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A look at the Panthers' Cup Final history as they make a 3rd straight appearance originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Stanley Cup Final will feature the Florida Panthers for a third straight year.

The defending champion Panthers on Wednesday secured their third consecutive Eastern Conference title, booking yet another trip to the NHL‘s championship round in the process.

Florida, the Atlantic Division’s No. 3 seed, needed five games to take down the Metro’s No. 2 Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final. It was the second time in three years that the Panthers defeated the Hurricanes in the conference final, previously sweeping them in 2023.

The Panthers, who also eliminated the Atlantic’s No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning and No. 1 Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2025 playoffs, are just the seventh team since the start of the expansion era (1967-68 season) to reach at least three straight Cup Finals.

They now will battle for Lord Stanley against the winner of the Western Conference Final between the Central’s No. 2 Dallas Stars and Pacific’s No. 3 Edmonton Oilers. And a second straight Cup Final triumph would put Florida in an exclusive group of repeat winners.

So, before the championship round gets underway, here’s what to know about the Panthers’ history in the Cup Final:

How many Stanley Cup Finals have the Florida Panthers made?

Florida is making its fourth appearance in the Cup Final since the franchise’s 1993-94 debut season.

How many Stanley Cup championships do the Florida Panthers have?

The Panthers won their first-ever championship last year in historic fashion, becoming just the third team since the start of the expansion era to go from Stanley Cup runners-up to winners. After losing the 2023 Cup Final to the Vegas Golden Knights, Florida outlasted the Oilers in a roller-coaster 2024 Cup Final to capture the franchise’s first title.

The Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead before the Oilers won three straight elimination games. But Florida took the decisive Game 7 at home by a score of 2-1, with a second-period goal from Sam Reinhart being the difference.

How many NHL teams have made three straight Stanley Cups?

As previously mentioned, the Panthers are just the seventh team since the start of the expansion era to appear in at least three straight Cup Finals. The last team to do so was the Lightning from the 2020-22 postseasons. Tampa Bay won it all in 2020and 2021 before losing to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 Cup Final.

The record for consecutive Cup Final appearances since the start of the expansion era is five, achieved by the New York Islanders from 1980-84. The Isles won four straight titles before falling to the Oilers in the 1984 Cup Final.

Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup Final appearances

Here’s a look at the Panthers’ three previous Cup Final results:

• 2024: Beat Edmonton Oilers in seven games
• 2023: Lost to Vegas Golden Knights in five games
• 1996: Lost to Colorado Avalanche in four games

Where is the Florida Panthers’ stadium?

The Panthers’ home stadium, Amerant Bank Arena, is in Sunrise, Florida, roughly 35 miles north of Miami.

Who is the Florida Panthers’ captain?

This is the seventh season that center Aleksander Barkov has donned the “C” on his sweater for Florida. Barkov, the second overall pick of the Panthers in 2013, is the franchise leader in games played, goals, assists and points.

Who is the Florida Panthers’ head coach?

Paul Maurice has overseen the entirety of Florida’s current three-year Cup Final streak, taking over behind the bench starting in the 2022-23 campaign. The Panthers sport a .610 regular-season winning percentage over Maurice’s tenure.

The 58-year-old has 29 years of NHL head coaching experience, with previous stops in Hartford, Carolina, Toronto and Winnipeg. Maurice coached the Hurricanes to the 2022 Cup Final.

The Buffalo Sabres have reached the highest level of hockey ignominity with their playoff drought extending to 14 seasons, but after strong statements regarding potential organizational changes last month at their season-ending press conferences, there have been only rumors of possible managerial and coaching shakeups. 

As for the roster, the goaltending and blueline situations are in flux, with questions of whether either Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen or Devon Levi can be a difference-making #1 goalie, and if the blueline can be upgraded if RFA Bowen Byram is traded. Up front, the Sabres bounced back slightly from an offensive downturn in 2024, but still have not matched the production (293 goals) that saw them come to within one point of making the postseason. 

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The Sabres have over $23 million in available cap space going into the summer, and with the NHL salary cap projected to go up over the next three seasons, owner Terry Pegula may have to spend to the cap to get Buffalo over the top to end their long streak of futility. 

Jeremy and Nate debated the impact of adding Mitch Marner to the Sabres roster this morning. Do you think it's a good idea?
Check out the guys full discussion here: https://t.co/WqGIofLYLXpic.twitter.com/6K15wbyFF5

— WGR 550 (@WGR550) May 20, 2025

One area of speculation making the rounds is Buffalo’s potential interest in pending unrestricted free agent Mitch Marner. Marner is coming off a career-best 102-point season with the Toronto Maple Leafs and is likely to be leaving his hometown team because of their failure to make a deep playoff run for the entire balance of his nine-year tenure in Blue and White. 

