After losing goaltender Brandon Bussi on waivers, Florida GM Bill Zito continues an interesting three-year run of scouting talent that reaches the NHL’s summit, even when they’re hoisting the trophy elsewhere.
The 2025-26 NHL season officially ended on Sunday night when the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup.
Carolina took out the Vegas Golden Knights in six games, capped off by their 3-0 victory at T-Mobile Arena in Game 6.
Backstopping the Hurricanes to their shutout victory in the clinching game was goaltender Brandon Bussi.
With Bussi’s name going on the Stanley Cup later this summer, it will continue an interesting streak of success for someone in South Florida.
That’s because before he arrived in Carolina, Bussi was actually signed by Florida Panthers General Manager Bill Zito prior to the season.
When Florida tried to sneak Bussi to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, Carolina quickly pounced and claimed the talented netminder.
Clearly it proved to be a great move, between Bussi’s historic regular season success to his amazing performance with the Stanley Cup on the line.
But it doesn’t change the fact that Zito can now say that he’s signed a player who went on to win the Stanley Cup in the same season three years in a row.
Sure, two of those years it was his own team winning the Cup, but that’s what makes extending the streak so interesting.
Now, Zito can continue that streak if the Panthers get back to the business of winning championships next season...or if he signs a player who ends up being claimed by or traded to the eventual Stanley Cup champs.
For those wondering, here is the list of players Zito has signed who went on to win the Stanley Cup in the same season.
2023-24: Evan Rodrigues, Niko Mikkola, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Anthony Stolarz, Kevin Stenlund, Dmitry Kulikov, Jonah Gadjovich
2024-25: A.J. Greer, Nate Schmidt, Tomas Nosek, Jesper Boqvist
2025-26: Brandon Bussi
Will Zito, and seemingly the Panthers, be able to add to this list and extend the streak to a fourth straight year?
Time will tell.
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Photo caption: Sep 24, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Florida Panthers goaltender Daniil Tarasov (40) and goaltender Brandon Bussi (30) celebrate their victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory-Imagn Images)