Injuries alone don't explain the Florida Panthers' implosion last season. How can they rebound for another run at the Stanley Cup in 2026-27?
Basically everyone you ask that follows the NHL will tell you the same thing: The Florida Panthers missed the playoffs last year and looked miserable doing it, but we all get why.
Three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances with largely the same roster from one season to the next meant all of their stars played well over 100 games each season. Add in the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Olympics, and you could say they just wore all the tread off their tires.
But a much-need summer of rest doesn't guarantee them a playoff spot this season.
So what, specifically, needs to go right for the Panthers before we even think about engraving their names on the Cup again in 2026-27? Here are a few ideas.
1. A Healthy Panthers Roster
No team lost more man-games to injury than the Panthers last season, let alone to key players like Aleksander Barkov (missed all 82 games), Matthew Tkachuk (52), Sam Reinhart (18), Brad Marchand (30), Anton Lundell (also 18), and Seth Jones (also 30).
Somehow, the list goes on, and now it seems like Marchand is already set to miss the start of the upcoming season following a surgery in mid-August. Not the best start.
In the NHL, it's difficult to get all of your best players in the lineup every night, especially when you have a roster with this many battle-tested veterans. But if they're even close to full strength for something like 65 games, it feels like the rest should fall into place. Especially because they're gonna be extremely motivated.
2. Aleksander Barkov At Full Power
Part and parcel with the above is the specific need for one guy to return to full strength: the captain, the perennial Selke winner, the ultimate 200-foot player in the post-Patrice Bergeron era.
Losing Barkov for a full season was clearly as damaging to the Panthers as losing Nathan MacKinnon would be for the Colorado Avalanche or Macklin Celebrini for the San Jose Sharks. They don't just need him back in the lineup, they need him at 100 percent of what he was before his injury.
But after missing a full season, and considering his age, the question is whether he'll bounce back and have as much impact as used to. At 31, it's not easy, but he certainly looked like his old self at the IIHF World Championships earlier this year.
Even 80 percent of Barkov means you have a clear top center in the league, but it shaves some of the upper limit off this team's ceiling. Getting that for 70-plus games is going to be the biggest focal point for everything the Panthers want to do in the regular season and beyond.
3. Jacob Markstrom Finding The Fountain Of Youth
This is a difficult acquisition to justify for the Panthers, but it's also general manager Bill Zito's attempt to make the best of a very bad situation.
They were right to let Sergei Bobrovsky walk in free agency, because he was old and he wanted a ton of money. But trading for Markstrom, who is nearly as old and is coming off a career-worst campaign, is a puzzling response.
The Panthers have the structure and 200-foot talent to put him in a better position than the Devils ever did, but asking for a 36-year-old to return to form could prove to be costly.
On top of that, it's tough to know what they can expect from backup Akira Schmid, who's coming off a similarly underwhelming season.
If Markstrom is insulated properly, they should be fine, but the season hangs almost entirely on his ability to look like he did a couple years ago.
4. Brotherly Love
The Panthers' big off-season addition was Brady Tkachuk, which hurts another divisional rival as much as it helps Florida.
However, Brady is coming off a season where he, too, missed significant time due to injury. When he was healthy, he was extremely productive, posting 22 goals and 59 points in 60 games.
The vibes should also be a lot better playing, presumably, alongside brother Matthew and probably a center like Sam Bennett. It's not hard to picture them finding a lot of chemistry immediately.
If that happens, it's gonna lift the Panthers' offense enormously.
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