The Florida Panthers are back in the Stanley Cup Final like they never left. Matthew Tkachuk and company will compete for the NHL’s most coveted trophy for the third straight year, aiming to secure back-to-back championships. As they await the winner of the Western Conference Final between Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers and Mikko Rantanen’s Dallas Stars, Tkachuk made a bold admission about the mindset fueling Florida’s run.
The Panthers have become a staple of success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it all started after trading for Matthew Tkachuk and hiring Paul Maurice as head coach. Since then, the Cats have been on a tear, and the rest of the NHL has had little to no answers for the team in Sunrise.
Florida is now four wins away from its second Stanley Cup in franchise history, and second in as many seasons. The Panthers clearly learned their lesson after the defeat in 2023 against the Vegas Golden Knights and now have as much experience in decisive games as any other team in the NHL.
Neither McDavid’s Oilers nor Rantanen’s Stars should expect to find Tkachuk and the Panthers flat-footed in a potential Stanley Cup Final showdown—and Florida’s star made sure to remind them of that, following a rather subdued celebration of the Eastern Conference championship.
Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers skates against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on February 23, 2025 in Washington, DC.
“I remember a few years ago it felt like such an accomplishment,” Tkachuk told reporters after the Eastern Conference crowning. “This year, it’s all business. It was really different two years ago. It was so new to us. Whoever we play, we’ll be very prepared for them. It’s not our first rodeo with this.”
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Not testing their luck
The Panthers have already been on both sides of the superstition surrounding the conference trophies in the NHL and have made their stance clear now. The Cats touched the Prince of Wales trophy after their Eastern Conference championship in 2023, and went on to lose the Stanley Cup Final.
They decided to keep their distance from it after their victory over the New York Rangers in the 2024 ECF, and it paid off as they hoisted the Stanley Cup that season. This time around Tkachuk and the Panthers stayed away from the trophy, not even daring to look at it for too long. They now await for their rival to be decided between the Oilers and Stars.
Matthew Tkachuk #19 of the Florida Panthers looks on before a face off against the New Jersey Devils during the second period at Prudential Center on January 14, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey.
Job’s not finished
Brad Marchand may be new to the Panthers, but he already looks like a lifelong Cat. He bought into the team’s mentality from the moment he first wore the jersey. Marchand has even embraced the Panthers’ signature tradition—developing his own routine with the victory rats fans toss onto the ice—and, like everyone in the organization, he’s chasing history.
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“We haven’t accomplished anything yet,” Brad Marchandadmitted. “We carried on that moment, and we got to our game. We knew they were going to come out the way they did, and we knew all it took was one shot to get us back in it. We just had that belief. It was great we were able to pull it out.”
