They helped Florida win a Stanley Cup last year. Now, they want to knock out the Panthers
Steven Lorentz still keeps in touch with his teammates from last season.
Most of the time.
“That’s not happening right now,” Lorentz said Monday with a grin.
Lorentz was part of the Florida Panthers team last season that won its first-ever Stanley Cup. The bond he has with that group, he said, is one “you have for the rest of your life.”
“It was a dream come true,” Lorentz said.
But that bond isn’t going to hold Lorentz back from his current goal.
Lorentz is one of three players from that 2023-24 Panthers team now playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida’s second-round opponent in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and goaltender Anthony Stolarz are the others. The trio will always have the fond memory of winning their first Stanley Cup, but now they have to get past their former team in order to make a run at another this year.
“It’s definitely going to be weird going up to battle against those guys,” Lorentz said, “but I’m also not going to take any prisoners out there. I have to play my game, and we’re trying to chase the Cup here with this group. It’s business.”
The business part of the game is what ultimately led the three to Toronto. Ekman-Larsson and Lorentz played on league-minimum deals when they were with the Panthers. Stolarz had a one-year, $1.1 million contract with Florida.
Ekman-Larsson and Stolarz have since gotten pay raises — Ekman-Larsson signed a four-year deal with an average salary of $3.5 million, while Stolarz has a two-year deal worth $2.5 million per year — while Lorentz won a roster spot for his hometown Maple Leafs after not getting an opportunity to resign with the Panthers.
All three have produced for their new team.
Stolarz, despite missing about two months of the season due to a knee injury, went 21-8-3 in 34 games (33 starts) with a .926 save percentage and 2.14 goals against average in the regular season while splitting time with Joseph Woll. He then started all six of Toronto’s games in its first-round series against the Ottawa Senators, stopping 128 of 144 shots he faced.
Ekman-Larsson logged 29 points (four goals, 25 assists) and had a career high plus-minus rating of plus-14 during the regular season. He scored two goals in Toronto’s first-round series against Ottawa.
And Lorentz tied a career high with 19 points in the regular season while playing in 80 of 82 games.
“Good for all of them,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I think Oliver Ekman-Larsson had established his career long before he came to us and was a big part of our success last year. But both those men — Steve Lorentz and Anthony — are at a new level, a new opportunity for them in Toronto, and they’ve made the most of it. They’ve played very, very well. We’re happy for them. Those guys — they’re not just ‘were’ a big part of it; that story gets to endure in our locker room for the men that played, so they still are a big part of that story. I’m happy they’ve been able to find a place where their opportunity and their input to the success of the Toronto Maple Leafs is really important.”
And Lorentz said that value extends beyond just what the three are doing on the ice and more about “what I can bring to the locker room on this team for guys who haven’t been able to do that before.”
“I can share my knowledge,” Lorentz said. “And I think OEL and Stoli and I have tried to do our best to make guys aware of certain situations and stuff like that if they haven’t been in those spots before. It’s a group that’s hungry to win here. So as long as you’ve got that drive and that determination to try to get it done, then we’re more than happy to share experiences with those other guys.”
That said, the Panthers — just like Lorentz, Stolarz and Ekman-Larsson — are putting friendships to the side, at least for the next four to seven games. When the puck drops, the game becomes the game.
There’s a spot in the Eastern Conference final — and after that a chance to reach the Stanley Cup Final — on the line. That’s the priority.
“In our business, it happens often — you play with guys and then you play against against them,” Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrosvky said. “Like, look at [Brad] Marchand. You would have never thought you would played on same team [at Florida] and all of a sudden we compete together for our dream. It is it, is what it is. We’re gonna compete, and it’s gonna be a challenge.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2025 at 1:20 PM.
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