With the Panthers on summer break, it’s hard not to look back at the last 18 seasons and the long run of names, moments and odd little hockey twists that have filled the pressbox.
The front office, meanwhile, has been busy. Free agency opened right as the Panthers held their annual development camp, where young talent is showcased and evaluated, and Bill Zito and his staff had plenty on their plate with Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov both unsigned going into free agency, plus a long list of players with expiring contracts. If the Panthers’ recent history says anything, they may still not be finished, even if the roster looks pretty set.
Over those 18 seasons, the best estimate is that 299 players have worn a Panthers uniform in that span. Since the franchise began, 485 players have suited up for Florida. Sasha Barkov and Aaron Ekblad are tied for the most regular-season games played, with 804 apiece.
The list of one-game Panthers is a short one, with six players appearing just once during that 18-season stretch. Across the full franchise history, the briefest appearance belongs to Paul Brousseau, who logged one game against Columbus in 2001 and finished with 1:39 of ice time.
The shortest goalie stint belongs to Brian Foster. Called up from the AHL to back up Scott Clemmenson after Jose Theodore was injured, Foster’s NHL career with Florida lasted 4:52.
He made one save and left with a 0.00 goals-against average. On Feb. 4, 2012, in Tampa, he entered at 15:08 of the second period after Clemmenson was slightly shaken up.
Clemmenson came back for the third, and that was the end of Foster’s time in the NHL.
There’s a quirky stat line in the goaltending department, too. Among Panthers goalies who played more than 20 games, the lowest goals-against averages belonged to backups: Anthony Stolarz at 2.03 in his one season and Chris Driedger at 2.07 in his two partial seasons. Bobrovsky, who brought two Stanley Cups to Florida, had a 2.80 average in a Panthers uniform.
Roberto Luongo leads all Panthers goalies in games played with 572, while Bobrovsky is at 349.
The NHL didn’t start tracking time on ice until the 2005-06 season, but even with that limitation, the numbers tell a clear story. Barkov led the team over this 18-season window with 286 goals and 782 points.
Matthew Tkachuk owns the best points-per-game mark at 1.19. Ekblad has the most penalty minutes at 560, with Sam Bennett second at 433 despite playing in fewer than half as many games.
Barkov’s 84 power-play goals in 804 games top the group, though Sam Reinhart is right there with 83 in 385 games.
The highs and lows have been dramatic. Florida had just 36 points in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, a finish that put them in position to draft Barkov. On the other end of the scale, the Panthers reached 122 points in 2021-22 and captured the Presidents’ Trophy.
Some losses still sting. The most crushing home defeat was the double-overtime Game 7 loss to New Jersey in 2012, coming after the Panthers had gone 10 seasons without making the playoffs. The toughest road loss was the double-overtime Game 6 defeat in Brooklyn to the Islanders, which ended Florida’s brief run in the 2016 playoffs.
And then there were the moments that stand out for all the right reasons: the two Cup wins at home.
There were also plenty of milestones along the way. Keith Yandle and Roberto Luongo each reached 1,000 NHL games.
Jaromir Jagr recorded his 1,888th point, moving past Mark Messier for second place behind Wayne Gretzky. Jeff Petry and Dmitry Kulikov both hit 1,000 games more recently, and Brad Marchand reached 1,000 points.
A few Florida moments were memorable for reasons beyond the scoreboard. The 20-round shootout against Washington in 2014 set a record.
In 2015, both Panthers goalies, Luongo and Al Montoya, were injured, and Montoya stayed in the game in obvious pain until Luongo, who had gone to a hospital in Weston for a CT scan and was in street clothes, put his gear back on and returned to action. During that delay, Robb Tallas, who was ineligible, and forward Derek MacKenzie were ready to step in.
That situation eventually led the NHL to create the “EBUG” rule, requiring every team to have a designated emergency backup goaltender available for either side if both goalies were unable to play. That rule was changed before this coming season, with teams now required to employ a designated travelling emergency backup goaltender.
Florida also hosted the NHL draft in 2015, the one that produced Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. One detail from that day still stood out: McDavid said he spent the day before the event jet skiing.
In 2023, South Florida hosted NHL All-Star weekend after a two-year delay caused by covid, a showcase built purely for fun and the league’s best players. During the 2023-24 season, the Panthers moved into their new state-of-the-art training facility.
The IcePlex in Ft. Lauderdale includes two sheets of ice, a restaurant and a large team store, and with the team’s recent success, merchandise sales have soared.
Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring, but it’s been quite a ride.
In Other News...
Brady Tkachuk Just Made Panthers-Senators Rivalry A Whole Lot More Personal
Shane Pinto did not sound like a player trying to spin away the loss of a franchise face. The Senators center acknowledged the surprise around Brady Tkachuks move to Florida, but he also recognized the larger reality that comes with a trade involving a former captain: the emotional hit is real, and so is the business side of hockey. For Ottawa, it was the kind of move that changes the feel of a room, even if everyone understands why a player might want a new path.
What makes this one sting a little more for the Panthers is the destination. Tkachuk landed in Florida with the chance to play alongside his brother, and now the two teams are set to see plenty of each other as divisional opponents this season. For a rivalry that already had edge, the next round of Panthers-Senators matchups suddenly carries a much more personal layer. [Read more 🡒]