Carolina are...

[Pink Freud]

Panthers, please....just put a merciful end to this horror ASAP, then enjoy your week off.

[Pink Freud]

Carolina is so unimpressive. Not sure what happens to them in this round, they just turn to dust. 0 and 15? Is that real?

Seven straight seasons under Rod the Bod of winning the first round...then SPLAT. Blather...wince....repeat.

Now watch the Maple Leafs hire him as their new team president.

[Pink Freud]

That blind backhand pass at center ice that ended up in their own net was the spark that set off the Florida fireworks. Just one of innumerable stupid Carolina plays in this series.

Didn't Mitch Marner do that for Toronto, leading to a Panthers goal?

[netboy65]

The least impressive conference finalist I can recall in any sport.

The east was really down this year. TB was good but having to play FLA in rd one killed them. The Leafs had Fla on the ropes and opened the door and let them off. The rest of the conference, meh. Washington might be the worst playoff one seed I can recall. NJ, Ottawa. Goofs. Without looking it up I can’t tell you the other eastern playoff teams.

Took me a hot minute too! Isles and Mont though

Yeah, but did you piece it together on your own or did you google it? Thanks. Two more completely unmemorable 2024 Eastern Conf. playoff teams.

I got it on my own, but I’ll admit I sat and it took me like 2-3 minutes to come up with them!

[TheHighHat]

I'm amazed every year that the Canes trade for a scoring winger instead of the gaping hole in their lineup:
2nd line center

Staal is 36 and only produces 30 something points a year. He still gets the most ice time at center after Aho.
Kotkaniemi is pushing 25 but just can't be counted on to create offense. 5 more years left on that mistake.
Roslovic was forced to play some center this year even though he is better suited as a 3RW

The Devils didn't have much of a chance without J. Hughes.
I knew that the Caps overachieved this year, but I was taken aback at how quickly the Canes took them out.
Andersen and Svechnikov were great in the first 2 rounds, but that shine has worn off.

Now the Canes also need major help on their former strength from a few years back:
Defensemen

Burns should/might hang them up.
Orlov might not get a contract offer after last night's abomination.
Slavin and Chatfield will be in charge of babysitting Nikishin and Morrow next year.
You can live with the 2 little guys (Gostisbehere & Walker) that make up the 3rd pair in the regular season, but they are exposed and punished once the playoffs start.

Good analysis. They have a mix of very young players with talent and very old players with only a couple of guys like Aho in the middle. Decent shape on draft picks. The young guys should have career runway to learn from these experiences and fight on but they do need to retool as you point out.

It's very disappointing to fans to keep running into a brick wall but they need to maintain perspective. This is the third round of the playoffs, the Final Four in a 32 team league. It's very hard just to get here, a few wrong moves and they may not be back for a decade or more.

I agree for the most part.
This year's version of the Canes was fortunate to get this far mainly because their division rivals were injured or overrated.

The Canes took out:
Hischier & Mercer then
Strome & Dubois

The Panthers took out:
Point & Cirelli then
Matthews & Tavares

Major difference.

Now it's
Aho & Staal vs
Barkov & Bennett

No contest.

[seattleblue]

If Nikishin is deserving of best defensive prospect in the world hype, when he settles in they will still be good. We should start seeing that next year.

Tampa had a tremendous period of four seasons – our Cup year they had an unreal regular season then won the next two Cups convincingly before losing in the Final in the fourth year. And they are still pretty strong in Tampa because Hedman is a support beam. Florida is trying to match Tampa's run right now.

[AtillaTheBlue1]

florida got the 2 best matchups, for their style of play. toronto and carolina

sadly, both western teams also play into their strengths

[TheHighHat]

If Nikishin is deserving of best defensive prospect in the world hype, when he settles in they will still be good. We should start seeing that next year.

Tampa had a tremendous period of four seasons – our Cup year they had an unreal regular season then won the next two Cups convincingly before losing in the Final in the fourth year. And they are still pretty strong in Tampa because Hedman is a support beam. Florida is trying to match Tampa's run right now.

Even if Florida does not win the Cup this year, I consider the current Panthers 4 year run more impressive because both of Tampa's Cup wins were in truncated seasons. The Cats have put some major miles on their tires the last 3 years.

Similar to the Lightning in 18-19, the Panthers had a great regular season the season (21-22) before they made the finals.
That TDL Zito went all in throwing away 1st rounders and Tippett for Giroux and Chairot.

After the Panthers were demolished by the Lightning in the 2nd round, Zito knew he had to make changes to his roster to win in the playoffs.
A certain player became available in Calgary that summer and the rest is history. It took ballz to trade away a guy coming off a 115 point season.
Many around here gnash their teeth over trade talk of a soft winger that has a career high of 75 points. Could you imagine a soft winger that had 40 more points?