The Florida Panthers continue to fall deeper down the standings. With a record of 35-35-3, they are second-to-last and a whopping 15 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Still, the team is mathematically still alive in the playoff race with a chance to win three straight Stanley Cups. However, their recent slump shows just how bad the season has gone for them, and they may be calling it quits on this Cup-defending campaign.
Three Straight Losses Put the Nail in the Panthers’ Coffin
The Panthers are on a three-game losing streak, all in regulation. On top of that, they’ve dropped six of their last eight games.
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The team started that streak with a heartbreaking loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night, 3-2, with forward Joel Erickson Ek scoring the game-winning goal with just five seconds left in the third period.
On Saturday, the team looked as if it were going to bounce back against the New York Islanders. They started strong, with two goals from Matthew Tkachuk in the first period. But the Isles took over in the second by potting five unanswered goals, in a 5-2 win.
Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
The following contest was no better. After remaining scoreless for over two periods of play, the New York Rangers found the back of the net three times to win 3-1.
Injuries Derailed Panthers’ Season Before it Started
Before this season, Florida was hit with an insurmountable run of injuries. After the Stanley Cup Final, forward Matthew Tkachuk underwent surgery for a torn adductor. In September, forward and captain Aleksander Barkov suffered a torn ACL and MCL at practice and has missed the entire season.
A couple of games into the season, the catastrophe continued. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov suffered an upper-body injury and did not return until earlier this month. The same occurred with forward Jonah Gadjovich. At the Winter Classic, defenseman Seth Jones suffered an upper-body injury and only returned a few weeks ago.
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After the Olympic Break, forward Brad Marchand was shut down with a lower-body injury that might require surgery. On March 20, against the Calgary Flames, defenseman Niko Mikkola took a knee-on-knee hit that will cost him the rest of the season. Last week, forward Evan Rodrigues broke his finger against the Wild and is also done for the year.
It would be difficult for any team to find success with the amount of work a coach has to do to plug these holes.
Panthers Have a Bright Future Ahead
For a team that has played more games than any other in the NHL, a summer off may not be the worst thing. The Panthers do not see this as an end to their potential dynasty.
“There’s a future here. We’re not at the tail-end of our story. We’re in the middle of our story,” Maurice said. “We do not feel this is a sad chapter to a really fun book. This is a piece of adversity that we have the opportunity to truly galvanize our culture. You can say the culture wasn’t just great when they won, but the culture was great when they got kicked in the teeth. That’s what we should be doing.’’
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice on the adversity of the 2025-26 season.
Missing the playoffs will give players who have suffered injuries time to rest for next season, regardless of their severity. The Panthers might also get a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, giving them a chance to land a top prospect or use it as capital to make an acquisition. This is not the ending that Florida envisioned for itself after back-to-back Stanley Cups. But it will lead to a brighter future.
