How the Golden Knights and Panthers built Stanley Cup Finalists

Five years ago, the Vegas Golden Knights were the ultimate Cinderella story — an expansion club of “misfit” players exposed by their former teams and fueled by chips on shoulders, chemistry and the freedom of playing with house money all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

Now, the Golden Knights are back in the Cup Final, but it’s the other team that’s getting all the underdog buzz.

Maybe it’s the fact that the eighth-seed Florida Panthers just barely squeaked into the post-season, nearly ruled out multiple times before grabbing the second wild-card spot in the East. Or maybe it's the fact that once they did book their tickets, their trip took them through the toughest route possible: Through the history-making Boston Bruins, past the second-seed Maple Leafs and over the Metropolitan-topping Carolina Hurricanes.

And maybe it’s all the breakout seasons and the kind of roster-wide chemistry we haven’t really seen since the Golden Knights’ own improbable run to the Cup Final in the spring of 2018.

Both teams are coming off a healthy dose of heartbreak, with Florida gearing up for a long run last year and claiming the Presidents’ Trophy before being swept by Tampa Bay in Round 2, while Vegas found itself outside the post-season picture altogether for the first time in their existence.

Both teams have a new head coach in place, both teams have had their fair share of goalie turmoil and triumphs, and both are being led by stars flying through their first playoffs with their respective clubs and making their GMs look like geniuses for going all-in to acquire them.

Look closer at the rosters, and you’ll see more similarities. These are two teams largely built not via drafting and development but on the trade market and in free agency.

Of the 23 players who have suited up for at least one playoff game with Florida this spring, 19 were brought in by general manager Bill Zito since he took over in September 2020 — which includes five acquired via trade, 10 free agency signings, three waiver claims and one draft pick. That’s a lot of turnover in three years.

In Vegas, roster turnover is the name of the Golden Knights’ game, with general manager Kelly McCrimmon — and former GM and current president George McPhee before him — tapped into the trade market, unafraid to make moves (yes, even the unpopular ones). Of the 24 players who have suited up at least once this post-season for Vegas, nine were acquired via trade, nine signed as free agents, four remain after being expansion draft selections, one was claimed on waivers and just one was drafted.

Now, as the two conference champs prepare to meet on the biggest stage in the game, here’s a closer look at the rosters and the most notable moves that got them this far.

Vegas Expansion Draft: Panthers deal Golden Knights a pair of aces

The Golden Knights have been competitive from Day 1, thanks to some savvy expansion picks and a series of deals on the side that had GMs league-wide carefully covering the assets when it came time for Seattle to try to employ similar tactics three years later.

As historically successful as the Golden Knights were in their inaugural season, they’ve consistently tweaked their winning recipe, never hesitant to go all-in for the top trade target (Mark Stone in 2019, Jack Eichel in 2021) or the biggest fish of free agency (Alex Pietrangelo in 2020), and have been ruthless in their willingness to cut loose franchise favourites (Marc-Andre Fleury in 2021, Max Pacioretty a year later).

Six years after that first run to the Final, just six original “misfits” remain from the Expansion Draft (*denotes a player acquired in trade connected to Expansion Draft):

• William Karlsson (claimed from CBJ)
• William Carrier (BUF)
• Brayden McNabb (LAK)
• Shea Theodore (ANA)*
• Jonathan Marchessault (FLA)
• Reilly Smith (FLA)*

Theodore and Smith were both brought in via expansion-adjacent deals — in Smith’s case, the Panthers dangled Marchessault to lure the Golden Knights into trading for Smith and his five-year, $25-million contract. (In a funny turn of events, the Ducks traded Theodore in an effort to protect Brandon Montour — now a breakout star in Florida.)

Marchessault and Smith formed the foundation of the Golden Knights’ first run to the Cup Final and once again help lead them to within four wins of hockey’s ultimate prize — against their old club, to boot.

Drafted & Developed: Panthers’ high draft picks thriving, Vegas’ system starting to yield results

Florida’s playoff roster features just three players drafted by the Panthers. All three were first-round picks.

• Aleksander Barkov: Round 1, No. 2 overall in 2013
• Aaron Ekblad: Round 1, No. 1 overall in 2014
• Anton Lundell: Round 1, No. 12 overall in 2020

(Goalie Spencer Knight, selected 13^th overall in 2019, isn’t included on this list because he’s not on the playoff roster. He started 19 games this season before entering the NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program.)

Florida’s lack of drafted-and-developed players isn’t a statement on a poor draft-season track record but rather its willingness to make big trades — and other teams’ interest in its biggest stars. The Panthers dealt away two of their longest-tenured players in Jonathan Huberdeau (selected third overall in 2011) and MacKenzie Weegar (a seventh-round pick in 2013) to land Matthew Tkachuk last summer while top prospect Owen Tippett was also a deal-sweetener for Philadelphia in acquiring deadline rental Claude Giroux (now in Ottawa) a few months prior.

It takes time to build a prospect pool, and “patience” is not a word we hear often when talking about the Golden Knights’ strategy. All three of their first-round picks from their inaugural draft are playing elsewhere — Cody Glass is in Nashville, Nick Suzuki is captain of the Canadiens and Erik Brannstrom is part of Ottawa’s burgeoning young blue line — but we started to see the first flashes of success in that department thanks to a pair of rookie forwards in Paul Cotter and Pavel Dorofeyev.

