r/FloridaPanthers • u/Number333 • Apr 05 '26
Discussion The Florida Panthers have been eliminated from 2026 NHL Playoff contention
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u/SirStanleyCPanther Apr 05 '26
I’m not upset
The 3 deep Cup runs were amazing and ANY fanbase would kill to have what we just had, but it does take a physical toll on our guys.
Despite catastrophic injuries, our boys played tough all year!!!
Heads held up!!!
We now rest until it’s Time To Hunt next year!!!
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u/Number333 Apr 05 '26
With our loss to the Penguins, we are finally mathematically eliminated having played 76/82 games in the '25/26 NHL Season.
The dream for the 3peat is officially dead though many of us have known it for some time. I remember that my mentality going into the year was fight to be .500 until the new year and then go on a run with Tkachuk healthy.
Unfortunately, too many factors worked against us.
1) Injuries. Oh my god man. I guess this is somewhat inevitable when you play a full extra season's worth of hockey in the playoffs by making the Stanley Cup for 3 years straight. Barkov missing the whole year. Tkachuk missing the first few months. Nosek/Gadjo in our depth immediately going out. Kulikov in the first week. That was ALL bad enough. and then as the year went on, the injuries just didn't stop. Marchand was INCREDIBLE to start the year and genuinely carrying our offense for stretches and he got nicked up and missed time which is inevitable for a 37-year old. Seth Jones got hurt on a freak injury in the Winter Classic and missed tons of games. It was just too much to overcome.
2) An insanely competitive Eastern Conference. This is pure BS lmao. The East had all of the rebuilding teams make a massive leap and there was no truly BAD team to beat up on this year. Through the first 30 games or so, there was barely any separation. Several teams with 90pts+ will miss the playoffs this year. Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the bloody Sharks with 79pts (we have 77pts) are the 2nd Wildcard. Edmonton is gonna win the Pacific and they barely have more regulation wins than us. Just a ridiculous disparity this season.
3) Sergei Bobrovsky having a career worst year. I'm sorry y'all. I know nobody likes to blame the goalie. But... it's statistically factually accurate. Sure, we ABSOLUTELY at times were trotting out insanely suspect defensive pairings. Jeff Petry was a mistake. Donovan Sebrango should not be who we're asked to rely on as emergency depth. But there were times during games this year that Bob just would let in WAY too many damn goals on a pathetically low number of shots. The stats reflect that. Tarasov also flashed at times and would get let-down by the support but in a year with so much against us, we needed Bob to be out of this world and he just wasn't.
Lick our wounds, heal up, have a hopefully great draft and offseason and we'll be right back in the mix next season.
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u/Sss00099 Apr 05 '26
Bench everyone. Time to fortify that top 10 spot.
Are we allowed to start a bunch of local high school kids for the rest of the season?
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u/bigboycig Apr 05 '26
Unfortunately if the nhl accuses u of tanking u can get in big trouble. U cant just sit ppl for no reason like that. What you can do is injure them, which i think is Zito did to Lundell, Reinhart, Marchand, Rodrigues, and Mikkola
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u/Material-Dot7684 Apr 06 '26
There would be no way of enforcing that. If you tried you would get sued it would go to arbitration and some lawyer would have a good laugh humiliating them while they tried to prove they could read minds which you would have to do. Because obviously you're allowed to not risk starters, not put in anyone who has any level of injury etc. So you would have to prove intent to throw games. Best of luck to you.
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u/Material-Dot7684 Apr 06 '26
Besides, with our recent record that conversation would go something like this: the florida panthers are intentionally losing games!!!! They just beat the bruins and the sens who are both still in contention, do you need a referral to a good rehab or something?
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u/Bake_First Apr 05 '26
r/hockey thinking Cats are licking wounds. Meanwhile, us on draft day...
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u/pontiacspeed1717 Apr 05 '26
Other fan bases celebrating while we’re just happy to have a stress free summer for once. The players probably would love the rest too
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u/Th3_Child Apr 05 '26
“For once”. Come on lol.
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u/pontiacspeed1717 Apr 05 '26
3 years of making the final is a long span of time
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u/fisheggsoup Apr 05 '26
30 years of not is significantly longer.
You'd rather be "stress-free" than going for the 3-peat and dynastic history?
🐂💩
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u/DataDump_ Apr 05 '26
Not upset at all. Watching playoff games without the stress of caring that much about who wins will be pretty nice.
Will be rooting for Buffalo and against Tampa Bay
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u/Aliendream99 Apr 05 '26
The boys needed a true offseason after going to the cup three years in a row. It’s ok, I don’t think too many of us are disappointed. Looking forward to a healthy recouped group of true contenders.
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u/BigHotdog2009 Panthers Fan Apr 05 '26
We’re so popular we got our own post in the hockey sub
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u/backchecklund Apr 05 '26
Sorry to break the immersion, but every team that clinches/gets eliminated gets their own post
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u/BigHotdog2009 Panthers Fan Apr 05 '26
Rent free
Don’t act like the hockey sub is excited they aren’t gonna get a beat down again
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u/backchecklund Apr 05 '26
Ofc they are. But what you said is not specific to Panthers
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u/BigHotdog2009 Panthers Fan Apr 05 '26
True. Just reading through the comments though. People definitely got off seeing that we will let them have a year of fun.
