Florida Panthers

Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference · 22 reports in the 2023-24 edition.

This is the 2023-24 edition — an archived read, written from that season alone. Read the 2026-27 club page →

The club

2022-23 · 82 games · 218 for, 237 against

How it played

Shot attempts share, five-on-five: 54.3% 3rd of 32
Expected goals share, five-on-five: 53.6% 5th of 32
Power play expected goals per sixty: 7.48 10th of 32
Penalty kill expected goals allowed per sixty: 6.24 3rd of 32

Where the record lies

Finishing goals scored above what the chances were worth: +2.3 15th of 32
Goaltending goals prevented beyond what the chances allowed were worth: +4.3 12th of 32

Florida Panthers finished close to the chances underneath them at both ends. The record is roughly what the play deserved.

Roster shape

Points-weighted, so these are the ages and origins of the production rather than of the sweaters.

Average age: 27.0; weighted by points
From 33 and up: 0.0%; of skater points
From under 26: 26.8%; of skater points
Homegrown: 21.3%; drafted by this club
Continuity: 68.4%; of last season's five-on-five minutes

The read

the numbers, and the eye

Ninety-two points, seventeenth in the league, and a run to the Stanley Cup Final that began by beating the club with the best record in hockey.

Who this names 11 of 22 on the roster · 47% of their five-on-five minutes details

Both columns above are searched, and a name counts on the same terms the page links it: in full always, by surname only when one man in the edition wears it. Nothing here says who ought to be named — only who was, so the weighting can be seen rather than guessed at.

Not named here: Sam Bennett, Sergei Bobrovsky, Nick Cousins, Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Ryan Lomberg, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Joshua Mahura, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe.

What the Quant Says

42-32-8, 92 points, 17th in the league and fourth in the Atlantic.

290 goals for, 5th. 273 against, 21st. Second in the league at creating chances at even strength, 3rd in shot-attempt share, 4th on the power play with the second-most power-play time — and 20th at suppressing chances and 16th on the kill.

At five-on-five: 191 goals scored against 188.7 expected, and 159 conceded against 163.3. The finishing was 15th at plus-2.3 and the goaltending 12th at plus-4.3. Almost nothing was borrowed. A 92-point club that was second in the league at making chances and twentieth at stopping them is exactly what those numbers describe.

Florida beat Boston in seven after Boston had won 65 games, beat Toronto in five, swept Carolina in the conference final, and lost the Stanley Cup Final to Vegas in five.

Matthew Tkachuk had 109 points and 123 penalty minutes — the only man in the league with a hundred of each. Brandon Montour had 73 points and 107 penalty minutes, which no other defenceman in the league did.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Niko Mikkola, Dmitry Kulikov, Evan Rodrigues, Steven Lorentz, Kevin Stenlund, Jonah Gadjovich and Anthony Stolarz all arrive. Radko Gudas, Marc Staal, Eric Staal, Colin White, Anthony Duclair, Alex Lyon and Spencer Knight do not.

Seven of the eight arrivals are bottom-six forwards or third-pair defencemen. The top of this roster is unchanged and it is very good; the part that finished twentieth at suppressing chances has been rebuilt out of other clubs' spare parts.

What the Scout Says

A hundred points and a hundred penalty minutes from the same man, and a defenceman who did both.

Matthew Tkachuk had 40 goals, 109 points and 123 penalty minutes. Brandon Montour had 73 points and 107 penalty minutes at 24:08 a night. Aleksander Barkov had 78 points and 8 penalty minutes.

This is a heavy, fast, deeply unpleasant club at one end of the rink and an ordinary one at the other. It reached a Stanley Cup Final as the seventeenth-best team in the regular season, which is either the most encouraging fact on this page or the least repeatable one.

Who this names 9 of 13 forwards · 79% of their five-on-five minutes details

Not named here: Nick Cousins, Jonah Gadjovich, Steven Lorentz, Kevin Stenlund.

What the Quant Says

290 goals, 5th in the league.

