Once again, Florida Panthers given unfavorable schedule full of confusing travel, plenty of back-to-back sets
That seemed apparent when the back-to-back Stanley Cup champs were given a 5 p.m. start time for Opening Night.
On Wednesday, the NHL released its full 2025-26 season schedule.
When looking over Florida's 82-game slate, a few things seemed to jump off the page.
First off, in similar fashion to last season, the Panthers will play plenty of back-to-back sets.
Last year the number was 14, which included the two games Florida faced the Dallas Stars on consecutive days in Finland.
This season, without the trip overseas, the number got knocked down by one.
In total, there will be 13 back-to-backs, with four coming on home ice, eight on the road and one that includes a home game and a road game. For that split back-to-backer, the road game is the second night and it's in Tampa.
Of Florida's four back-to-back sets on home ice, three of them come during the month of December.
It's after the calendar flips to 2026 where Florida's wonky schedule really starts to go sideways.
In January, Florida will endure their longest road trip of the season, a six-gamer that stops in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Buffalo, Carolina and Washington. Then the Panthers will return Sunrise for a single home game, then head right back on the road for a trip to Winnipeg, Minnesota and Chicago.
Oh the fun doesn't stop there. They return home from Chicago and once again, play a single game in Sunrise, then it's off to St. Louis for a one-game road trip.
Make it make sense. Please.
March could prove to be another rough stretch for the Cats. They play 10 of their 15 games that month on the road, and there will be three back-to-backs mixed in with those road games.
Another interesting tidbit from Florida's schedule is that when the NHL takes a pause in February for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, the Panthers will play a back-to-back set going into the break and coming out of the break.
One of the positives when compared to last season is that this time, Florida will only play eight of their back-to-back sets after January 1, while last year that number was 10.
Either way, it's becoming clear that winning multiple Stanely Cups and becoming the top dog in the league isn't enough to get some non-wtf treatment from the schedule makers.
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Photo caption: Feb 2, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice watches from the bench against the New York Islanders during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
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