The Florida Panthers may be the deepest forward group in the NHL, and that makes one question stand out as training camp and the season approach: who actually finishes first on the team scoring list?
The answer, at least on paper, still starts with Sam Reinhart. He has been Florida’s leading scorer for three straight seasons, including his 57-goal breakout in 2023-24.
Last season, even with a lingering foot issue that shut him down in March, Reinhart still paced the Panthers with 61 points on 29 goals. If you were making a safe bet, he’d be the one.
Reinhart enters his sixth season in Florida with the kind of role that keeps feeding offense. He is expected to be part of the top power play unit with Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, and Seth Jones, and that group should spend plenty of time making life miserable for penalty killers. He also figures to get a steady stream of chances alongside Barkov and BT on the top line, at least to start.
Matthew Tkachuk is another obvious threat, even if his value goes well beyond the box score. In his first season with the Panthers, he led the club with 109 points and piled up 69 assists. He has always been willing to spread the puck around, and with his brother now in the mix, that tendency could continue.
Brady Tkachuk brings his own scoring punch. The former Ottawa captain last led his team in scoring in 2023-24, when he scored 37 goals and finished with 74 points.
He had led the Senators in scoring four times since the 2019-20 season and still topped Ottawa with 29 goals last year despite missing time because of injury. So, yeah, this cat can score some points.
There are other names in the mix too. Brad Marchand was a surprise offensive force last season, and Paul Maurice was asked often how he was scoring at over a point-a-game pace.
Maurice’s answer was simple: “But, we need it,’’ Marchand finished with 54 points in 52 games before being shut down because of a lingering hip/sports hernia issue. Florida is not counting on the 38-year-old to carry the load, but he should have chances on a line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, a trio that forces turnovers and creates odd-man rushes.
Carter Verhaeghe also belongs in the conversation. He can create space for himself and has a shot that can punish teams when it’s working.
A few seasons ago, he led the Panthers with 42 goals, then followed that with 34 the next year. He hasn’t scored quite at that level since, but he has reached 20 goals in five straight seasons and continues to get opportunities in Florida’s top six.
Sasha Barkov is another player who could easily end up on top if everything breaks right. He has already led the Panthers in points and goals before, most recently in 2018-19 when he posted 96 points and 35 goals. With so much firepower around him, Barkov should rack up assists, but he can finish too when the puck finds him.
Sam Bennett came within four points of Reinhart for the team lead last season, and he has a path to the top if things fall his way. He is expected to begin on the second power play unit, which cuts into some of his upside, but he remains a strong 5-on-5 producer and should spend time with at least one of the Tkachuk brothers, if not both.
Then there’s Seth Jones, who gets a mention more because of opportunity than history. The Panthers have never had a defenseman lead the team in scoring.
Not once. Brian Campbell finished second in 2013, and Robert Svehla and Mike Van Ryn have finished third a few times, but that’s the extent of it.
Jones probably isn’t the favorite, but if he is quarterbacking what could be a very dangerous top power play unit, he’ll have a chance to pile up points. Last season, a third of his goals and points came on the power play in limited action because of injuries.
Reinhart remains the most likely answer. But with this roster, the Panthers have more than one player who can make the race interesting.
In Other News...
Cooper Black Is Suddenly A Goalie Panthers Fans Need To Watch
Cooper Blacks rise in the Panthers system has been quick enough to make him worth tracking, especially for a team that always has an eye on organizational depth in net. After finishing his NCAA season at Dartmouth, he signed his entry-level deal with Florida on April 2, 2024, then got his first taste of pro hockey with the Charlotte Checkers. By October, he had already picked up his first AHL win, a sign that the transition from college to the pro game was moving in the right direction.
Blacks path got another boost on June 8, 2025, when he landed a two-year, two-way extension that keeps him in the mix as he continues with Charlotte. For Panthers fans, that matters because goaltending depth can change fast, and Black now looks like the kind of prospect who could be next in line if the NHL club needs help. He is still developing, but he is suddenly the sort of goalie who belongs on the watch list. [Read more 🡒]