going to look a bit different. The Panthers play eight of their first 12 games — and 11 of their final 18 — on the road.
Strengths and weaknesses
The good: Reinhart was an absolute goalscoring machine last season with 57 in the regular season — one of every four of his shots on goal went in, which is absurd — and he added 10 more in the playoffs, including the Cup clincher against Edmonton. Bobrovsky is as good as anyone when he's on his best game, Barkov is still at his peak and Tkachuk might just be entering the start of his prime.
The not-so-good: History suggests that back-to-back playoff runs take a toll on a team's health and the Panthers know that injuries and-or wear-and-tear will eventually be an issue. The depth will be tested, which happens. Florida rode defense to the Cup last season and might need to score a bit more in 2024-25. There's enough firepower for certain, but it might not be realistic to expect 57 goals from Reinhart (or anyone else) this time around.
Players to watch
You know the big names: Barkov, Tkachuk, Bobrovsky and so on. Forsling and Lundell are both big parts of the team's future. Both are absolute building blocks and will be that way for years to come. Rodrigues was so good in the Stanley Cup Final and could use that as a springboard to bigger things this year, and if one of the young kids — a Mackie Samoskevich, perhaps — gets rolling, the Panthers will be right in the mix once again.