The Florida Panthers are back in the Stanley Cup Final for the third year in a row and fourth in franchise history. It has been a challenging climb up the NHL food chain since the team entered the league in 1993, advancing to its first Stanley Cup Final in 1996. There were many lean years and early playoff exits along the way. And while Dale Tallon gets credit for assembling this roster, General Manager Bill Zito has been able to restructure it and take it to new heights.
Jim Nill and Bill Zito Are Frontrunners to Win General Manager of the Year Award
Zito is a finalist for the Jim Gregory Award as GM of the Year, having successfully brought in the right players and built a winning culture. That starts right at the top with owner Vincent Viola, who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. As Zito said on Media Day, the ownership’s belief has allowed him to build a winning culture and strive to win the Stanley Cup every year.
“I think the most important thing for us in attracting players is I think the players have understood now how much we’ve been empowered by ownership to try to do the right things,” Zito said on Media Day. “And it can’t be overstated what the Viola family has done for us to allow us to implement . We need a new practice facility? ‘OK. Here you go.’ And it’s beautiful. And to allow us the flexibility to try to do the things that we think are necessary to try to win and to try to have an excellent organization.”
That is the thing, more than anything else, that is the ownership commitment to the organization. Viola has given Zito free range to do pretty much anything he wants. Remember, it was Bill Zito who decided that the Florida Panthers culture needed to change. Zito, who joined the Panthers before the 2020-21 season, said after being swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, “You know what, this isn’t good enough; we need to be tougher to play against.”
The Lightning had beaten the Panthers back-to-back years in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Florida was getting tired of losing to the Lightning and being the little brother. So what does he do? He trades Jonathan Huberdeau, who recorded a 115-point season, along with MacKenzie Weegar, to the Calgary Flames for Matthew Tkachuk with an eight-year extension in place. Right there, he changed the whole dynamic of the Presidents Trophy-winning team.
NHL Rumors: The Florida Panthers Want To Keep Sam Bennett
Then Zito says, ‘I need a coach who will get this team to play the right way.’ Out is Andrew Brunette. In comes Paul Maurice. It took some time for the team to play the right way under Maurice. Remember, the Panthers needed help towards the tail end of the 2022-23 season to make the playoffs. Not to mention, they were a goal away twice from not advancing out of the first round in 2023 against the Boston Bruins.
However, there is buy-in from the players, regardless of whether they have been there before or have been acquired through trade, waivers, or free agency. There is an understanding that this is the way we play. There are no nights off, and you will fit into the team a certain way and accept that role.
Not to mention, look at the work he has done, beginning with the free agents he signed. Sergei Bobrovsky was already there and signed by Dale Tallon. However, he signed Carter Verhaeghe to a one-year deal in 2020 and turned that into a reputation for scoring big goals in the playoffs. He earned a new contract extension as a result. Other players include Ryan Lomberg, Nick Cousins, Niko Mikkola, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dmitry Kulikov, Anthony Stolarz, Kevin Stenlund, and Evan Rodrigues.
Only Mikkola, Rodrigues, and Kulikov remain from that group, but what does Bill Zito do during the 2024 offseason after winning the Stanley Cup? He signs Nate Schmidt, A.J. Greer, Jesper Boqvist, and Tomas Nosek. All of whom have contributed to the Florida Panthers’ run back to the Stanley Cup Final. Florida has 19 different goal scorers, and some of these players contribute to that stat.
NHL Rumors: Will The Florida Panthers Extend Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad?
Then there is what Bill Zito did on the trade market. He acquired Brandon Montour from the Buffalo Sabres in April of 2021. Montour was a crucial piece to the Panthers winning their first Stanley Cup before moving on to Seattle during free agency in the summer of 2024. In the same month, April of 2021, he traded for Sam Bennett from the Calgary Flames. Bennett, like Tkachuk, has changed the dynamic on the ice for the Panthers. It will be interesting to see if he stays or goes elsewhere.
In July 2021, Bill Zito traded for Sam Reinhart from the Sabres as well. Reinhart scores the game-winning and Stanley Cup-clinching goal in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. While it took some time, Reinhart stayed and signed an eight-year extension with the Panthers. In addition to Reinhart, Zito has traded for Vladimir Tarasenko, Steven Lorentz, and Kyle Okposo during their run last year.
When those guys leave via free agency, Zito finds new additions like Brad Marchand and Seth Jones this year at the trade deadline. Both players have been crucial in this run for the Panthers. There is hope that Bill Zito can secure a short-term deal for Marchand and a long-term deal for Bennett.
NHL Rumors: Florida Panthers UFAs; Bennett, Ekblad and Marchand
How could we forget about the Gustav Forsling waiver claim in 2021? That was a steal back then for the Panthers. That eight-year, $46 million, $5.75 million AAV deal is a steal. Forsling has become one of the Panthers’ top defensemen. He has fit perfectly into the top four in Paul Maurice’s system.
There is some discrediting of how Bill Zito operates the Florida Panthers due to the no state income tax debate, which is marginal at best. It’s not much of a thing because a lot of work goes behind the scenes, including managing the salary cap, pro and amateur scouting, drafting, developing, and the list goes on. Ownership has given the Florida Panthers general manager the opportunity to build this winning culture that players want to go to.
“I’ll point to Paul and the coaching staff and that room,” Zito continued on Media Day. “Players know — I’m not going to go through each one — but so many of the players who have come to us have had career years, and it’s a function of the coaches in the room. Players from the outside think that the tax thing is marginal at best, and I think the real reasons are that we’re trying to figure out a way to do our best to try to win.”
Bill Zito has made the Florida Panthers a destination for players; however, not all players can fit into this system. He always finds the right ones with the right attitudes to keep the wheel of success moving.
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