Fielding questions from the media in the aftermath of his second consecutive Stanley Cup, Florida coach Paul Maurice had praise for all of his Panthers in their six-game victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
But he only got emotional when he spoke about one particular player: Tomas Nosek.
Nosek, of course, wasn’t one of the Panthers’ stars and, in fact, started the Cup final as a goat when his puck-over-the-glass penalty late in the first OT period led to Edmonton’s power-play game-winner in Game 1.
After that setback, Maurice had assured reporters that Nosek’s team would rally around the veteran. And in the end, the gaffe was merely a footnote in hockey history.
But with the title clinched and all of Pantherdom in rapture again, Maurice practically teared up when talking about Nosek and what he meant to the team. The coach believed that one of his own errors on a line-change call had cost his Cats in a different game, so he felt an affinity with his fourth-liner. Nosek hadn’t been on the 2024 edition of the Panthers, but now he and Maurice were champions together.
And this wasn’t the first time Maurice had brought up his fourth line.
Several times during the final, he made it clear that Florida probably wouldn’t have beaten Toronto in Round 2 if it weren’t for the play of Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich and A.J. Greer. The Leafs were already up 2-0 in the series and in control of Game 3 when the fourth line helped flip the momentum. So, with the clock winding down in Game 6 against Edmonton and the Cup secured, Maurice made sure it was Nosek’s line out on the ice.
The long-winded message here? Depth matters. In a copycat league, those who wish to depose the Panthers in 2025-26 should realize that a couple of superstars can’t win a title by themselves – it takes all four lines and all three ‘D’ pairings.
So, perhaps it’s not surprising that several teams looking to take that next step in the playoffs made sure to shore up their own depth this summer. Toronto was one of them.
Though the Maple Leafs lost superstar Mitch Marner – a big blow to the depth chart, no doubt – Toronto got a couple of playoff-style bottom-sixers in the wake of Marner heading to Vegas. Nicolas Roy was the return in the Marner sign-and-trade, while crash-and-bang winger Dakota Joshua came via a trade with Vancouver later in the off-season.
For some Toronto fans, this could cynically be seen as an upgrade. They believed that Marner was often rendered ineffective when playoff series got serious, so bringing in two players who could help in such games while losing one who hadn’t is just simple math. And Roy and Joshua do fit the profile of players who could beat the Panthers. Roy already did it, in fact, when his Golden Knights ran over Florida in the 2023 Cup final.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the Devils made similar tinkering moves to augment a team with deep playoff aspirations. Connor Brown, who has been to two finals in a row with Edmonton, has taken his talents to Newark, while Evgenii Dadonov comes in from Dallas, where he made three solid post-season runs with the Stars.
Obviously, any playoff success in New Jersey is going to hinge on Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt, but Brown has proven to be a deft penalty-killer in recent times, while Dadonov can provide secondary scoring. These are the days of crossing all your T’s and dotting your I’s.
Of course, both of those Eastern Conference teams may have to go through the actual Florida Panthers if they want to become the next Florida Panthers, and we know the real Florida Panthers aren’t about to lay down during their burgeoning dynasty.
And when it comes to depth signings, I haven’t even mentioned perhaps the most significant of the summer, at least in terms of amusing kismet: the one team that has basically guaranteed itself a spot in the next Cup final is the Los Angeles Kings.
Do I say this because of the addition of bottom-sixer Joel Armia or veteran blueliners Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin? No, though those guys will help, but the player I’m talking about is the ageless Corey Perry, who has played in five of the past six finals. It seems you can’t have a Cup showdown without him these days. So, that’s just lateral thinking on the part of the Kings, frankly.
This article appeared in our 2025 Yearbook and Fantasy Guide. This issue features team reports for all 32 NHL teams heading into the 2025-26 season, including an analysis of their offense, defense and goaltending, as well as our prediction for where we think they will finish in the league standings. We also include features on Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson and more. In addition, we take a look at the top skaters and goaltenders ahead of the coming season.
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