The pair of mid-round picks injected a boost of offence down the stretch, but neither have suited up in the post-season. Just one Vegas-drafted player has played in these playoffs: Defenceman Nic Hague, selected 34^th overall in 2017.

Although rookie goaltender Logan Thompson wasn’t drafted, he was first signed as an undrafted free agent in July 2020 and has been in the system since, a testament to Vegas’ scouting and development.

Acquired Via Trade: Bold deals paying off on both sides

Neither the Panthers nor Golden Knights are strangers to blockbuster deals, and both teams are seeing their bold maneuvers pay off in a big way this post-season — both Tkachuk (nine goals, 21 points) and Jack Eichel (six goals, 18 points) led their respective squads in scoring this season and now have their team leads in post-season points in their first playoff stints with their new clubs.

Here’s a look at each club’s three most impactful trades:

Florida: Matthew Tkachuk via Calgary Flames on July 22, 2022

Trade details: Florida sent Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt and a lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick to Calgary in exchange for Tkachuk and a 2025 fourth-round pick.

Former Flames GM (and current Leafs GM) Brad Treliving made the most of Tkachuk’s message he wouldn’t be re-signing in Calgary, and got a smart return — but it’s hard to look at this deal as anything less than a grand-slam for Florida considering the production, personality and punch Tkachuk brings to the Sunshine State. Not to mention, the clutch gene.

Florida: Sam Bennett via Calgary Flames on April 12, 2021

Trade details: Florida sent prospect Emil Heineman and a 2022 second-round pick to Calgary in exchange for Sam Bennett and a 2022 sixth-round pick.

Another former Flame, Bennett saw a big boost in his production immediately upon heading south, and “Playoff Sam Bennett” has once again emerged this spring.

Florida: Brandon Montour via Buffalo Sabres on April 10, 2021

Trade details: Florida sent a 2021 third-round pick to Buffalo in exchange for Montour at the 2021 deadline.

Talk about a bargain. Montour is one of a handful of players to enjoy a breakout this season in Florida — his second full season with the team — and in the playoffs he’s been excellent, leading all defenders in goals (six).

Vegas: Jack Eichel via Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 5, 2021

Trade details: Vegas sent Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a 2022 first-round pick and a 2023 second-round pick to Buffalo in exchange for Eichel and a third-rounder in 2023.

After being acquired following a long and drawn-out saga with the Sabres, Eichel would have to wait a little longer for his first taste of post-season hockey – but it certainly hasn’t taken him long to feast. Eichel’s clutch gene has kicked in to the tune of a team-leading 18 points, and it’ll be interesting to watch him try to solve Bobrovsky in the Final.

Vegas: Mark Stone via Ottawa Senators on Feb. 25, 2019

Trade details: Vegas sent Oscar Lindberg, Erik Brannstrom and a 2020 second-round pick to Ottawa in exchange for Stone and Tobias Lindberg.

After trading for Stone at the 2019 deadline — his final deadline as GM in Vegas — George McPhee, now president, wasted no time locking up the man who would soon wear the captain’s "C" in Vegas. Though he’s dealt with his share of injuries, Stone has once again come up big this post-season, with six goals and 15 points en route to his first Cup Final.

Vegas: Chandler Stephenson via Washington Capitals on Dec. 3, 2019

Trade details: Vegas sent a fifth-round pick to Washington in exchange for Stephenson

Upon landing in Vegas, Stephenson flourished with added responsibility and this spring has been one of the club’s most consistent scorers — the centreman’s eight goals in 17 playoff games is third on the team.

Acquired Via Free Agency: Big swings and value deals

The last major signing of the Dale Tallon era in Florida was the free agency acquisition of Bobrovsky. His $10-million cap hit and subpar play has threatened to sink the ship at times, but this spring the veteran netminder has been a life-saver — and worth every penny of that heavy AAV.

Although Zito has dished out some hefty paychecks as well (Barkov re-signed for $10 million per year and Tkachuk’s AAV comes in just below that at $9.5 million), it’s the mid-range contracts and value deals that have been his most notable work on the signing front. You can actually trace things back to one particular date: Oct. 9, 2020 — just over a month after Zito took over. It was on that day the GM signed five players to value deals, including three that continue to play roles bigger than their paycheques today: Radko Gudas, Carter Verhaeghe and Ryan Lomberg.

Gudas is now in the final year of his three-year, $7.5-million pact while Verhaeghe, who first came on board via a two-year, $2-million deal, earned himself a well-deserved raise a year later with a three-year extension with a $4.17-million AAV — still a bargain, considering his playoff scoring abilities.

Vegas, meanwhile, has earned a reputation for its big swings thanks to the home-run signing of Pietrangelo in 2020 (seven years, $61.6 million). McCrimmon has been forced to conduct salary cap gymnastics to shed dollars, and has capitalized on an affordable crease. The Golden Knights have leaned on a group of lesser-known goalies in Thompson, Laurent Broissoit and Adin Hill — all of whom earn less than $1 million annually. Deadline acquisition Jonathan Quick, who hasn’t suited up this post-season, is the highest-paid netminder in the system, at $5.8-million AAV. Former starter Robin Lehner, who’s on long-term injured reserve, is signed through 2024-25 at $5 million annually.