How shorthanded Panthers can become first NHL team to three-peat as Stanley Cup champs in 43 years

After the Florida Panthers raise another Stanley Cup banner on opening night, they will begin their quest to become the third team since the NHL's expansion era to win three straight championships. They have some big hurdles to overcome, but the Panthers still have the ingredients to get the job done.

Florida will be without three-time Selke Trophy winner and captain Aleksander Barkov for most -- and possibly all -- of the season. Assistant captain Matthew Tkachuk will be out of the lineup until December as he recovers from offseason surgery.

Aleksander Barkov injury: Panthers captain suffers torn ACL, could miss entire 2025-26 season

Austin Nivison

Those are two major losses, but you still can't rule the Cats out of the Cup conversation. They have incredible depth up front, an aggressive general manager, proven and reliable goaltending and elite defense. That's a winning combination, even without Barkov and Tkachuk.

If the Panthers do pull off a third straight Stanley Cup run, they would be the first team to do that since the New York Islanders rattled off four in a row from 1980-83. The only other team to do so since the start of the expansion era is the Montreal Canadiens (1976-79).

Here is how Florida can join those two teams among the greatest dynasties in NHL history.

Overcome the injury bug

The Florida Panthers already face major injury concerns, and the puck hasn't even dropped on opening night. After suffering ACL and MCL injuries in training camp, Barkov is expected to miss 7-9 months. Tkachuk is out until at least December as he recovers from offseason surgery on torn adductor muscle.

For most teams, those losses would be final nails in the coffin. That's not the case for the Panthers, but it does make their quest for a three-peat more difficult. Florida must find a way to replace some of what Barkov and Tkachuk bring, and there are a couple ways to do that.

Panthers general manager Bill Zito has never been afraid to make a bold move, and he will get some salary cap relief with Barkov and Tkachuk on LTIR. Can he get creative and swing another deal? If he's looking to shoot for the moon, Sidney Crosby might be open to leaving the rebuilding Pittsburgh Penguins. Could Artemi Panarin, in the final year of his contract with the New York Rangers, reunite with old friend Sergei Bobrovsky?

On the more reasonable end, Nashville Predators center Ryan O'Reilly would bring some of the defensive awareness lost with Barkov, and there's a non-zero chance Colorado Avalanche winger Martin Necas will be on the move for the second time in as many seasons.

Even if the Panthers can't land a big fish on the trade market, there are some intriguing internal options. Sam Bennett, fresh off his Conn Smythe Trophy performance in the postseason, will be the team's No. 1 center to start the season. Behind him is 24-year-old Anton Lundell, who is the more fascinating player.

Lundell has spent most of his time on the Panthers' third line because of their incredible depth. Now, he has something to prove in a larger role. Can he blossom in tougher minutes and become Florida's top option down the middle? It wouldn't necessarily shock me.

Bobrovsky beats Father Time

If the Panthers are going to go for three in a row -- especially given the state of the roster to start the season -- Sergei Bobrovsky has to be on top of his game. As recently as the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he was. Bobrovsky had a real case to win the Conn Smythe Trophy with 10.8 goals saved above average, which led all postseason goaltenders by a wide margin, per Natural Stat Trick.

The question is not, "Can Bobrovsky put the Panthers on his back?" It's more along the lines of, "How long can he keep this up?"

That's where things get a little murkier. Bobrovsky just turned 37, and goalies don't tend to get better at that point in their career. In the 2024-25 regular season, Bobrovsky posted 7.7 goals saved above average. That's a good number, but at 19th in the NHL, it's not elite. Given the absences of Tkachuk and Barkov, the Cats may need Bobrovsky to be something closer to elite for a full 82 games.

If the Panthers had a reliable option behind Bobrovsky, his age would be less of a concern. However, Florida traded its backup plan to the Chicago Blackhawks last season when it parted with Spencer Knight to acquire Seth Jones. Now, the Panthers have Daniil Tarasov behind Bobrovsky, and he's coming off a disastrous campaign with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

At this point, betting against Bobrovsky is probably a fool's errand. He's played like one of the best goaltenders in the world when the lights are at their brightest. He just needs to keep that going for at least one more season.

Defense, defense, defense

With or without Barkov and Tkachuk, the strength of this Panthers team was going to be its ability to keep opponents off the board. That has to do with the aforementioned Bobrovsky as well as an elite core of defensemen in Sunrise.

Gustav Forsling used to be one of the more underrated players in the league, but that's probably not the case anymore. He's the top dog on the blue line of the back-to-back Stanley Cup champs, and he's one of the best shutdown defensemen in the league. Between Forsling and Aaron Ekblad, the Panthers have a couple of great options at the top of the lineup.

In the immediate aftermath of the trade that brought him to Sunrise, Seth Jones looked out of sorts. The underlying numbers were bad, and it looked like a whiff by Florida. Then the playoffs came, and Jones looked like an elite player. Against the best teams in the NHL, Jones posted a plus-10 goal differential and a 55.2% expected goals share at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.

Rounding out the top four is the large and rangy Niko Mikkola, who has been a revelation in Florida and just got paid.

Dmitry Kulikov and Jeff Petry round out the top six, and the Panthers could do a lot worse than those two on their third pairing. Don't expect to see Florida surrendering crooked numbers on the scoreboard.