The Florida Panthers’ chase for a third straight Stanley Cup has hit some strange turns this year. The team is sitting at 10-8-1, injuries keep making things more complicated, but that championship core is still there. General manager Bill Zito added veteran defenseman Jeff Petry and goaltender Daniil Tarasov to help keep things steady, plus forward Jack Studnicka is getting his shot up front.
These moves demonstrate a team navigating early setbacks while staying focused on their own narrative.
Could the Panthers Really Make a Move for a Three-Time Stanley Cup Champion?
What really hangs over the Panthers is the long-term absence of captain Aleksander Barkov. Not only has he missed every game in 2025–26 following major ACL and MCL surgery, but his injury creates a bigger gap than just on the ice. That situation puts Florida in the middle of every rumor about star centers possibly switching teams, leading directly to the question everyone’s asking.
Trade talk picked up after insider Josh Yohe’s mailbag brought up the idea of a fit between the Panthers and Penguins legend Evgeni Malkin, a three-time Stanley Cup champ. The logic was direct: Florida is missing Barkov for the whole regular season, and coach Paul Maurice has talked openly about how much he respects Malkin. Yohe pushed back hard on this, writing:
“I think there’s a 99 percent chance Evgeni Malkin is on the team at the end of the season… It’s wildly unlikely he’d go anywhere.”
Maurice’s appreciation for Malkin goes way back. He remembered working with the veteran years ago and was struck by how relentlessly Malkin trained even when he did not have to.
“I spent a little bit of time with Evgeni Malkin in Russia in the year that it was off, and I was amazed at how hard he worked. Because he didn’t have to. He was just better than everybody else in the league,” Maurice said in October.
Plus, Malkin’s contract makes a trade seem even less likely. He’s locked in through 2025–26 on a four-year, $24.4 million deal, with a $6.1 million cap hit and guaranteed money along with a signing bonus. That stable setup shows Pittsburgh is serious about keeping him, especially with his status as a franchise icon and alternate captain. Barkov himself is tied to an eight-year, $80 million contract, solidifying his place and making his absence, not replacement, the real story for Florida.
Here’s the twist: Barkov’s incredible 2024–25 season is the main reason the trade rumors feel unnecessary. In 67 games, he scored 20 goals, handed out 51 assists, and finished with 71 points. He followed that up with 22 more points in the playoffs during Florida’s second straight Stanley Cup run. Barkov’s reliable defense and leadership were so central that the team now has to fill the void with shared effort.