The Sabres certainly have the cap space to make a competitive offer, and have a supporting cast which would be elevated by one of the NHL’s most gifted playmakers, but the fact that Buffalo is in close proximity to Toronto would not alleviate the pressure on the 27-year-old winger; it would likely increase it. 

With the Leafs, some of the pressure on Marner was deferred by the presence of the other Core 4 members (Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares). If he signed with Buffalo, Marner would become the central figure on the roster and would be expected to produce every night, as Jack Eichel was after signing his eight-year, $80 million contract in 2017. 

There are indicators that Marner a) wants to sign in a less pressure-filled hockey market like Carolina, Utah, Anaheim, or Los Angeles, b) wants to be the highest paid player in the NHL and would be willing to go to a rebuilding club like Chicago or San Jose, or c) would choose to be a high-paid support player (à la Phil Kessel in Pittsburgh) with another winning organization like Florida or Vegas. 

None of those options is a fit with the Sabres. 

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo

In their current playoff push, the Edmonton Oilers have received contributions from throughout the lineup. But one player -- albeit a currently-injured player -- is someone the Buffalo Sabres ought to be targeting when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.

We're talking about Oilers right winger Connor Brown, who's been out of action since absorbing a huge hit from Dallas Stars defenseman Alex Petrovic in Game 3. But prior to that, Brown was one of Edmonton's best secondary scoring options, posting five goals and eight points in 14 playoff games this year. The 31-year-old doesn't appear on many highlight reels, but his grit and drive makes him one of the Oilers' more valuable components -- and he's doing it on the cheap, earning only $1-million this season.

With his terrific and timely play, Brown -- who generated 13 goals and 30 points in 82 regular-season games this year -- may be pricing himself out of Edmonton after this season concludes. Since the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted him 156th-overall in 2012, Brown has bounced around the NHL, playing for the Buds, Ottawa Senators, Washington Capitals and Oilers. And in five of his nine seasons, Brown has posted at least 13 goals -- and in two seasons, he's put up at least 20 goals. So while he's not going to break the bank by any means, Brown has shown enough to get a healthy raise on a new contract this summer.

As a Toronto native, Brown might decide to play closer to home next year -- and that's where the Sabres should pounce. If Buffalo gave him the security of, say, a three-year contract around $2-millon per season, that might just be enough to convince Brown to play for the Sabres. We're not suggesting there's going to be a bidding war per se for Brown's services, but he's shown more than enough in this current post-season to deserve a serious bump in pay.

Brown's experience, versatility and quiet leadership would serve the Sabres very well. Given that it's going to be difficult for Buffalo to attract high-end UFAs, putting their energy into wooing Brown is the type of move that could pay off for both the player and the team next season. And being part of an on-the-rise Sabres team might prove to be very appealing for Brown.

Canucks' Upcoming Free Agent Should Be A Target For Sabres This SummerThe Buffalo Sabres have a lot of salary cap space to spend this summer -- and a Vancouver Canucks star should be firmly in the sights of Sabres management.

He has been undervalued in the past, but Brown's rising profile in the current post-season means those days are coming to an end. He's earned the attention he's going to get on the open market at the end of the season, and he's exactly the type of role player Buffalo needs more of.

Brown may ultimately decide to stay with the Oilers -- especially if they win the Stanley Cup this year -- but if he is looking to get paid, the Sabres should be pushing toward the front of the line and doing a hard sell on what relative riches and opportunity awaits him in Western New York. Role players bring their unique skill sets to teams, and Brown's above-average capabilities would look particularly good if he were in a Sabres uniform.

Jonathan Marchessault shocked the hockey world when he signed a five-year, $5.5M contract with the Nashville Predators, leaving the Vegas Golden Knights organization and ending the most successful era of his career.

When Marchessault left the Golden Knights, he left as a Stanley Cup Champion, a Conn Smythe Winner, the franchise leader in goals and points and the most decorated player in franchise history. 

His first season with the Predators went south quickly, both for him and the organization. The Predators finished the season in 29th place in the NHL and were never in contention to make the playoffs. Personally, Marchessault scored 21 goals and 56 points, a step down in production from recent seasons. During his time with the Golden Knights, the 34-year-old was an effective 5-on-5 player, but with the Predators, that all disappeared.

Many analysts and fans believe the Predators could be playoff contenders again this season, but as it stands, Marchessault doesn't want to wait for possibilities; he wants to be on a playoff-contending team again. 

The Daily Faceoff's Frank Servalli said during his show that he believes Marchessault would be open to a trade and that in a perfect world, he'd like to go home and join the Montreal Canadiens.

“I think in a perfect world, he would love to go to the Montreal Canadiens & go home. I don’t know how open they are to that, given the term on his deal. But you can see him helping a pretty good offence already to take that next step. He seems like a true Marty St. Louis type player, doesn’t he?”

The Canadiens made the playoffs for the first time since the start of their rebuild, losing in the first round to the Washington Capitals. Marchessault would be a great addition to a young core that consists of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsky. 

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