Monday marked a fairly significant anniversary in terms of recent Florida Panthers history.
It was September 2, 2020, when the Panthers made one of the most important decisions in the then-26 years of the franchise’s existence.
That was on that day the Panthers hired Bill Zito to be the Panthers next general manager.
From that point on, the team has undergone a profound shift in both how it evaluates players and its approach to playing the game.
The first moves made by Zito were clear indicators of how he wanted to shape the team, bringing in guys like Patric Hornqvist and Radko Gudas to change the culture in the locker room to one of hard work and accountability.
As the years passed, the Panthers improved and Zito continued to add pieces.
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A Sam Bennett here. A Brandon Montour there. A Draft Day deal for Sam Reinhart nobody saw coming.
But it was during the summer of 2022 when two key additions would help Florida turn the corner.
On the ice, it was Zito trading franchise star Jonathan Huberdeau for gritty young “unicorn” (Zito’s descriptor) Matthew Tkachuk, and off the ice it was the hiring of Head Coach Paul Maurice.
Now Florida’s culture shift had a clear voice telling them how they needed to play the game if they wanted to be champions.
In a nutshell, it’s basically playoff hockey year-round.
Overall, the Panthers have improved each season under Zito’s watch.
Two seasons have passed since the summer that saw Maurice and Tkachuk arrive and Florida has reached the Stanley Cup Final both times, winning the Cup this past summer in an epic seven-game victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
So where do they go from here?
Florida will look to win consecutive Stanley Cups when they hit the ice for training camp in a few weeks.
Is it really conceivable to think that Zito and his staff could be building a, dare we say, dynasty in South Florida?
The first step toward that kind of legendary status is winning a second Stanley Cup in short order.
We’ll see how things play out in Sunrise on that front, but regardless of what the future holds, its absolutely remarkable what Zito has accomplished during his first four seasons at the helm.
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