2026 Season Preview: Florida Panthers
The Panthers have potential to become the first super team of the salary cap era. Can they add a third Cup to their trophy case?
The Florida Panthers pulled off one of the biggest blockbuster trades in recent history, adding Brady Tkachuk in a deal that didn't require them to directly give up any roster players. With the addition of Brady, an extended offseason to recoup from a lot of hockey over the last few seasons, and the team expected to be at full health for the first time since 2025, the Panthers instantly become favorites in the Atlantic Division. But do they still have what it takes to go the distance again?
2025-26 Outcome
Regular Season Results: 40-38-4
The Panthers were at a serious disadvantage this past season. Aleksander Barkov missed all of last season with a torn ACL and MCL, Matthew Tkachuk missed the first half of the season recovering from the torn adductor he played through last year, and seven more players including Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand missed 10 or more games at various points throughout the year.
With that surplus of injuries and a competitive Atlantic Division, the Panthers playoff hopes were doomed from the start. And after winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, they were due for some extra recovery time. As they enter this season at full health and an even stronger roster, they’re sights will be set on Stanley Cup number three.
Who’s In and Who’s Out
In all honesty, we can have a very interesting conversation about whether the Panthers actually got better or not. Yes, of course, Brady Tkachuk is a massive upgrade from Mackie Samoskevich. And, on a team where he doesn’t need to be the guy, he is going to be an incredibly important player for them in a second line role, likely with his older brother as his linemate. That’s going to make for an incredibly dangerous team with an unreal top nine. But, beyond that is where it gets a little dicey.
I would absolutely take Greer, Rodrigues, and Boqvist over Lars Eller and Garnet Hathaway in the bottom six. Eller is a useful player, but he’s turning 38 in the spring. There are certainly going to be limitations to his usage at this point in his career, and while the Panthers have the depth to back that up, it’s fair to acknowledge that Florida lost some better fourth line center options in Rodrigues and Boqvist. As for Hathaway, everything about his game screams Florida Panther. He’s an absolute menace to play against, but when push comes to shove, Greer plays the same style and is the more well-rounded player.
Defensively, Gudas and Petrovic are surely upgrades from Jeff Petry, but Gudas is just as old as Petry was. He's another player who plays a Florida Panthers brand of hockey and spent three seasons with them prior to their back-to-back Cups. But that style is one that ages poorly, and at 36 you have to wonder how long he's going to hold up. In a sheltered role on the third pair of a team like this he should be fine, but age and durability are valid concerns there.
Goaltending is another deeper debate as to how much they actually improved. Akira Schmid is surely an upgrade from Daniil Tarasov in the backup role, but is Jacob Markstrom even a lateral move from Sergei Bobrovsky? That's far from certain.
