The Florida Panthers Numbers Game: Who Wore It Best

The Florida Panthers have four new players on their roster following their wheeling and dealing at the NHL Trade Deadline.

Seth Jones was the first newcomer, acquired on March 1 from the Chicago Blackhawks for Spencer Knight and a first round draft pick.

Vitek Vanecek, Nico Sturm, and Brad Marchand were added last week.

On March 3, FHN broke down which players in Panthers history wore No. 3 before Jones got it — who wore it first, and who wore it best.

Today, we look at the numbers now represented by Sturm (No. 8), Vanecek (No. 41), and Marchand (No. 63).

So, who wore it first — and best?

Florida Panthers No. 8

• Who Wears It Now: Nico Sturm
• Who Wore It First: Dallas Eakins
• Who Wore It Best: Peter Worrell
• Who Wore No. 8: Dallas Eakins, Magnus Svensson, Craig Martin, Jaroslav Spacek, Peter Worrell, Valeri Bure, Joel Kwiatkowski, Tim Kennedy, Wojtek Wolski, Dylan McIlrath, Jayce Hawryluk, Matt Kiersted, Kyle Okposo, Sturm

Breaking It Down: Eakins played one game for the expansion Panthers on Nov. 23 against the Hartford Whalers — and ended up playing 41 games in two stints with the organization.

Bure was a celebrated acquisition by the Panthers at the 2001 Draft in Sunrise, but his reunion with brother Pavel was short-lived. Val Bure did play two stints with the Panthers — he wore No. 20 as well — and ended with 132 games in the leaping cat. 

Worrell, on the other hand, was a seventh-round pick by Florida and spent six seasons with the Panthers and amassed over 1,500 penalty minutes. He was as popular on the ice as he was off of it. Worrell, whose NHL career ended in 2004 with the Avalanche, became a big part of the junior hockey scene in South Florida and coached North Broward Prep to state titles. He now works for the Panthers and is head coach of the Jr. Panthers Under-18 team.

Okposo wore No. 8 last season after coming to the Panthers at the NHL Trade Deadline. He is the only one to hoist the Stanley Cup wearing that number in franchise history. Of course, Worrell was on the ice after Game 7 — he just wasn’t wearing a jersey.

Florida Panthers No. 41

• Who Wears It Now: Vitek Vanecek
• Who Wore It First: Stephane Richer
• Who Wore It Best: Anthony Stolarz
• Who Wore No. 41: Stephane Richer, Serge Payer, Andrej Podkonicky, Ryan Jardine, Nick Smith, Mike Green, Shawn Matthias, Greg McKegg, Anthony Stolarz, Vanecek

Richer played three games in Florida’s first two seasons.

Matthias, who came to the Panthers from Detroit in the Todd Bertuzzi deal, was one of the team’s more promising players in the mid-2000s, playing parts of seven seasons with the team before going to Vancouver in the second Roberto Luongo trade. He started off with 41, but wore No. 18 for much of his time with the Panthers.

So, Stolarz gets the nod here despite only playing one season in Florida. But what a season it was. Stolarz, who signed as a free agent in 2023, backed up Sergei Bobrovsky last season and led the NHL in goals-against average (2.03) and save percentage (.925).

After winning the Cup with the Panthers, he signed a two-year deal with the Maple Leafs.

Florida Panthers No. 63

• Who Wears It Now: Brad Marchand
• Who Wore It First: Evgenii Dadonov
• Who Wore It Best: Dadonov
• Who Wore No. 63: Evgenii Dadonov (twice), Dave Bolland, Marchand

This one is not up for debate: It’s Dadonov.

A third-round pick by the Panthers in 2007, Dadonov was considered the team’s top prospect and he played parts of three seasons (2009-12) with the Panthers before being traded to Carolina.

After five seasons in the KHL, Dadonov returned to the Panthers as a free agent, scoring 81 goals in three seasons (2017-20).

Now 36, Dadonov is in his third season with Dallas, with 16 goals and 35 points in 64 games. 

Bolland helped Chicago win the Stanley Cup twice, and after a season with Toronto, signed a five-year, $27.5 million contract with the Panthers in 2014. Past back injuries caught up to Bolland and he only played in 78 games with the Panthers.

They traded his contract to Arizona in 2016, costing them 2015 first-round pick Lawson Crouse to make it happen.

ON DECK: GAME No. 67

FLORIDA PANTHERS at MONTREAL CANADIENS 

• When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Bell Centre, Montreal
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last Season: Florida won 3-1
• This Season (Canadiens Lead 1-0) — At Montreal: Saturday; Ap. 1. At Florida: Canadiens 4, Panthers 0 (Dec. 28); March 30.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 58-40-11, 6 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday at New York Islanders, 7:30 p.m.