Panthers Win First Stanley Cup: The Team's 5 Biggest Contributors
The National Hockey League's (NHL) Florida Panthers ended a 30-year drought on June 24, winning their first Stanley Cup with a 2-1 Game 7 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers reached the Stanley Cup Final in only their third season in 1995-96 and didn't get back there until 2022-23, when they lost in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights. They won the first three games against the Oilers and, heading into Game 7, were at risk of becoming the first team in NHL history to blow a 3-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final since 1942.
The Oilers outscored the Panthers 18-5 in Games 4-6, but Florida was able to shut down Edmonton's star player, Connor McDavid, in Game 7. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, meanwhile, stopped 23 of 24 shots faced in Game 7 after allowing 12 goals on 58 shots in his last three starts. Sam Reinhart scored the game-winning goal for Florida.
Despite the Panthers winning the series, McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after leading all players with 42 points (8 goals, 34 assists). He is the first player since Jean-Sebastian Giguere to win the Conn Smythe in a losing effort. Here's a look at some of the key contributors for the Panthers in the 2024 NHL playoffs.
Aleksander Barkov
Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov tied Matthew Tkachuk for the team lead in playoff scoring with 22 points (8 goals, 14 assists) in 24 games. He was a runner-up for the Conn Smythe and was listed second on 15 of the 17 ballots of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PWHA) members. Jim Matheson, a PWHA member who has covered the Oilers since 1973, was the only voter who left Barkov off their ballot.
Barkov's impact goes far beyond offense, however. He's one of the best two-way centers in the league and did an incredible job of shutting down opposing teams' star players, from McDavid, who had no points in the last two games of the Stanley Cup Final, to New York's Artemi Panarin and Boston's David Pastrnak in the previous two rounds. Not surprisingly, Barkov won the Selke Trophy in the regular season as the top defensive forward.
"He’s our leader. He plays the game the right way," said Sam Bennett, who finished seventh on the Panthers in playoff scoring with 14 points. "It's pretty special to see a guy so committed, as gifted as he is offensively, he's so committed to playing defense and shutting guys down, blocking shots. When you have your All-Star captain playing that way, it carries on to every single guy in the locker room."
Matthew Tkachuk
Tkachuk, who tied for the Panthers lead in playoff scoring with 22 points (6 goals, 16 assists), brought a perfect blend of skill and physicality to Florida during their run to the Stanley Cup. He has excelled in his first two seasons in Florida, finishing as a finalist for the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2023-24 and leading the team in points (24) in last year's playoffs.
Panthers general manager Bill Zito deserves credit for the bold acquisition to acquire Tkachuk in the 2022 offseason. The Panthers had their best season in franchise history with 122 points in 2021-22, but lost in the second round of the playoffs. Recognizing the team needed a change, Zito sent Jonathan Huberdeau, second in Panthers' all-time scoring with 613 points, defenseman Mackenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt, and a conditional 2025 first-round pick to the Calgary Flames for Tkachuk and a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick.
Sergei Bobrovsky
Bobrovsky, signed by former Panthers general manager Dale Tallon in 2019 to a seven-year, $70 million contract, underperformed in his first four seasons in Florida, but was a key contributor in last year's run to the Stanley Cup and was again integral to the team's success this season. He finished the regular season with a 36-17-4 record to go along with a .915 save percentage and 2.37 goals-against average (GAA). He was 16-8 in the playoffs with a .906 save percentage and 2.32 GAA. He was fourth in Conn Smythe voting.
Sam Reinhart
Although he didn't receive a vote for the Conn Smythe, Reinhart deserves plenty of credit for the Panthers’ success this season. Not only did he score the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, he also finished second on the Panthers with 10 goals in the playoffs and was second leaguewide in goals in the regular season with 57.
Carter Verhaeghe
Carter Verhaeghe led the Panthers with 11 goals in the playoffs and scored the opening goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. He was third in team playoff scoring with 21 points and tied Reinhart for the team lead with four power-play goals. He also assisted on Reinhart's game-winning goal. Verhaeghe received a pair of third-place votes for the Conn Smythe.