The Dynasty Door Is Open

Wednesday night FL Panthers celebrated with pure joy as the crowd cheered in excitement, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in game 6, 5-1. A familiar sight from last year’s Stanley cup where the Panthers and Oilers were going head-to-head in the finals, and the Panthers won in game 7, 2-1.

It’s no question that the Panthers have proven that they are an elite team. Since 2020 the Panthers have made the playoffs every single year. In both 2020 and 2021, the team’s playoff run ended in the first round. 2022 was Florida’s turning point, they won their first playoff series since 1996 against the Capitals in round one. In 2023 they made it to the Stanley Cup finals; they lost in game 7 against the Vegas Golden Knights. Which brings us to 2024 where history was made, and then to 2025 where dynasty talk begins.

When talking about what teams are dynasty’s I think people throw around the word too loosely. It gets confused with a team who had a good run. For example:

                  Buffalo Bills, 1990-1993: They made four straight Super Bowl appearances, zero win. Good run.

                  Vegas Golden Knights, 2018-2021: Made one Stanley Cup appearance in 2018, losing to the Capitals. They kept getting to playoffs seasons after but still just a good run.

                  Cleveland Cavaliers 2015-2018: Went to the finals four seasons in a row, only winning in 2016 against the Warriors, yet again just another good run.

We see this time and time again. Where teams make an impressive run, but the dynasty door never opens.

No doubt, this is a team in the making of a dynasty. They have what it takes, they have the players. Aleksander Barkov the captain and the center, Matthew Tkachuk at forward, Sergei Bobrovsky as goalie and Sam Reinhart at right wing. Bobrovsky is known as one of the NHL’s top goalies. Reinhart scored 23 points in regular season and 11 in post. He made history on game 6 scoring four goals becoming the first player to do that since 1957.

What’s next? If the panthers go to the Stanley Cup in 2026, they should be named a dynasty. Depending on how it plays out. If they win its clear why they would be crowned. The Panthers would be the first team in 40 years to win a three peat. If they lose it can go two ways. If they lose the Cup in 2026 but win the Cup in 2027, they should be crowned. If they lose both years and never go back to the finals, then this was also just another good run. The pieces are in place, now we’ll see if history is made.