# 2021–22 Florida Panthers season

The 2021–22 Florida Panthers season was the 28th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established in 1993. Head coach Joel Quenneville returned to coach his third season with the team. The Panthers began the season 3–0–0 for the second time in team history in as many years.
Quenneville resigned from his coaching duties as a result of the fallout from the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal on October 28, 2021. On October 29, assistant coach Andrew Brunette was named interim head coach.
The franchise record season opening winning streak reached an 8–0–0 record. The streak ended after the Panthers lost to the Boston Bruins 3–2 in a shootout. The Panthers became the seventh team to begin the season at 8–0–0. The Panthers became the first team to clinch a berth in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs following a 5–3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on April 3, 2022. On April 21, the Panthers clinched the Atlantic Division title, and on April 28, they won the Presidents' Trophy for the first time in franchise history.
On May 13, 2022, the Florida Panthers won their first playoff series since 1996 by defeating the Washington Capitals in six games, only to suffer an upset in the Second Round by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who swept them in four games.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | p – Florida Panthers | 82 | 58 | 18 | 6 | 42 | 340 | 246 | +94 | 122 |
| 2 | x – Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 54 | 21 | 7 | 45 | 315 | 253 | +62 | 115 |
| 3 | x – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 51 | 23 | 8 | 39 | 287 | 233 | +54 | 110 |
| 4 | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 51 | 26 | 5 | 40 | 255 | 220 | +35 | 107 |
| 5 | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 25 | 232 | 290 | −58 | 75 |
| 6 | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 21 | 230 | 312 | −82 | 74 |
| 7 | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 26 | 227 | 266 | −39 | 73 |
| 8 | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 22 | 49 | 11 | 16 | 221 | 319 | −98 | 55 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | AT | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 51 | 26 | 5 | 40 | 255 | 220 | +35 | 107 |
| 2 | ME | x – Washington Capitals | 82 | 44 | 26 | 12 | 35 | 275 | 245 | +30 | 100 |
| 3 | ME | e – New York Islanders | 82 | 37 | 35 | 10 | 34 | 231 | 237 | −6 | 84 |
| 4 | ME | e – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 37 | 38 | 7 | 26 | 262 | 300 | −38 | 81 |
| 5 | AT | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 25 | 232 | 290 | −58 | 75 |
| 6 | AT | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 21 | 230 | 312 | −82 | 74 |
| 7 | AT | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 26 | 227 | 266 | −39 | 73 |
| 8 | ME | e – New Jersey Devils | 82 | 27 | 46 | 9 | 19 | 248 | 307 | −59 | 63 |
| 9 | ME | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 25 | 46 | 11 | 20 | 211 | 298 | −87 | 61 |
| 10 | AT | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 22 | 49 | 11 | 16 | 221 | 319 | −98 | 55 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

2021–22 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Playoffs

2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | 80 | 30 | 85 | 115 | +35 | 54 |
| Aleksander Barkov | 67 | 39 | 49 | 88 | +36 | 18 |
| Sam Reinhart | 78 | 33 | 49 | 82 | +25 | 13 |
| Anthony Duclair | 74 | 31 | 27 | 58 | +19 | 30 |
| Aaron Ekblad | 61 | 15 | 42 | 57 | +38 | 26 |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 78 | 24 | 31 | 55 | +24 | 48 |
| Sam Bennett | 71 | 28 | 21 | 49 | +27 | 74 |
| Mason Marchment | 54 | 18 | 29 | 47 | +29 | 53 |
| Anton Lundell | 65 | 18 | 26 | 44 | +33 | 18 |
| MacKenzie Weegar | 80 | 8 | 36 | 44 | +40 | 81 |
| Brandon Montour | 81 | 11 | 26 | 37 | +15 | 48 |
| Gustav Forsling | 71 | 10 | 27 | 37 | +41 | 18 |
| Patric Hornqvist | 65 | 11 | 17 | 28 | −5 | 19 |
| Eetu Luostarinen | 78 | 9 | 17 | 26 | +1 | 12 |
| Claude Giroux$^†$ | 18 | 3 | 20 | 23 | +7 | 6 |
| Frank Vatrano$^‡$ | 49 | 10 | 9 | 19 | −2 | 16 |
| Ryan Lomberg | 55 | 9 | 9 | 18 | +4 | 92 |
| Radko Gudas | 77 | 3 | 13 | 16 | +27 | 105 |
| Maxim Mamin | 40 | 7 | 7 | 14 | +8 | 13 |
| Owen Tippett$^‡$ | 42 | 6 | 8 | 14 | +2 | 10 |
| Joe Thornton | 34 | 5 | 5 | 10 | −10 | 10 |
| Lucas Carlsson | 40 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +3 | 10 |
| Noel Acciari | 20 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +2 | 11 |
| Ben Chiarot$^†$ | 20 | 2 | 6 | 8 | +4 | 6 |
| Matt Kiersted | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −8 | 2 |
| Petteri Lindbohm | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Robert Hagg$^†$ | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Markus Nutivaara | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Aleksi Heponiemi | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −6 | 2 |
| Kevin Connauton$^‡$ | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +4 | 2 |
| Zac Dalpe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Grigori Denisenko | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Olli Juolevi$^‡$ | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Chase Priskie | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 2 |
| Cole Schwindt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 10 | 6 | 6 | 12 | +7 | 4 |
| Claude Giroux | 10 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +2 | 0 |
| Aleksander Barkov | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +3 | 4 |
| Aaron Ekblad | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −2 | 11 |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | +1 | 4 |
| Sam Reinhart | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | −4 | 2 |
| Sam Bennett | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +1 | 12 |
| Anthony Duclair | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +4 | 4 |
| Gustav Forsling | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | +7 | 4 |
| Brandon Montour | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Eetu Luostarinen | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3 | 2 |
| Patric Hornqvist | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3 | 4 |
| Radko Gudas | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +1 | 6 |
| Anton Lundell | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| Ryan Lomberg | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| Mason Marchment | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −3 | 6 |
| MacKenzie Weegar | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 10 |
| Ben Chiarot | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 8 |
| Maxim Mamin | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 0 |
| Noel Acciari | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 0 |
| Joe Thornton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Sergei Bobrovsky | 54 | 53 | 3,082:10 | 39 | 7 | 3 | 137 | 2.67 | 1,566 | .913 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Spencer Knight | 32 | 27 | 1,740:14 | 19 | 9 | 3 | 81 | 2.79 | 876 | .908 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jonas Johansson | 2 | 2 | 116:13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 7.74 | 64 | .766 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Sergei Bobrovsky | 10 | 10 | 600:18 | 4 | 6 | 27 | 2.70 | 303 | .911 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Panthers. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only. $^‡$Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Transactions

