Greg Wyshynskimay 24, 2025, 08:00 at
Closegreg Wyshynski is a senior NHL writer at ESPN.
RAILY, N.C. — When Nate Schmidt looks around the Florida Panthers locker room, he sees players who have things he doesn’t have. At least not yet.
Stanley coupling.
Most of them won the ring last season when the Panthers first rolled up the cup in franchise history. Brad Marchand acquired him as a rookie with the Boston Bruins in 2011. Another recent addition, Nico Sturm won the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.
This has made Schmidt feel uneasy. He doesn’t want to be a ringless guy who will ruin it for those who have it.
“What do you know? That’s what I was trying to compete this year,” said the veteran defender who signed a one-year free agent contract with Florida last summer. “I want to add it, but I want to add as much as I can to the formula I’ve already won.”
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Schmidt is one of the seven Panthers on the playoff roster that has not won the Stanley Cup. This is a list that includes Jesper Boqvist, Aj Greer and Tomas Nosek. Backup goalkeeper Vitek Vanecek; defensemen Seth Jones and Jacob Megna.
Jones is in the NHL season for the 12th NHL season since playing 860 regular season games since being drafted fourth overall by the Nashville Predators in 2013. Prior to this run with the Panthers, Jones only appeared in 37 playoff games with Nashville and Columbus.
“It was the organization’s timeline. It’s not against them,” Jones said of the Black Hawks. “I think they’ll be very successful in the future. They just wanted to build from scratch. That’s nothing wrong.”
The defensive man said he “didn’t play the best hockey in Chicago” when Florida was bought for first-round picks and goalkeeper Spencer Knight on March 1. He wanted to go out. He wanted an opportunity to play an important game. Now they are all important.
“It’s been a whirlwind over the last few months, but I’m very pleased to have had this opportunity with this franchise,” he said.
Panthers manager Paul Maurice said Jones has settled in Florida.
“Seth Jones comes in our room and he’s always coming where the camera isn’t above him, right? He’s not the big dog in the backend,” Maurice said. “He’s not the most paid guy in the room. He’s one of the guys. So he can fold into the room.”
Maurice compared Jones’ trade to when the team acquired Merchand from the Bruins on a yet-noticeable deadline deal. The Panthers lost a chatty player from Stanley Cup champions last season, with defensive man Brandon Montol and forward Ryan Romberg leaving as free agents. Merchand is the speaker, among many others.
“Marchand’s personality removed the pressure from the rest. In fact, we had someone quieter than the big guy. And they said, ‘OK, Marchy can talk here, and then we can just relax,” Maurice said. “Brad took some pressure from these guys. I think our team put some pressure on him when Seth came in.”
Jones said he didn’t put any extra pressure on the postseason by failing to win the championship.
“No, it’s not. I think this locker room is definitely special,” he said. “The moment I entered this locker room you could feel the strength. You could feel the drive and the willingness to win from top to bottom.”
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Brad Marchand OT winner blows pandemonium out of Panthers crowd
Brad Merchand scored a massive overtime goal to bring the Panthers a 5-4 victory over the Maple Leafs.
The Panthers take pride in their homogy. There are big names on this roster. Matthew Tokachuk was a guest on “The Tonight Show” after the Four Nations showdown. Jones and Merchand were NHL All-Stars early in their careers. However, once they arrived in Sunrise, Florida, the players assimilated into the Borg group of general manager Bill Ziet’s merciless, effective and greedy competitors. In theory, it is less important than others.
“Whether you’re the best player on the team or not in the lineup, it’s a family environment. Everyone was treated the same,” Jones said. “We understand that everyone needs to win. It’s not just one line, it’s a set of defenders. So it’s a great environment and we want to continue doing that.”
Maurice believes Captain Alexander Barkov set the tone.
“I think it’s all Barkov. If you really don’t know what you look like and step into the locker room or the plane, you’re not sure who the stars are,” he said. “The same can be said for Matthew [Tkachuk] and Blood [Marchand]. They are one of the people in the room. ”
As the postseason rolled into the Eastern Conference Finals and Florida rolled into the Eastern Conference Finals, leading the Carolina hurricanes, it was “the man in the room” who the ringless Panthers overcome their anxiety. They are not worried about ruining things for these previous champions. Instead, the fact that they are champions gives them the models they need to emulate.
“One of the things that really calmed me down is that people with the ring understand what it does,” said Schmidt, who played 741 games in the NHL. “So you don’t have to go beyond what we already do and do anything. Just keep on the road. There’s no side track.”
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Greer, who had five teams and stints in his 248-game NHL career, said he had inherent trust in his teammates when the playoffs began.
“Obviously, you don’t want anything to ruin it. But once you start playing with hesitation, and start thinking too much, it’s time for things to go south,” he said. “So it’s just that you can just stay organized and trust the group. That’s the biggest thing. Everyone trusts the game plan.”
Greer said trust ranges from coaches to management to players.
“If we started playing for each other and got a team that we could respect the game plan and commit each night, then we got a winning recipe,” he said. “As long as you match that, I think the recipe is our best shot.”
But Ringless Panthers wants to add something to its recipe. For Greer, it was a bit zippered in the soup.
“You’re just trying to fit and don’t get in the way. You’re trying to blend in, but you’re trying to add a bit of your spice. “So for me, I was trying to inject a bit of energy as I was in a group that just won the Stanley Cup. They’ve had a long season and sometimes you can reach them both mentally and physically.
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AJ Greer will help the Panthers get back a two-goal lead
AJ Greer will score early in the second term to help Florida regain a two-goal advantage over the hurricanes.
Some of the ringless panthers have previously approached the Stanley Cup. Nosek and Schmidt were with the Vegas Golden Knights, who reached the finals in their first season in 2018 and lost to the Washington Capitals. Ironically, Schmidt was a member of that Capitals team before being pulled away by Vegas in the expanded draft. Nosek and Schmidt missed the Knights’ Stanley Cup victory in a few seasons.
But many of the Panthers who haven’t won yet come from less successful situations. Before Florida could win him, Vanecek was in the final San Jose Sharks. Jones has not played in the postseason since the 2020 Covid-19 bubble. For them, hunger wasn’t just about winning the ring – it was playing meaningful hockey again.
Maurice can be involved. The 58-year-old only made four playoffs in his first 16 seasons as the NHL head coach for the Hartford Whalers, Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets.
“When your team isn’t great, I know what it is, and there is little chance of making the playoffs. [The players] You are trying to set standards for that room. They’re going to play hard, but I know they’re not 22 anymore. The clock is engraved in victory,” he said. “At some point, that’s not funny. Losing is especially at the cost of your top end guy. So now they have a reprieve.”
As has been for the last two seasons, the ultimate goal is to be out of reach of the Florida Panthers. Most of their players became known forever as Stanley Cup champions a year ago. Jones, Schmidt and others do everything they can to get involved.
“I don’t have a ring… but I want that ring too, and that’s one of the reasons I joined the Panthers,” Nose said. “I don’t think there’s any extra pressure. [not having one]. There is always pressure in the playoffs. That’s why I like it. ”
