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March 8, 2026
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Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand, left, celebrates his second-period power-play goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning with Seth Jones on Saturday night in Sunrise. Marchand extended his scoring streak to 10 games. // Photo courtesy @FlaPanthers

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers have 19 games left in this season, one that will not result in a third defense of their Stanley Cup championship.

The Panthers are back to being 10 points out of the playoffs and will miss the postseason for the first time since 2019.

“This is a weird year,’’ Matthew Tkachuk said Friday. “We’re not going to make any excuses but we all know why we are where we are, and it’s because of all the games lost to injury. It seems like it has been everybody at some point. It’s tough. …


“It’s a weird position to be in with 19, 20 games left and there are a lot of guys here who haven’t been in this spot in a long time.”

Coach Paul Maurice and general manager Bill Zito said rest will be coming for some of Florida’s more beat-up players in the final five weeks of the season.

Brad Marchand, in particular, missed time before the Olympic break with injury and was even rested by Team Canada coach Jon Cooper in Milan.

Other players have been playing through injuries and might get the chance to not only skip whatever practices there are, but some games as well.

“We’ve been managing a bunch of injuries,” Maurice said before Friday’s impressive 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. “We’ve got guys out, but we’ve got guys playing and those are the ones that I think are more difficult for us to manage. Some of these guys are probably going to have to get some rest. We don’t want to have an injury that’s been nagging for two months that gets worse in the last week that sets a guy back two months in his rehab.”

Added Zito: “I don’t think we’re quitting on anything. But we are realistic. We will deploy players’ ice time and rest accordingly. We will get with the medical staff … and will evaluate all the players, see who is healthy and who is banged up.”

How many key players will sit for any given day is not known but the Panthers do want to look at newcomers Cole Reinhardt and Vinnie Hinostroza, as well as potential Charlotte recalls Sandis Vilmanis, Jack Devine, and others.

So, the Panthers could look a little different moving forward and their record (31-29-3) may not improve much.

Which would not be a bad thing.

The Panthers are out of the playoffs, this we know.

But what they still have the chance for is a very high draft pick come June.

Although the Zito and Maurice say there is no tank coming from the Panthers, it would not hurt the Panthers to lose a few more than they win moving forward.

With the schedule the Panthers have, that’s not exactly going to be hard to accomplish.

But tank?

“You would love to say you’re being strategic, but you can’t,’’ Zito said. “The team will play as hard as they can every single night. Whatever happens, happens. We will react when the season is over and we know, and we will plan for both scenarios.’’

Of the final 19, only eight are at home; 15 of the 14 are against teams either holding a playoff spot or fighting for one.

Before beating the Red Wings on Friday, the Panthers had lost four straight and nine of 11.

The Panthers certainly have pride in what they do.

They may lose more than they win in this final stretch, but it’s not to try and improve their draft stock.

“For us to come in here at the end of a road trip on a back-to-back, playing a team that’s fighting for its life and get the win,’’ Tkachuk said after the Red Wings win.

“Play spoiler. I guess that’s what we’re trying to do the rest of the year. I thought as a group we wanted to win, really wanted to play well for each other. That’s all we can do right now.’’

The Panthers traded away this year’s first-round selection to the Chicago Blackhawks in last March’s Seth Jones/Spencer Knight deal.

But the draft pick is top-10 protected; if the Panthers’ draft pick falls within the top 10, they get to keep it (or do whatever they want with it) and Chicago would slide back and get Florida’s first-round pick in 2027.

This year’s draft is considered pretty deep so, if the Panthers stay about where they are at — the team is currently ranked 23rd in the 32-team league — they have a pretty good chance at keeping that draft pick.

That would be, at least, a pretty nice consolation prize.

By finishing in the bottom 10 of the league, the Panthers would also put themselves in position to move up in the draft lottery.

Since a team can only move up a maximum of 10 spots, the Panthers would at least be in the running to have the No. 1 overall pick which may be Penn State’s Gavin McKenna. 

Of course, if the Panthers end up with the No. 11 selection, it goes to the Blackhawks.

ON DECK: GAME No. 64
DETROIT RED WINGS at FLORIDA PANTHERS  
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