Over the past two seasons, the Florida Panthers have been the dominant force in the NHL, winning the Stanley Cup trophy in both 2024 and 2025.
Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Florida Panthers prepares to make a glove save against Tyson Foerster #71 of the Philadelphia Flyers PHOTO CREDIT: Jack.Smart@prohockeynews.com
This was the culmination of years of hard graft by Paul Maurice’s side, who suffered final heartache in 2023 in losing out to the Vegas Golden Knights, and they have channelled it brilliantly over the past couple of campaigns.
Not since the New York Islanders’ infamous 4 Stanley Cup wins on the spin in the 1980s has a side managed to win three consecutive NHL titles but the Florida Panthers look well placed to write their name into the history books in 2026.
The summer months are notorious for chopping and changing amongst most NHL teams, but the Panthers do look to be the favourites in the ante-post markets with most NHL betting sites ahead of the 2026 campaign.
However, as the Panthers will attest to, winning a Stanley Cup is never easy and there are a whole host of sides who will be motivated to take the crown back from the side from the Sunshine State this season.
History beckons for the Panthers
At times during the 2025 NHL season, it felt as if muscle memory was seeing the Panthers through, particularly in key moments in tight games.
Prevailing 4-2 in a tight finals series against the Edmonton Oilers, the Panthers seemed to time their run to perfection and were playing their best stuff in the playoffs and beyond.
As mentioned, the Panthers would be the first team in over 40 years to win three Stanley Cup titles on the spin, and they have the momentum and the belief to do just that ahead of the 2026 campaign.
Oilers out for glory
The Western Conference has been dominated by the Edmonton Oilers over the past couple of years, but the Canadians have been unable to translate that into Stanley Cup glory.
In the eyes of many, the Oilers have been playing some of the best hockey across the regular NHL season since 2023, but Kris Knoblauch’s side have come up short against the Panthers in both of the last two seasons.
Picking up a Stanley Cup does feel like a just reward for an Oilers team that have such talent and resources in their ranks, and they should be better off for suffering the pain of consecutive Stanley Cup final defeats.
They appear to be the obvious challengers to the Panthers and having run them pretty close over the past couple of seasons, 2026 could well be the year they win their first Stanley Cup since 1988.
Caught up in a Hurricane
Over the past couple of seasons, the Carolina Hurricanes have been the dominant force in the regular season but have come up agonisingly short in the play-offs.
Inevitably, in any NHL season, some teams will make plenty of running during the campaign but not manage to translate that into the post-season period and the Hurricanes have very much fallen into that category.
They are one of the most dangerous sides in the NHL on their day and possess plenty of potent individual talents and how they would love to win their second Stanley Cup title – a full 20 years after their last.
Best of the rest
The build up to any NHL season is always littered with player speculation and conjecture and that looks to be no different ahead of the 2026 campaign.
For the likes of the Panthers, Oilers and Hurricanes, reaching the play-offs is a minimum yardstick but there will always be a few surprise packages in any season – with achieving Stanley Cup glory always the ultimate aim.
The Vegas Golden Knights were mightily impressive in winning the title in 2023 and look better placed to challenge again in 2026, while Colorado Avalanche are always a well-resourced outfit.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning are two sides that were rampant in the 2025 regular season and there is a belief that if either side got ahead of steam, they would be tough to stop in the playoffs.
It promises to be another enthralling NHL season, and everybody will be out to stop the Florida Panthers and their hold on the Stanley Cup.
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