Lightning and Panthers Enter Critical Postseason After Dramatically Different Campaigns

With the NHL season coming to an end and the Stanley Cup finding a new residency in North Carolina with the Hurricanes franchise, what does that mean for Florida hockey?

Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning was the only Florida-based team to make the 2025-2026 playoffs. Yet for the fourth consecutive year, the Bolts couldn’t get past the first round. The early exits highlighted several problems. The most recent one was largely due to low productivity, a fragile defense line, and a lack of flexibility in coaching. 

At the same time, the Bolts’ season was a real rollercoaster, which shows how uneven their year was. 

In October 2025, they posted a 5-4-2 record in 11 games, then made an incredible push, going 19-1-1 in 21 games before the Olympic break in February. Nikita Kucherov logged 95 points (29G, 66A) in 45 games. Those stats helped him win the 2026 Hart Trophy as the most valuable player on his team. Defenseman Darren Raddysh totaled 70 points (22G, 48A) in 73 games and became one of the NHL’s hottest blueliners in the past season. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 39 wins and a 2.31 GAA in 58 starts. His performance was phenomenal for most of the season, so it wasn’t a surprise that he won the Vezina award for the second time in his career. Still, while the Lightning had some outstanding individual performances, the team never clicked as a whole. 

After coming back from the break, the Lightning earned only two wins in eight matchups. Then Victor Hedman left the team for personal reasons, and it became clear Tampa Bay would lack depth before the playoffs. The team couldn’t keep up with the Montreal Canadiens’ physicality and speed in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. 

Florida Panthers

The injury-prone back-to-back champions had their share of troubles even before the 2025-2026 season. It’s not easy to have three consecutive Stanley Cup finals, two championships, and three short summers without paying a high price. There wasn’t much time to simply recover after such a heavy load. 

Aleksander Barkov was injured during pre-season practice. The injury sidelined him for the entire NHL season and the 2026 Olympics. He is in much better condition now, having fully recovered and led his native TEAM FINLAND to the gold medal at the 2026 IIHF World Championship.

Because of constant roster issues, the Panthers had to recall players from their AHL affiliate and look for new solutions. Seven Charlotte Checkers players got their chance to debut in the NHL. 

By the end of the regular season, the Panthers had 11 key players on the injury list, and the team didn’t make it to the 2025-2026 playoffs. 

Sergey Bobrovsky didn’t have the best season: 27 wins, 3.07 GAA, .877 SV% in 51 games. His name occasionally appeared in rumor mills, yet he wasn’t traded during the NHL deadline in March. What looked like a relief back then raises more questions now. The 37-year-old goalie will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Bobrovsky won his first Vezina 13 years ago, when his GAA was 2.00, and his save % was .932 in 38 games. 

Both Panthers’ goalies are heading to free agency. 

What to expect

Even after so many health and roster complications, the Cats look ready for a new and energetic season. They will have to figure out their goalie situation. It looks like they are ready to test the waters with various options rather than being stuck on signing Bobrovsky. Overall, they look set on their goals.

The Lightning have more roster issues. While it’s easy to blame Nikita Kucherov for low productivity (1G, 6A in seven games) in the playoffs, there wasn’t enough depth and contribution in the third and fourth lines and on defense. The special units had struggled too. The key takeaway is that Tampa Bay still needs more support across the lineup. 

More NHL players than ever are interested in moving to the Sunshine State. Most of them aim for the Panthers. Other notable catches are Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings and Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets. The Lightning management needs to get back into the "most attractive to play for" race. Or the in-state rivals will continue to grow and dominate.

In the next few weeks, more news will come to Florida. 

Originally written for Tampa Bay Sports Journal