So the Florida Panthers have been on fire all season, and maybe the past few years actually, with even Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour saying after the Panthers beat his team, the Carolina Hurricanes, out of the Eastern Conference final, “They’re a great team and it’s obvious. Last couple years they’re the standard, obviously.” But this wasn’t necessarily what was expected this year, given the fact that Florida lost a bunch of key players throughout their lineup; however, their consequent acquisitions have clearly been smart, so good on Bill Zito, because, man, oh, man, there is something to be said for Florida’s depth.

The very fact that defensemen such as Aaron Ekblad have been consistently scoring and providing assists for their team goes to show that Florida is functioning at full capacity on all lines. This past game 5 victory over the Hurricanes was no less. The Canes put up a battle, opening the scoring with two goals in the first period, but soon into the second, and just thirty seconds after Matthew Tkachuk scored on an assist from Ekblad, Evan Rodrigues tied the score with his first playoff game this season.

While it may not seem like a huge deal to have had a Florida center score, and certainly not as exciting as when the guys do it from the blue line, it marked a huge moment for the Panthers because this was Rodrigues’ first goal of the postseason, meaning that now 19 members of the Florida Panthers have scored in these playoffs, which marks a particularly ‘unique’ milestone for the Panthers.

By having 19 members of their team score in the postseason, Florida is preceded by only 8 other NHL teams that have had more goal scorers in a single playoff season. These were the 2019 Bruins (21), 1987 Flyers (21), 2019 Blues (20), 1995 Devils (20), 1993 Maple Leafs (20), 1991 Penguins (20), 1986 Blues (20) and 1984 Oilers (20), and considering the season isn’t over yet, there’s still room for Tomas Nosek to score one!

How the Florida Panthers managed this postseason’s depth despite a number of roster changes early in the year

The fact that Florida has managed to pull off such a feat considering they lost 8 key players, including Stolarz to their divisional rival the Leafs and Nick Cousins to the Senators earlier in the year, is astonishing and is partly why GM Bill Zito was named as a finalist for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award; he’s been making winning decisions when it comes to the team setup.

To balance out the losses, the Florida Panthers brought in players like Brad Marchand and Seth Jones, who have both been pivotal to Florida’s success this postseason. In turn, Jesper Boqvist, who comes in for Sam Reinhart, has proven himself as invaluable this postseason after a 39-game drought prior!

The Florida Panthers at this point look like they are fully committed to holding onto their Stanley Cup Trophy; at least every man on the ice seems to be, and it’s no wonder that captain Aleksander Barkov commended the blue line, saying, “Every single defenseman has scored pretty much in this playoff, so that means a lot.”

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Well, if Tomas Nosek scores before the postseason ends, that might make it every center as well!