Over the last few seasons, the Florida Panthers have arguably been the hottest team in the NHL. Their back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances and wins have been a huge storyline for the league this year. However, their reign is slowly coming to an end, and fame can only last so long before it turns to infamy.

Personally, I think the league could benefit from a Pantherless playoffs this year.

This season has been anything but extraordinary for the defending champions. Currently, the Panthers are 19th in the NHL and three spots out of a wildcard spot. 

“I think this is a combination of their ‘Lord Stanley hangover,’ so to speak, injuries to key players in the organization and a decrease in roster depth due to salary cap restrictions,” said Will Culy, a Brother Rice varsity hockey player based in Chicago. He sees the Panthers’ woes as “roster-related, but mostly due to injuries.” 

The Panthers have, indeed, had a lot of their starters out due to injury this season. In September, left winger Matthew Tkachuk was ruled out until January, due to a torn adductor muscle he sustained in the 4 Nations Face-Off. Bill Zito, the manager of the Panthers, said that injury progressively worsened when he returned to play in last year’s Stanley Cup Final. 

NHL veterans Brad Marchand and Seth Jones are also currently injured. Marchand sustained an undisclosed injury during a game against the St. Louis Blues on Jan. 29, and is out day-to-day pending further evaluation. Jones sustained an upper body injury during the Winter Classic in January and was moved to long-term injured reserve, causing him to miss the 2026 Winter Olympics.  

While there is still a lot of hockey left to play this season, this team will not see the playoffs if something does not change soon. 

Regardless of how successful the team has been historically, one thing about them is for certain: They are the dirtiest team in the NHL in every aspect, especially in their violent and physical style of play and their unsportsmanlike conduct both on and off the ice.

“The Panthers have a scumbag play style, where they get away with everything,” said Daniel Carlin, a blogger for The Bolts Bulletin, a hockey blog that covers the Tampa Bay Lightning. “They target the opposing team’s best player, and it’s miraculous that when that happens, there’s never any penalties called.”

Some hockey fans enjoy the Panthers’ aggression and the on-ice slander against their opponents, but it rubs me and others the wrong way. There have been multiple instances where the Panthers have been anything but classy, and I agree that their behavior often goes unpunished by the league.

At a team celebration in June 2025, multiple Panthers players, including forward AJ Greer, started a series of expletive and derogatory chants against the Edmonton Oilers and their star player, Connor McDavid. The Panthers beat the Oilers in the Cup Finals twice in the last two years, and those victories have definitely gotten to their heads.

It seems that people have two opinions about the NHL’s villains: they’re going through a rough patch right now and will get back on track, or this is their well-deserved karma for the way they have acted.

One hockey fan called Tkachuk out on X, formerly Twitter, saying that he is a “coward and a bully all in one. All you keep hearing about is that he isn’t himself and he is hurt … guess that is what happens when you injure other players, karma finally catches up to you.”

While the disdain for the team runs rampant around the league, the hatred for their fans is even worse. Just as egotistical as their team, Panthers fans can be found in the comments of every social media post that criticizes their team or their players, most likely commenting something like, “Cry about it. We won two Cups back-to-back.”

But Culy, the hockey player who is originally from Florida, is different, citing that non-Panthers fans just don’t understand the dynamic of the team.

“I think outside fans don’t get how good the Panthers are,” he said. “They can get good when they really need to.”

However, Carlin questions the authenticity of the Panthers fan base, noting a previous lack of attendance at their games. He calls them “the worst fans in the league.”

I believe that the decline the Panthers are experiencing is a humbling reminder that what goes around, comes around. It reminds me of when people stand up to bullies on the playground and say, “You’re not so tough now, are you?” If the Panthers’ statistics do not improve soon and they miss the playoffs, then I will be very excited to watch some authentic and fair playoff hockey that includes tolerable teams. 

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