Morning Coffee: Can anybody stop a Panthers Stanley Cup dynasty?

The Florida Panthers are the NHL’s gold standard.

After becoming the third team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions this century, all eyes are on the Cats entering a crucial 24 hours leading up to the Free Agent Frenzy.

The Panthers have already locked up Sam Bennett after the Conn Smythe Trophy winner agreed to an eight-year, $64 million contract.

With Brad Marchand at No. 2 on TSN’s list of the top 50 pending unrestricted free agents, Aaron Ekblad at No. 4, and Nate Schmidt at No. 14, GM Barry Zito has some work to do before the TSN Free Agent Frenzy goes to air.

All 32 NHL teams will be able to sign unrestricted free agents as of 12 PM ET on Tuesday.

By that point, there’s a very good chance that we’ll know whether the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions were able to bring back one of Marchand, Ekblad, Schmidt, or some combination of the three.

Hopefully for the rest of the league, they don’t find a way to bring back all three pending UFAs.

And hopefully for Leafs Nation, we’ll also find out what pending UFA Mitch Marner has decided is the best move for his NHL future.

We already know the Vegas Golden Knights closed as the heavy favourite in FanDuel’s Marner’s next team market.

We also know that the Toronto Maple Leafs were a massive longshot by the time that market closed.

The Maple Leafs took important steps towards solidifying their 2025-26 roster when they signed John Tavares and Matthew Knies to long-term contracts in recent days.

What they do over the next 48 hours will go a long way towards determining whether Toronto climbs any higher on FanDuel’s list of Stanley Cup contenders.

Can anybody stop a Panthers Stanley Cup dynasty?

I’m willing to bet against it ahead of Free Agent Frenzy.

This is Morning Coffee for Monday June 30th, 2025.

Can Anybody Stop A Panthers Stanley Cup Dynasty?

The Panthers are +750 to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel.

The Carolina Hurricanes are the only other Eastern Conference contender at shorter than +1400 odds.

Yes, the same Hurricanes team that is 1-16 in their previous four trips to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Tampa Bay Lighting are the third choice to win the Stanley Cup among Eastern Conference teams and the seventh choice overall at +1400.

The New Jersey Devils are right behind them at +1700.

I have the Panthers, Lightning, and Maple Leafs as my current top three Eastern Conference contenders.

Florida seems like the obvious favourite to me.

In addition to the massive gap between Florida and Tampa Bay in terms of Stanley Cup odds, it’s interesting to note just how much the perception of Toronto has changed in one year.

Last summer, the Maple Leafs opened +1400 as a top 10 choice to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel.

This summer, Toronto opened +2400 to win it all.

That’s a big jump for a team that could be in tough to fill a significant void in their roster if they lose Marner as a pending unrestricted free agent.

If Marner doesn’t return to the Maple Leafs, he’ll become just the fifth player in the salary cap era to record 100 points in a season and not return to the same team for the start of the next season.

While Leafs Nation was quick to point the finger at the team’s lack of playoff success in recent years, replacing a 100-point player becomes that much more complicated when the free agent class is as thin as it is.

The Panthers have already signed Bennett long term.

That leaves Marner and Marchand as the top pending unrestricted free agents on TSN’s top 50 list.

If Marner decides he’s better off signing somewhere else, and Florida brings back Marchand, the 2025 UFA class will become that much thinner by the time the market officially opens on Tuesday at noon.

Nikolaj Ehlers is No. 3 on TSN’s top 50 UFA list.

Brock Boeser is No. 7 as the next forward on the list.

Mikael Granlund, Patrick Kane, Pius Suter, Jonathan Drouin, Jack Roslovic, and Corey Perry round out forwards in the top 20 on TSN’s top 50 UFA list.

Leafs Nation must feel pretty good this morning about the contracts that were signed by Tavares and Knies.

With the bulk of their core locked up, the Maple Leafs have the salary cap space to sign an impact player to solidify their top six forwards.

The problem is that if Marchand signs in Florida, that impact player might not be available in free agency.

Plus, the Panthers will be in excellent shape with Bennett and Marchand running it back for a potential three-peat.

Taking a closer look at FanDuel’s Stanley Cup winner odds, the top five choices to win it all now are the same five teams that were the top five choices to win it all last summer, only at different numbers and in different order.

The Panthers deserve to be the Stanley Cup favourite.

The fact that the Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche, and Dallas Stars are all +850 to win the Stanley Cup as the top choices among Western Conference teams indicates just how wide open it is on that side of the bracket.

The Golden Knights are just outside the top five after their Stanley Cup odds were cut from +1200 to +1000 over the weekend in anticipation of a major move.

Does Marner make Vegas a legitimate contender?

He certainly makes them a better team, even if I’m not convinced it will be enough to win a Stanley Cup.

With just over 24 hours to go until start of free agency, hockey fans will be glued to their phones for the latest developments.

Perhaps they even tune in to TSN’s Wimbledon coverage ahead of Tuesday’s Free Agent Frenzy marathon.

With a lot to be decided over the next 48 hours, I’ll leave you with this thought.

The Panthers are the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

They could end up bringing back most if not all their key unrestricted free agents with the bulk of their core still in the prime of their careers.

Zito has delivered a masterclass in roster management while head coach Paul Maurice has directed Florida to back-to-back Stanley Cups from behind the bench.

With a thin pending free agent class potentially getting even thinner if Marchand signs in Florida and Marner decides to move to Vegas, it might be last call to bet the Cats to complete the three-peat at their current price.

The Panthers are the NHL’s gold standard.

Florida to win the Stanley Cup at +750 makes a lot of sense as a FanDuel Best Bet for the 2025-26 NHL season.

Have a great day, everyone!