The work being done in South Florida hasn’t gone unnoticed.
With the book about to close on 2024, The Athletic released a year-end poll charting the best front offices within the four major leagues – MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL – on Monday.
At the start of each season, a diverse group of 40 executives and coaches were polled in each league and asked to rank the top five front offices, in order, in their respective sport.
Keeping the scoring system consistent for each of the polls, first-place votes were worth 10 points, second-place seven, third-place five, fourth-place three and fifth-place one.
By combining all the polls from each major league, The Athletic states that “this isn’t a scientific comparison of these front offices, but rather a ranking of which ones are viewed as the best by their direct competitors.”
So how are the Panthers viewed?
Very highly, of course.
Sitting ninth in the rankings, the defending Stanley Cup champions finished sandwiched between two NFL teams in the Kansas City Chiefs (eighth) and San Francisco 49ers (10th).
Following back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final – including a first-ever championship in 2024 – the Panthers have quickly become one of the most-revered franchises in the NHL.
Since the start of the 2023-24 season, the Panthers rank tied for second in the NHL in wins (74) and have surrendered the fourth-fewest goals (314). Over the past two full seasons, no team in the NHL has won more games in the playoffs (29) or played more playoff games (45).
Under President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Zito, the Panthers also locked up several key players to long-term contracts in 2024, including Gustav Forsling (eight years), Sam Reinhart (eight years), Anton Lundell (six years) and Dmitry Kulikov (four years).
Per the breakdown from The Athletic, one anonymous assistant general manager summed up the transformation in South Florida by saying “It went from a place players avoided to a destination.”
Could the Panthers climb even higher in 2025?
We’ll see.
But with their recent track record, you certainly have to believe in them.
To read The Athletic’s full rankings, click HERE.