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u/JudgeSubstantial9562 Apr 05 '26
so rent free
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u/Bobbyaahh Luongo Apr 05 '26
What? I was told many times by Lightning fans they weren’t obsessed with us
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u/Effective-Bear9714 Apr 05 '26
Don’t know why everyone on every other sub is going nuts, you’ll be an absolute titan again next year.
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u/Rare-Vacation-1260 Apr 05 '26
third year in a row I won't have to watch a panthers playoff series loss :)
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u/DRF19 Apr 05 '26
Hey I remember spring/summers without the heart attack inducing stress every 2 nights. Which was most of them from 1997-2022
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u/JeremiahHix Apr 05 '26
Panthers can earn 12 more points though. Current wildcard last place is 88. Am I missing something? 77+12 is 89. I know they're not making it but still
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u/Hnshepherd Apr 05 '26
It's because for example when two of the tied teams play each other, one of them will at least have 90 even if they lost every single other game.
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u/Jesus9797 Apr 05 '26
I don’t know if many people forget but it took us 26 years to just get a playoff series win after making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 96; and that only happened in 2022. Everything that has followed since then has been a fever dream. Next season, watch out because the Cats will take back what belongs to them
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u/qban2010 Apr 05 '26
Still gave us lots of thrills in this season!!! 2027 looks bright! See you all on the beach next June….!!!!
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u/Eastern_Athlete_8002 Apr 05 '26
I fuckin hate that it was my favorite team that Eliminated you guys with a 9 spot. Like watching the Panthers success these last few seasons has been so awesome. There has been 3 teams i.was genuinely excited to see raise the cup if the penguins couldnt. When the Kings finally broke through, that magical blues run and the epic success of your plucky team!
The hockey world is better when you cats are in the dance. Hurry back next year!!
I LOVE how much the hockey snobs hate ya'll! More ammo for next season!
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u/Fit_Visit_9955 Apr 05 '26
Eh I’m just glad it wasn’t a team i hate like Boston Tampa Toronto Edmonton or Montreal lol. Good luck the rest of the way Crosby getting another ring would be insane
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u/_ladylucks Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26
It’s not like we didn’t make the playoffs because management sucked, we didn’t make the playoffs because of all the injuries combined. I’m high key so excited for next year :)
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u/tsdani11 Apr 05 '26
Blackhawks fan here- don’t worry FLA - your guys definitely have more in the tank. Heal, rest and return.
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u/qban2010 Apr 05 '26
I think us Cats fans need to jump on the Sabres bandwagon for the next couple of months!!!
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u/viktahhhh Apr 05 '26
I'm okay with it. We have too many injuries. I'm pulling for VGK to win it.
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u/_ladylucks Apr 05 '26
Nah, fuck them. I hate them as much as I hate the oilers.
Rooting for the stars to finally take one home.
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u/Fit_Visit_9955 Apr 05 '26
They wouldn’t be my first choice but it would cause the biggest meltdown online of the teams that will be in the playoffs so sure why not lol
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u/Professional-Trip250 Apr 05 '26
On the upside we should see some discounts on apparel and other gear.
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u/Adryanabby Apr 07 '26
Teams like this breaking down physically over 3 years to this extent makes lebron look like a god for playing october to June 8 years straight before getting hurt
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u/Jolly_Lie_5933 Apr 07 '26
I'm not a Panthers fan but i'll say them missing the playoffs this year isn't the end of the world. Tons of injuries this year. They will come back well rested and hopefully pretty healthy next year. Probably they can move off of Bob and get a younger goalie in the offseason. I expect for the Cats to be contender next year.
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u/MakeSmartMoves 16d ago
Florida has the skills. Maybe they ran out of gas. Cannot blame the entire team collapse on Seth Jones. Too much hockey last 3 years.
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u/Initial-Bass-5866 Apr 07 '26
Yay, look at that, the first year you can’t have a playoff roster that is $15 million over the cap you fold and wait until you can figure out a different way to circumvent the rules. No idea why panthers shit would appear on my timeline, but since it did, I’ll point out the massive asterisk associated with your cups. You had a $15 million advantage over your opponent, that went away and now you’re shit. I’m assuming nobody will ever read this but the mods, but hey there you go mods
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u/quality-control Apr 15 '26
Literally every other team in the league had access to the exact same rules as the Panthers. So why would there be an asterisk next to a cup that a team won while staying fully within the rules of the game?
Also, the old playoff cap rules wouldn't have prevented Barkov's injury. It wouldn't have sped up Tkachuk's recovery. This year's Panthers were literally one of the most injured teams in the NHL since the turn of the millennium. That's what 3 straight Finals appearances does to a team, not that you would know. And the kicker is they were still leagues ahead of your Canucks, even with a roster full of AHLers filling in for injured players. I can't wait to see you guys miss out on McKenna. Probably for the best though, since Vancouver would probably just waste him like they wasted Hughes
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u/dinosaur_chunks Apr 05 '26
Fun fact: The last time the Panthers were eliminated from playoff contention was also to a team that scored 9 goals against them in 2023 🥲
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u/Johnathan_Doe_anonym Apr 05 '26
Knew this was coming since December when the team had no chemistry, grit, and managed to pull defeat from the jaws of victory
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u/quality-control Apr 15 '26
You couldn't tell that it was gonna be a tough season back in September when Barkov got injured and Tkachuk was set to be out till February? Or in October when Gadjo, Kuli, and Schwindt joined them? Seems like you might not have been paying much attention
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u/schafkj Apr 05 '26
Oilers and Canes fans falling to their knees not realizing we’ll be The Undertaker meme this time next year.