The Florida Panthers have lifted the Stanley Cup for the second straight season, further cementing their dominance over the rest of the NHL.

While the Carolina Hurricanes have been knocking at the door for a while now, they're still a ways off from being a championship-caliber squad and breaking through like Florida has been able to.

So what lessons can the Canes take from the Panthers?

Stock Up On Talent

The Florida Panthers are one of the most talent-laden teams in the entire league and that was clearly on display this postseason.

They have six players on the roster who were top-10 picks and only two of which they drafted themselves. 

Those top-10 picks equate to two top-pairing, right-handed defensemen (Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones), two top-six centers (Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett) and two top-six wingers (Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk).

A team can go a long way with that sort of talent.

Finding gold in undervalued assets is great and Florida, much like Carolina, has done a good job of that too with the additions of players like Gustav Forsling, Niko Mikkola and Carter Verhaeghe.

But what makes the Panthers a great team is that high-end talent.

Stylistically, the Canes and Cats are extremely similar, but the biggest difference in their series has been the talent disparity.

I mean, for one, Florida has four players who've scored more goals in a season than any one individual Canes player currently on the roster.

To be fair, Carolina has been better as of late in being more aggressive in their pursuit for top talent (Jake Guentzel, Mikko Rantanen, Taylor Hall), they just have to stick to that plan.

Because while not every move have worked out as the Hurricanes may have hoped, if the Hurricanes want to be champions, they're going to need more talent. You can't be afraid of getting burnt.

Don't Be Afraid To Move Your First-Round Picks

The Florida Panthers haven't drafted in the first round of the NHL draft since 2021 because they've dealt all of those picks for players that could help them today.

2022 - Sam Reinhart
2023 - Ben Chiarot
2024 - Claude Giroux
2025 - Matthew Tkachuk
2026 - Seth Jones

While not every player acquired was a slam dunk,  the majority of the players they acquired with those first-round picks were and have also stuck around for multiple seasons.

It's great to have assets and you don't want to be frivolous in spending them, but if you're a team like Carolina, who's position to be long-term contender, you should really trade those picks.

Always Be Open To Adding

The Florida Panthers went into the trade deadline in a great position.

They were comfortably in the playoff picture, they had kept together most of their championship roster from the prior year and they were really just chugging along.

But despite that, they didn't stand pat.

No, instead they went out and acquired two major pieces in Seth Jones and Brad Marchand, who were both quintessential to their repeat.

Again, you can never have too much talent on your roster and the Panthers understand that.

The Canes were the victim of some unfortuante circumstances this deadline (the Dallas Stars took the Rantanen trade nearly all the way to the 3 p.m. cutoff, leaving the organization barely any time to work on additional deals), but the lesson remains the same as they look into the future.

Never get too comfortable.

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