Florida created 3.088 expected goals per 60 at even strength, 2nd in the league, and took 54.3 per cent of the shot attempts at five-on-five, 3rd, and 53.6 per cent of the expected goals, 5th.

At five-on-five it scored 191 goals against an expectation of 188.7 — a surplus of 2.3, 15th in the league. Second in the league at making chances, fifteenth at converting them, fifth in goals.

Matthew Tkachuk had 40 goals and 109 points with 123 penalty minutes — the only player in the league with a hundred points and a hundred penalty minutes. Aleksander Barkov had 23 and 78 in 68 games on 8 penalty minutes. Carter Verhaeghe scored 42 goals, Brandon Montour had 16 and 73 from the blue line, Sam Reinhart 31 and 67 with 16 power-play goals and Eetu Luostarinen 17 and 43.

Evan Rodrigues arrives from Colorado with 16 goals and 39 points.

What the Scout Says

The most complete power forward in the league, and a captain who took eight penalty minutes.

Matthew Tkachuk is 6-2 and 202 and takes 58 per cent of his shots from inside 20 feet, at a median of 15. The 95 in compete and the 94 in hockey sense are the highest forward grades in this chapter, and he registered a burst above twenty miles an hour once every ten games — he does all of this without skating. He is the elder of Keith Tkachuk's two sons in this league and the one who plays most like his father.

Aleksander Barkov is 6-3 and 214 and covers 3.40 miles a game, more ground than most defencemen, on 8 penalty minutes in 68 games. The 96 in hockey sense is the highest grade on any card in this chapter.

Carter Verhaeghe is 6-2 and 183 and was 82nd overall in 2013, taken by a club that never played him a game; he scored 42 goals at 27. Sam Reinhart is 6-1 and takes 51 per cent of his shots from inside 20 feet. Sam Bennett is 6-1 and 193 with 480 career penalty minutes and two Florida seasons better than any of his six in Calgary.

Eetu Luostarinen took six shots on goal from beyond 40 feet in 82 games — fewer than Connor McDavid. Anton Lundell is 22 with the softest registered shot among the regular forwards. Ryan Lomberg is 5-9 with 88 penalty minutes and the 93rd percentile in top speed.

Who this names 7 of 7 defencemen · 100% of their five-on-five minutes details

What the Quant Says

Florida allowed 2.680 expected goals per 60 at even strength, 20th in the league, and conceded 273 goals, 21st. Second at one end of the ice and twentieth at the other.

At five-on-five it conceded 159 goals against an expectation of 163.3, and the club's goaltending came in 4.3 goals better than the chances it faced, 12th in the league.

Brandon Montour played 80 games at 24:08 with 73 points and 107 penalty minutes. Nobody else on a blue line in this league did both. He covered 3.54 miles a game, the 98th percentile.

Gustav Forsling played all 82 at 23:26 and finished plus-19, a fifth-round pick Vancouver traded and Chicago waived. Aaron Ekblad had 38 points in 71 games at 23:24 and has not played eighty games since 2018-19. Joshua Mahura played all 82 at 14:02 with a 57.1 per cent chance share.

Niko Mikkola arrives at 6-6, having played the season between St. Louis and New York. Dmitry Kulikov returns with a 38.9 per cent chance share, having played the season between Anaheim and Pittsburgh, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson arrives from Vancouver with 902 career games and a minus-24 in 54. Radko Gudas has gone to Anaheim and Marc Staal to Philadelphia.

What the Scout Says

Seventy-three points and a hundred and seven penalty minutes from one defenceman, and a fifth-round pick playing twenty-three minutes beside him.

Brandon Montour is 6-0 and 199, 55th overall in 2014, from the Six Nations of the Grand River — one of the few Indigenous defencemen this league has had at the top of a blue line. He covers 3.54 miles a game at the 98th percentile and shoots 97.9 mph. The 86 in playmaking and the 84 in compete are the highest defensive grades in this chapter.

Gustav Forsling is 6-1 and 199 and was a fifth-round pick, traded by Vancouver and waived by Chicago, and he plays 23:26 a night at 82 games a season. This book has no metric for what changed and will not invent one; what it can record is that two organisations had him and neither found it.

