3 questions facing Florida Panthers

NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, three important questions facing the Florida Panthers.

1. Will the Panthers have enough energy for a repeat bid?

The Florida Panthers played in the Stanley Cup Final each of the past two seasons, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 before defeating the Edmonton Oilers last season to capture their first championship. To win the Stanley Cup again this season, however, they’ll have to become only the second team since 1985 to reach the Final in three consecutive seasons, joining the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 before losing to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 Final.

Florida has played more Stanley Cup Playoff games (55) the past three seasons than any team in the NHL, which could take a toll physically and mentally.

“It’s possible. It’s not easy,” general manager Bill Zito said. “I do think that we have a professional staff and coaching staff that can manage it and help the guys manage the pure fatigue end of things.”

2. How will the defense handle losing Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson?

Montour, who signed a seven-year contract with the Seattle Kraken, led the Panthers in averaging 23:27 of ice time per game, was second among their defensemen with 33 points (eight goals, 25 assists) in 66 games (Gustav Forsling, 39 points), and led their defensemen with 17 power-play points (one goal, 16 assists). Ekman-Larsson, who signed a four-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, had 32 points (nine goals, 23 assists) in 80 games, including 11 (one goal, 10 assists) on the power play.

To help fill the void, Florida signed Nate Schmidt and Adam Boqvist each to a one-year contract hoping they’ll rebound after their deals were bought out by the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively. But the Panthers expect it to be a group effort involving Schmidt, Boqvist and their returning defensemen.

“One way to describe would be defense by committee,” Zito said. “We were in a similar situation last year where he had Ekman-Larsson coming in, [Niko] Mikkola coming in, [Radko] Gudas had gone on to Anaheim and it was, ‘Well, we could script how we think it might go, but we know we’ve got some good players. Let’s get everyone together and we’ll just get the job done and then see where it goes.’”

3. Who will back up Sergei Bobrovsky?

With Anthony Stolarz leaving to sign a two-year contract with Toronto, Spencer Knight appeared in line to retake the backup job the 23-year-old held before entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Feb. 24, 2023. But the Panthers also brought back Chris Driedger, who played two seasons for them before being claimed by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, signing the 30-year-old to a one-year contract.

Knight was 25-14-5 with a 2.41 GAA, .905 save percentage and five shutouts in 45 games with Charlotte of the American Hockey League last season. Driedger was 24-7-7 with a 2.26 GAA, .917 save percentage and four shutouts in 39 games with Coachella Valley of the AHL and 1-1-0 with a 2.51 GAA and .917 save percentage in two games with Seattle.