Bill Zito Day is One to Celebrate for the Florida Panthers

On Tuesday, the Florida Panthers marked the fifth anniversary of the day they hired Bill Zito as the team’s 11th general manager.

It has been a pretty eventful five seasons for Zito and the Panthers.

The Panthers, a team which did not make the playoffs from 2001-11, have not only made the postseason in all five years in which Zito has been the general manager but the team has won the NHL Presidents’ Trophy, been to the Stanley Cup Final three straight years, and are the two-time defending champions.

Not too shabby, eh?

And his job is not over.

Zito went right to work after the Panthers won the Stanley Cup for the second straight year back in June, working some magic in keeping all three of the team’s key free agents — Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Brad Marchand — with long-term contracts.

The Panthers currently have 10 players under contract through 2030, meaning the championship window remains wide open.

What keeps Zito and the Panthers motivated?

Winning.

“We want to do it again,’’ Zito said the day after the Panthers knocked off the Carolina Hurricanes in 5 to win the Eastern Conference for the third straight year.

“You want to do it again. So, what can we start doing now? Don’t stop. Do not get content.”

Zito was brought to South Florida in 2020 after serving as the senior vice president of hockey operations, associate general manager, and alternate governor of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

In 2013, Zito started with the Blue Jackets after establishing himself as a top player agents in the game by creating the ACME World Sports agency.

Florida was not the first team Zito talked to about becoming its general manager; he had previously been a candidate for jobs in Buffalo, Carolina, Minnesota and New Jersey. He also had interviewed with the Arizona Coyotes before being hired by the Panthers.

Things, certainly, have worked out for both sides.

“It’s humbling and very exciting. It’s also daunting,’’ Zito told FHN upon getting hired in 2020.

”There’s going to be a lot of hard work and I am not afraid of hard work. I know what’s in front of me and I am filled with excitement and enthusiasm. Last night I was just exhausted and still woke up at 3 a.m. I couldn’t go back to bed. I had to start writing my ideas down. I suspect that’s going to be my fate for the next few nights.”

Since being hired on Sept. 2, 2020, Zito has helped transform the Panthers from a team with potential to that of a champion.

Zito joined the Panthers after they ended the 2019-20 season with a four-game loss to the New York Islanders in the qualifying round of the Covid bubble in Toronto.

Things changed quickly.

Zito decided to build around Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Aaron Ekblad at least to start. 

“If you maximize the potential of every player, it’s a pretty good group right?” Zito said in 2020.

“I don’t think everyone clicks at 100 percent all the time and that’s unrealistic. But, boy, if these guys could just will themselves, prepare themselves as professionals to get there, this is a pretty good group. I’m real optimistic.’’

His first move as GM was acquiring two-time Stanley Cup champion Patric Hornqvist from the Penguins for Mike Matheson and Colton Sceviour.

Zito then drafted Anton Lundell in the first round of the 2020 draft.

Zito’s first free agency saw Evgenii Dadonov, Mike Hoffman, Brian Boyle, Erik Haula, and Mark Pysyk leave — with Radko Gudas, Carter Verhaeghe, Alex Wennberg, Anthony Duclair, and others come in.

When looking at the Panthers roster from when he took over in 2020 up until now, one would think Florida went through a massive rebuild.

Teams in the NHL certainly do not turn over that much of their roster in a short period of time and have success.

Only the Panthers did.

In 2021, Florida made it to the playoffs; the following season, the Panthers won their first playoff series since 1996 in a President’s Trophy-winning year which was overshadowed by a second-round sweep to the Lightning and the earlier forced resignation of coach Joel Quenneville.

Instead of being content with what was a very successful season, Zito moved on from interim coach Andrew Brunette and hired Paul Maurice to change the way the Panthers play.

Zito also swung for the fence once Matthew Tkachuk suddenly became available, pulling off a blockbuster trade with Calgary which sent Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar to the Flames — and transformed the Panthers into a true contender.

Florida also added players such as Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Gus Forsling, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Brandon Montour along the way.

Seth Jones and Marchand joined the Panthers at the 2025 trade deadline with Tkachuk injured.

Zito has been a finalist for GM of the Year in four of his five seasons with the Panthers but has yet to win.

Perhaps this year.

Or not.

Does not seem to matter much.

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2024 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS 2025

FLORIDA PANTHERS

ON DECK

• NHL Free Agency: Opened June 1
• Panthers Rookie Camp, Fort Lauderdale IcePlex: September 11
• Prospect Showcase @ Tampa Bay Lightning: Starts September 12, Wesley Chapel
• Training Camp: Mid-September
• Exhibition Games: Starts Sept. 21 @ Nashville (doubleheader)
• Championship Ring Celebration: Oct. 6; Time/Site TBA
• Opening Night: Oct 7 vs. Chicago Blackhawks, 5 p.m.
• Complete Florida Panthers 2025-26 Schedule