So far in these playoffs, no player on the Florida Panthers has more points than Brad Marchand, and no one has spent more time on the ice than Seth Jones.
They are the latest proof that Bill Zito has been making smart decisions.
The Panthers’ general manager and president of hockey operations made two of the biggest trade-deadline moves in the NHL, bringing in Marchand from Boston and Jones from Chicago to strengthen the defending champions’ chances at another title.
It’s clear those trades paid off. Marchand has 12 points in the playoffs, tied with Eetu Luostarinen for most on the team. Jones scored the opening goal in Florida’s 6-1 Game 7 win over Toronto in the second round. When Florida plays the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Tuesday, both Marchand and Jones will be key players.
“On the ice, they’ve been, shall I say, as advertised,” Zito said.
Many didn’t expect those trades to happen. Jones still had five years left on his deal with Chicago, and even though the Blackhawks are covering 26% of his salary, Florida is still committed to paying around \$35 million. Marchand had spent his entire career with Boston — a team that’s been a rival of Florida — so it wasn’t expected that the Bruins would be willing to trade him to the Panthers.
Jones and Marchand were welcomed like long-time members of the team from the beginning. Zito made sure they felt that way.
“One of the main things that surprised me was it’s easy to be complacent, especially after they won a Cup and I wasn’t sure how that was going to feel, but coming in you can just feel the drive to win another one and just be better every single day,” Jones said. “And that’s individually, each guy, all the way from our best players, our first-liners to our fourth-liners. Every guy wants to get better and learn and play for one another so It’s awesome to be a part of.”
Zito didn’t go after Marchand and Jones just for their names or reputations. The Panthers had real needs during the season, with penalty killing being at the top of the list.
Florida Panthers players celebrate in Game 3So Zito made it happen. The result: the Panthers are in the Eastern Conference Final for the third year in a row, just four wins away from another Stanley Cup Final appearance.
“You credit Bill Zito and his group,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We went into the trade deadline feeling that was the place that we need to get better. Again, we lost some important killers from our team last year. And he delivered.”
This is what Zito has been doing since he became the Panthers’ GM in 2020. He was at last year’s championship parade in the middle of a thunderstorm, already knowing that the roster would look different the next day. Some players were set to leave. He had replacements in mind. There wasn’t much room in the budget, so the new deals had to be the right ones, or the team’s chances of staying at the top would be hurt.
So far, it’s all working. He signed Nate Schmidt, who is now a key part of the defense. He brought in A.J. Greer, who led the team in hits in Game 7 at Toronto along with Sam Bennett. He signed Tomáš Nosek, who played a big role in the comeback win in Game 3 against Toronto that may have turned the series. And he did all that while managing to give contract extensions to Sam Reinhart, Dmitry Kulikov, Anton Lundell last summer, and another one to Carter Verhaeghe in the fall.
These are just some of the recent moves that add to Zito’s strong record. He also brought Matthew Tkachuk from Calgary, convinced Paul Maurice to return to coaching, and signed captain Aleksander Barkov to a long-term deal that could keep him with the Panthers for his whole career.
“I think the conventional wisdom is that it’s going to be hard for any team to get back to the Stanley Cup Final, let alone win it, three years in a row,” said hockey legend Mark Messier, now an analyst with ESPN. “I’ve got to give all the credit to Bill Zito, Paul Maurice, the coach, the scouting staff. They continue to replace players that they lose with new players that seamlessly seem to fit into their culture and their style of play.”
Zito has been in the conversation for GM of the year before and should be a top candidate again. But he often points to the team around him — he may be in charge, but he makes sure others in the organization can speak up and be heard before big decisions are made.
“We rely significantly on the scouts, on the analytics guys to identify players, and then we try to find ways to fit pieces into the puzzle,” Zito said. “And it’s not always the most expensive or the least expensive. It’s the best fit. It’s the best fit for that part. And our guys have done a fantastic job of identifying people who would be a fit, and also at a price point that we think we can get them in.”