Aaron Ekblad is 6-4 and 220 and was first overall in 2014 at eighteen, a Calder winner, and has never played anywhere else. The rate has always been there and the games have not.

Niko Mikkola is 6-6 and arrives with 170 NHL games and the 11th percentile in registered shot speed. Dmitry Kulikov returns after seven organisations in seven years, which is a market verdict. Oliver Ekman-Larsson arrives with 902 games, 439 points and a career minus-128.

Who this names 2 of 2 goaltenders details

What the Quant Says

The club's goaltending came in 4.3 goals better than the chances it faced, 12th in the league.

Sergei Bobrovsky went 24-20-3 with a .9011 and a 3.07 in 50 games at 35, facing 1,466 shots. His career line across 642 games is a .9149, with two Vezina Trophies in Columbus behind it, and four Florida seasons under .9130.

Anthony Stolarz arrives from Anaheim, where he went 5-6-0 with an .8968 in 19 games behind the worst defensive club in the league. He is 6-6 and 248 pounds — the heaviest goaltender in this book — and his career line across 81 games is a .9112.

Spencer Knight played 21 games and does not return, and Alex Lyon 15 and has gone to Detroit.

Bobrovsky's regular-season save percentage has been under .913 in each of his four Florida years, and the club reached a Stanley Cup Final behind him anyway. Nothing in this book can price that, and the page says so rather than pretending.

What the Scout Says

Two Vezinas, four Florida seasons under .913, and a Stanley Cup Final.

Sergei Bobrovsky is 6-2 and 180 and went 24-20-3 with a .9011 in 50 games at 35. He is the lightest goaltender in this chapter, plays an aggressive, athletic game, and has 642 NHL games and a career .9149 behind him. Every one of his four Florida regular seasons has finished under .9130, and the club reached a Stanley Cup Final anyway.

Anthony Stolarz arrives at 6-6 and 248 — the heaviest goaltender in this book — with a career .9112 across 81 games and an .8968 behind the worst defensive club in the league. He takes up an enormous amount of net simply by standing in it.

Spencer Knight does not return and Alex Lyon has gone to Detroit. Florida is entering the season with a 35-year-old who has not posted a .913 since he arrived and a backup with 81 career games. On a club that finished twentieth at suppressing chances, that is the exposure.

Who this names 9 men details

The data does not say who takes these minutes, so there is no denominator to hold this against — a count of names is all it can honestly be. Both columns above are searched, and a name counts on the same terms the page links it.

What the Quant Says

16th in the league at 6.583 expected goals against per 60, over 5:47 a night — the fourth-most shorthanded time of any club. A great deal of ice at an ordinary rate.

Anton Lundell scored 2 shorthanded goals, Aleksander Barkov 1 and Aaron Ekblad 1. Kevin Stenlund scored 2 elsewhere and Steven Lorentz 1.

Aleksander Barkov has 12 career shorthanded goals in 664 games, the most on the roster, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson arrives with 4 in 902. Anton Lundell has 3 in 138 — by rate the largest figure here — Brandon Montour 3 in 454 and Kevin Stenlund arrives with 2 in 125.

Matthew Tkachuk took 123 penalty minutes and Brandon Montour 107, which is a large part of why this club spent the fourth-most time in the league a man down. Ryan Lomberg took 88 in 82 games at 11:19 a night.

Florida is on special teams more than almost any club in hockey, and it is much better at one end of that than the other.

What the Scout Says

Sixteenth in the league on the fourth-most shorthanded time, and the club puts itself there.

Aleksander Barkov has 12 career shorthanded goals in 664 games and 124 penalty minutes across ten seasons — the most complete two-way centre in this chapter and the reason the rate is not worse.

Anton Lundell has 3 career shorthanded goals in 138 games, by rate the largest figure on the roster, and scored 2 at 22.

Matthew Tkachuk took 123 penalty minutes, Brandon Montour 107 and Ryan Lomberg 88. That is the cost of how this club plays, and it is paid in shorthanded minutes rather than in anything the standings show directly.

