Atlantic Division Preview: Panthers in pursuit of immortality, will fatigue get in the way?

There are few surprises left when it comes to the Florida Panthers. After winning the Stanley Cup in consecutive years, the Panthers are on a quest for immortality this season, in a bid to become the first team to three-peat during the salary cap era. It appeared that the Panthers may be vulnerable heading into the 2025-26 season, but they pulled off one of the best free agency hauls in recent memory, re-signing Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad to long-term pacts. Opposing teams groused about Florida’s income tax laws, or lack thereof, but Panthers general manager Bill Zito and his staff have been rewarded for their risks and opportunism. Florida has its core locked in through the 2029-30 season and is on a pursuit of immortality. Can anything get in its way?

We wrote extensively about what the Maple Leafs could learn from the Panthers this summer, and a lot of these lessons could be broadly applied to the rest of the league. Florida runs its 1-2-2 forecheck to perfection and all four lines are hyperaware of its responsibilities. Aleksander Barkov provides Selke-level defence, Anton Lundell is considered a Barkov clone, and the rest of the Panthers are built in his visage. Gustav Forsling is arguably the best 1-on-1 defender in the NHL, due to his spacing and ability to cut off the point of attack. Marchand, Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen formed the best third line in the league during the playoffs, and this is a team that can score, forecheck and defend at an elite rate. Sergei Bobrovsky continues to build his Hall of Fame resume and will be playing out the final year of his existing contract. What’s getting in their way?

Fatigue may be a major reason why the Panthers don’t three-peat. Matthew Tkachuk will miss the rest of the 2025 calendar year after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum, and Mackie Samoskevich will be tasked with elevating his game — in a sense this is a luxury, as 31 other teams would love to slot a talented, ascending scorer like Samoskevich into their lineup. Barkov, Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart and Uvis Balinskis have already been named to their respective Olympic teams, and it stands to reason that Forsling, Marchand, Luostarinen, Lundell, Sam Bennett and Niko Mikkola could all be in contention for spots on their national sides as well. This is a Panthers team that has been to three consecutive Stanley Cups, and will have a target on their back, both for their championship pedigree and their gruelling style of play that wears on opponents.

Florida habitually ranks as one of the NHL’s best shot-creating and shot-suppressing teams, and its veteran core knows exactly what head coach Paul Maurice demands. Nothing can be taken for granted in a league that values parity and hockey is prone to random variation but the Panthers are the runaway favourite heading into the regular season. Is their anything that can get in their way of immortality?