Can the Florida Panthers repeat

The Florida Panthers have been one of the NHL's best teams in the last couple of years. They have made it to the Stanley Cup Final the last two years.

They lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023, before making the return and winning it against the Edmonton Oilers last year.

Florida has been amazing so far this year. They hold an 18-9-2 record and are first in the Atlantic Division.

They are led in points by Sam Reinhart who has 39 points in 29 games played.

The team is loaded with players like Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk alongside Reinhart. They are also set in goal with Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight.

They did lose a big piece of their defense. Brandon Montour signed with the Seattle Kraken as a free agent. He scored 33 points in 66 games for the Panthers from the blue line last year.

To try and replace him Florida signed Adam Boqvist to a one-year contract, but replacing Montour is not easy.

The Panthers still have great depth which is what led them to winning the cup last year.

The biggest question is can they repeat this year? I think the answer to that question is no.

Yes, this Panthers’ team is playing well and is great on paper. But it comes down to how hard it is to repeat in the NHL.

It has happened more recently, as both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins have done it in the past 10 years. Before that, you need to go back to 1998 when the Detroit Redwings went back-to-back in 1997 and 1998.

The NHL playoffs are the hardest to play in. You play four best-of-seven series to hoist the cup. All of this paired with blocking 100 mph shots and taking massive hits leads to many injuries which players play through.

This is proven as Sam Bennett played through a knee injury in last year's playoffs while other players had plenty of injuries. Plus who doesn’t remember when Gregory Campbell broke his leg blocking a shot and stayed on the ice for about a minute with it?

This also comes after a grueling 82-game season. All of this combined makes it very difficult for teams to repeat.

The Panthers are not only looking to hoist the cup again this season. They are looking to go to the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight season.

The Panthers are one of the best-built rosters in hockey. They have four lines that can compete with almost anyone.

Their defense is solid led by Aaron Ekblad and they have two starting-caliber goaltenders.

It would seem like they are poised to repeat this season. The likelihood of this team repeating is very low.

Anything could come up such as injuries or plenty of other problems.

Repeating as a champion is one of the hardest things to do in any sport, but especially in hockey.

If there was anyone who could do it, the Panthers would be a top choice, but it is just too unlikely.

Andrew Matz is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email atm5759@psu.edu.