Can the Florida Panthers Win Three Cups In a Row?
Last night, the Florida Panthers capped off an amazing season by lifting their second consecutive Stanley Cup. Florida joins the 2020 and 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning and the 2016 and 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins as the most recent teams to win back-to-back Stanley Cups. However, Florida has a chance to keep making history by winning three Stanley Cups in a row. This accomplishment hasn’t occurred since the New York Islanders won the Stanley Cup in 1981, 1982, and 1983. They also won in 1980, winning four Stanley Cups in a row. Winning three consecutive Stanley Cups has not been achieved in over 40 years, despite many teams since then going back-to-back in raising Lord Stanley's Cup.
What makes this Florida squad different from other teams that have won two consecutive Stanley Cups? While the Tampa Bay Lightning of 2020 and 2021 performed gymnastics with salary cap rules to maintain their superstar core, the Florida Panthers have instead decided to prioritize maintaining their core while abiding by regulations. This strategy is more sustainable than Tampa’s as a lot of Tampa’s superstars, such as Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn, age, and a lot of their key depth players, such as Yanni Gourde, had to leave after the Lightning exhausted their salary cap options. Tampa’s stars continue to bring the Lightning to the playoffs, but with championships won in pandemic-shortened seasons, age taking its toll, and key players leaving the franchise, they have been stuck in a loop of losing in the First Round these past several years.
When the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017, they prioritized speed and outpaced their opponents on a regular basis. Later, teams caught up to the Penguins’ strategy, and Pittsburgh hasn’t been to the Finals since, even with plenty of emerging young talent giving them the talent to continue their success. Florida is a more physical squad, ruining the consistency and stamina of any team that faces them. Both strategies force their opponents to eventually make mistakes in games, which Florida and Pittsburgh capitalize on. Florida exhausts their opponents through physicality, and Pittsburgh does so through pace.
Similar to what happened to Pittsburgh, teams can adapt to Florida’s strategy. Similar to what happened to the Tampa Bay Lightning, age will take its toll on the already aging Florida Panthers’ core of veterans. For example, Sergei Bobrovsky is 36, Brad Marchand is 37, and both Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov are 29. However, if Florida adapts to changing competition as well as minimizes the wearing down of their well-established core while continuing to stay within budget, the Panthers can continue to be great.
