Will the Panthers’ goaltending sink their Stanley Cup hopes?

Consensus opinion coming into an NHL season isn’t always common, but it’s hard to find someone that doesn’t believe the Florida Panthers will be back to their Stanley Cup contending selves in 2026-27. After all, captain and top-line center Aleksander Barkov will be back after missing the entirety of last season with a knee injury, and the arrival of power forward Brady Tkachuk should give them even more snarl and scoring punch.

If the Panthers have one question mark, however, it’s in net. Florida opted to move on from longtime starter Sergei Bobrovsky, and will instead roll with the newly acquired tandem of Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid. Markstrom, 36, is coming off an underwhelming season for the New Jersey Devils in which he posted a .883 save percentage and a 3.07 goals-against average, while Schmid, 26, has yet to take on a starter’s workload in the NHL.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discussed whether or not the Panthers’ goaltending could hold them back this season.

Tyler Yaremchuk: How concerned are you about the Panthers’ goaltending heading into this year?

Carter Hutton: I’m not totally concerned. I honestly think they’re in a good spot. I think Akira Schmid has a lot to play for with his contract and where he’s at. Jacob Markstrom, I think my concern would be health, and it’s going to be how they insulate in that division. I think Sasha Barkov being healthy changes this whole dynamic of what we expect. I think it is concerning, but it feels like for Jacob Markstrom this is his window to win, and I think Schmid has the factor that he has to play well this year to get a contract. I think it’s going to be how they defend. It’s not necessarily goaltending but how they insulate them this year which will be a big factor.

Tyler Yaremchuk: They weren’t close to the playoffs last year, but they were missing (Matthew) Tkachuk for a big stretch of time. They obviously never had Aleksander Barkov. Another thing I’ll add is that it’s worth remembering that last year they also got subpar goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky. That was a big stepback year for Bob. So I think with all of those factors coming together, they’re going to be way better than they were last season.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Monday’s episode here…