Kevin Stenlund arrives with 2 career shorthanded goals in 125 games and Steven Lorentz at 6-4 with 1 in 192. Both were signed to take these minutes, and neither of them changes the arithmetic above.

The roster

Evidence 0 Full 20 Light 2 No record

No measured season behind two of them: Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz. Their pages carry an older stat line and a judgment, and nothing from 2022-23.

Aleksander Barkov

C · Florida Panthers

Seventy-eight points and eight penalty minutes, and he covers more ground per game than most defencemen.

Sam Bennett

C · Florida Panthers

Six Calgary seasons that never reached forty points, and then two Florida seasons that both did.

Sergei Bobrovsky

G · Florida Panthers

Two Vezinas in Columbus, four Florida seasons under .9130, and thirty-five years old.

Nick Cousins

C · Florida Panthers

The softest registered shot in this chapter, at the 1st percentile, on a ninth season and a sixth organisation.

Aaron Ekblad

D · Florida Panthers

First overall in 2014, nine seasons in one place, and he has not played eighty games since 2018-19.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson

D · Florida Panthers

Sixth overall in 2009, 902 games, and a minus-24 in fifty-four before Vancouver moved on from the contract.

Gustav Forsling

D · Florida Panthers

A fifth-round pick Vancouver traded and Chicago waived, playing 23:26 a night on a Stanley Cup Final club.

Jonah Gadjovich

LW · Florida Panthers

Fifty-seven penalty minutes in thirty-five games at under nine minutes a night, and the lowest distance reading on the club.

Dmitry Kulikov

D · Florida Panthers

Florida's first-round pick in 2009, back after seven other organisations and the sixth-worst chance share in the league.

Ryan Lomberg

LW · Florida Panthers

Five foot nine, the 93rd percentile in top speed, and the 6th percentile in distance covered.

Steven Lorentz

C · Florida Panthers

A seventh-round pick, six foot four, and his ice scored twenty-two goals against an expectation of thirty-two.

Anton Lundell

C · Florida Panthers

Forty-four points as a rookie, thirty-three as a sophomore, and the softest registered shot among Florida's regular forwards.

Eetu Luostarinen

C · Florida Panthers

Six shots on goal from beyond forty feet in eighty-two games — fewer than McDavid took.

Joshua Mahura

D · Florida Panthers

Anaheim gave him seventy-nine games in four seasons; Florida gave him eighty-two in one.

Niko Mikkola

D · Florida Panthers

Six foot six, and the eleventh percentile for registered shot speed.

Brandon Montour

D · Florida Panthers

Seventy-three points and a hundred and seven penalty minutes — nobody else on a blue line in this league did both.

Sam Reinhart

C · Florida Panthers

The 90th percentile in chance share and a minus-12, which is what happens when the puck ignores the process at both ends.

Evan Rodrigues

C · Florida Panthers

Undrafted out of Boston University, and the 93rd percentile in chance share on the club that won the Cup the year before.

Kevin Stenlund

C · Florida Panthers

Four Columbus seasons that produced seventy-one games, and then fifty-four in Winnipeg at twenty-six.

Anthony Stolarz

G · Florida Panthers

The heaviest goaltender in this book at 248 pounds, and an .8968 behind the worst defensive club in the league.

Matthew Tkachuk

LW · Florida Panthers

The only player in the league with a hundred points and a hundred penalty minutes, and he registered a burst of speed once every ten games.

Carter Verhaeghe

C · Florida Panthers

Thirteen points at twenty-four, forty-two goals at twenty-seven, and a third-round pick Toronto never played.

How they were used

2022-23 · 82 games

Measured from shift charts at five-on-five, not projected. Units are built from the strongest partnership outward and ordered by how much they were used; the percentage is the share of the first player’s five-on-five ice time spent alongside each linemate. A low number means the club never settled on a combination. Players who have gone are marked — either to another club, or off an NHL roster altogether, which covers retirement and an unsigned summer alike.