The Florida Panthers are officially not going to three-peat. When the dust settled on Saturday’s NHL games, including the Panthers’ rough 9-4 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida found itself with an unwanted addition to their label in the standings. The “e” next to Florida’s name stands for “Eliminated,” meaning there is nothing they can do with their remaining six games that will get them into the postseason. As a result, Florida’s six-year playoff streak, the longest in franchise history by a wide margin, will come to an end. There won’t be a fourth straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Florida’s players will not have to play the hardest hockey there is (Stanley Cup Playoff hockey) well into the month of June. The good news is that there is no reason to worry that the Panthers won’t get right back to competing for the Stanley Cup next season. Florida’s biggest issue this season was that there were so many key players who missed extended time with injury, including superstars Sasha Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk. Barring any unforeseen offseason injuries, the Panthers will arrive for training camp in September with a championship-caliber roster and a decent-sized chip on their shoulder. Remember, the majority of Florida’s roster is locked up with long-term deals. Barkov, Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Brad Marchand, Gus Forsling, Seth Jones, Anton Lundell and Niko Mikkola are all signed through at least the end of the decade. Additionally, Evan Rodrigues, Eetu Luostarinen, Cole Reinhardt and Jesper Boqvist will each have one year left on their respective deals while Jonah Gadjovich, Uvis Balinskis and Dmitry Kulikov are all signed through the summer of 2028. Now you may have noticed that among all those players’ names you just went through, there weren’t any goaltenders included. Both of Florida’s netminders from this season, Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov, are set to become unrestricted free agents when July 1 arrives. The Panthers and Bobrovsky have already been discussing a contract extension, and the expectation is that the veteran puck-stopper will remain with Florida for what could end up being the rest of his career. Bobrovsky is currently wrapping up his 16th NHL season and will be 38 years old when Opening Night arrives in October. It’s also worth noting that since its inception, Florida’s Goaltending Excellence Department has consistently targeted goalies who have performed well under Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice and within his defensive systems. According to PuckPedia [https://puckpedia.com/team/florida-panthers], the Panthers are expected to have just over $15.5 million in salary cap space to work with, thanks in-part to the cap rising from $95.5 million this year to $104 million next season. Considering the stacked roster that Panthers General Manager Bill Zito will only be adding to this summer, it seems reasonable to expect that Florida will be able to re-take their place among the NHL’s top squads. There is also one other element that hasn’t been mentioned yet in this story that could play a big part in Florida being a better squad when next season arrives. In addition to the cash Zito has to work with this summer, he may also have a previously-traded first-round pick to play with at this Jume’s NHL Draft. The first-round pick that Florida sent to Chicago in the Trade Deadline deal that brought Seth Jones to the Panthers is top-10 protected. That means if the Panthers finish low enough in the standings that they receive a selection anywhere in the top 10, they would keep this year’s pick and instead send their 2027 first rounder to the Blackhawks. Depending how high that pick ends up – the top of this year’s draft has some serious talent to offer – it will be interesting to see what Zito and his colleagues ultimately decide to do with that selection. A team as in win-now mode as the Panthers are might be wise to flip that pick ahead of the draft for someone at the NHL level who can join what Florida has going on in the present. We’ll see how things play out in the coming weeks and months, but the bottom line is that despite the frustrating season, there are still plenty of things to be excited about in Pantherland. 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