Florida Panthers had ‘spectacular and memorable’ 2024. Can they build on it in 2025?
Paul Maurice called 2024 a “spectacular and memorable year” for the Florida Panthers.
And honestly, who could argue with him?
There was obviously the highlight in June when they won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history after knocking off the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. The celebration that followed ensued for the better part of two months.
But there was more than just the crescendo of winning the Cup.
The Panthers locked up the majority of their core, giving out contract extensions to Sam Reinhart, Gustav Forsling, Anton Lundell, Carter Verhaeghe and Dmitry Kulikov after already having Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk signed long-term.
(Paul Maurice signed his own multiyear extension, too.)
And the Panthers didn’t let their foot off the gas as they began their title defense.
Florida enters its first game of the new year on Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes with a 23-13-2 record, tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the top spot of a stacked Atlantic Division that currently has five teams positioned to make the playoffs. The success comes even with the Panthers having to retool their fourth line and a good chunk of their defense pairings in addition to being without captain Aleksander Barkov for 10 games and a hectic travel schedule.
“I think it’s been a real challenge this year in a good way, but it wasn’t unknown,” We knew that we were going to face this a little bit. We’re actually, in some ways, ahead of where I thought we would be. We’ve handle it better than I thought we would.”
Now, Maurice knows it’s about finishing the job. The Panthers still have 46 games left in the regular season and then, hopefully, another deep playoff push.
“We are trending right,” Maurice said. “The things that we thought would be strengths are. The challenges that we’d have with some of the turnover, we’re working on that, but we’re aware of it. I think we’re right where we should be. I’m glad that there’s adversity. I’m glad that we’re not ripping through easy game wins. We’re not. We’ve got to grind for them, and we’re respecting that. So I would be as comfortable as you could be in an NHL season because you’re three bad games away from fighting for a playoff spot. It’s tough, especially in the Atlantic. Right now it looks like there’ll be five teams fighting for playoff spots, so it’s going to be a tough grind straight through, but I got lots of faith in them.”
Versatility is key
Maurice has never been one to shy away from mixing up his forward lines when he feels he needs a spark.
The coach has a luxury this season with multiple wingers who are able to move up and down the lineup and fit seamlessly with new linemates in Eetu Luostarinen, Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist.
“You move the people around the wings and you don’t lose anything,” Maurice said. “We just look different in a positive way with different players on the wings. ... You have to change the lines every once in a while or they get stale. A good line just doesn’t run straight through. Sometimes you get three brothers and they just fighting at the dinner table, and somebody’s got to go to the small table for a while.”
Maurice had Luostarinen play on the second line with center Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett in Florida’s 5-3 win over the New York Rangers on Monday. That line opened scoring just over three minutes into the game when Luostarinen redirected a shot from Forsling at the net front.
“I’d like to run that for a while,” Maurice said. “I’d like to see it for a while, because I can see it there.”
This story was originally published January 1, 2025 at 10:43 AM.
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