The Panthers Shouldn’t Make Any Crazy Moves After Disappointing Ending
By Jim Lynch
The Florida Panthers season seemed over when the Tampa Bay Lightning took game one. If it was not done then, it definitely was when Ross Colton scored with four seconds left in game two to give the Lightning the 2-0 series lead.
The Florida Panthers might have been the Presidents’ Trophy winners going into the playoffs, but the Lightning were the team holding the bigger accolade of two-time defending champs. The Panthers had the advantage against practically every team in the playoffs, except for the Lightning.
Even without Brayden Point, the Lightning managed to sweep the Panthers. That fact alone might force the Panthers’ hand here to make a move just for the case of making a move, but that shouldn’t be the case. This team needs to stay the course, and there are two teams of recent to prove they should.
The Washington Capitals won back-to-back Presidents’ Trophies in 2016 and 2017, yet in round two, they were treated with the Pittsburgh Penguins and were out of the postseason in back-to-back years losing to the champs.
In 2019 the Tampa Bay Lightning had one of the best regular-season the league has ever seen, yet they lost in four games to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Neither team made drastic moves after their losses despite a lot of outside pressure and probably even more internal pressure. They let that group work to get things done rather than blame a select few from the group that were the issue.
Both teams were rewarded with a championship eventually. Washington got things done in 2018 and Tampa Bay won back to back after getting swept – they could even win three in a row.
The Panthers’ season ended in disappointment, but it ended in disappointment against a heck of a good hockey team. The only way the Panthers can succeed in the postseason is by getting past the Lightning, which is thanks to the playoff format that drastically needs to be updated. Until it does the only way Florida can capture the Cup is if they get through Tampa Bay first.
The Panthers do not have a lot of cap space for next season, and they do have some free agents they are going to have to address, but at the end of the day bringing back the core for another shot at this definitely has to happen if the Panthers want to win next season.