The Panthers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2021–22 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| July 24, 2021 (2021-07-24) | To Buffalo SabresDevon Levi Conditional$^1$ 1st-round pick in 2022 or 2023 | To Florida PanthersSam Reinhart |
| July 26, 2021 (2021-07-26) | To Arizona CoyotesAnton Stralman Vladislav Kolyachonok 2nd-round pick in 2024 | To Florida Panthers7th-round pick in 2023 |
| October 10, 2021 (2021-10-10) | To Vancouver CanucksNoah Juulsen Juho Lammikko | To Florida PanthersOlli Juolevi |
| March 16, 2022 (2022-03-16) | To New York RangersFrank Vatrano | To Florida PanthersConditional$^2$ NYR or WPG 4th-round pick in 2022 |
| March 16, 2022 (2022-03-16) | To Montreal CanadiensTy Smilanic Conditional$^3$ 1st-round pick in 2023 Conditional$^2$ NYR or WPG 4th-round pick in 2022 | To Florida PanthersBen Chiarot |
| March 19, 2022 (2022-03-19) | To Philadelphia FlyersOwen Tippett Conditional$^4$ 1st-round pick in 2024 3rd-round pick in 2023 | To Florida PanthersClaude Giroux Connor Bunnaman German Rubtsov 5th-round pick in 2024 |
| March 20, 2022 (2022-03-20) | To Buffalo SabresCGY 6th-round pick in 2022 | To Florida PanthersRobert Hagg |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To Carolina HurricanesMax Domi Tyler Inamoto | To Florida PanthersYegor Korshkov CBJ 6th-round pick in 2022 |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To Columbus Blue JacketsAidan Hreschuk | |
Notes:
* Buffalo will receive a first-round pick in 2022 if the selection is outside of the top 10; otherwise Buffalo will receive a first-round pick in 2023.
* Florida will receive the later of either New York's or Winnipeg's 4th-round pick.
* Montreal will receive Florida's 1st-round pick in 2024 if Florida retains their 2022 1st-round pick.
* Philadelphia will receive Florida's 1st-round pick in 2024 if it falls outside the top 10 selections, otherwise Philadelphia will receive Florida's 1st-round pick in 2025.

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Christopher Gibson | Tampa Bay Lightning | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 30, 2021 (2021-07-30) | Zac Dalpe | Columbus Blue Jackets | 2-year | Free agency |
| August 13, 2021 (2021-08-13) | Joe Thornton | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1-year | Free agency |
| December 13, 2021 (2021-12-13) | Jonas Johansson | Colorado Avalanche | | Waivers |
| January 14, 2022 (2022-01-14) | Evan Fitzpatrick | Charlotte Checkers (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| February 7, 2022 (2022-02-07) | Mack Guzda | Barrie Colts (OHL) | 3-year | Free agency |
| February 28, 2022 (2022-02-28) | Petteri Lindbohm | Jokerit (KHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| June 10, 2022 (2022-06-10) | Calle Sjalin | Leksands IF (SHL) | 2-year | Free agency |
| June 14, 2022 (2022-06-14) | Anton Levtchi | Tappara (Liiga) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Term | Via |
| July 15, 2021 (2021-07-15) | Keith Yandle | | | Buy-out |
| July 21, 2021 (2021-07-21) | Chris Driedger | Seattle Kraken | | Expansion draft |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Brady Keeper | Vancouver Canucks | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Ethan Prow | Buffalo Sabres | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Alexander Wennberg | Seattle Kraken | 3-year | Free agency |
| July 30, 2021 (2021-07-30) | Tommy Cross | St. Louis Blues | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 13, 2021 (2021-08-13) | Ryan Bednard | Hershey Bears (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 17, 2021 (2021-08-17) | Philippe Desrosiers | Manitoba Moose (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 19, 2021 (2021-08-19) | Jake Massie | South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| September 1, 2021 (2021-09-01) | Alec Rauhauser | Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| September 8, 2021 (2021-09-08) | Patrick Bajkov | Reading Royals (ECHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| September 8, 2021 (2021-09-08) | Brad Morrison | HC Pustertal Wolfe (ICEHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 2, 2021 (2021-10-02) | Samuel Montembeault | Montreal Canadiens | | Waivers |
| October 4, 2021 (2021-10-04) | Scott Wilson | Charlotte Checkers (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 12, 2021 (2021-10-12) | Nikita Gusev | SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| December 7, 2021 (2021-12-07) | Kevin Connauton | Philadelphia Flyers | | Waivers |
| March 6, 2022 (2022-03-06) | Olli Juolevi | Detroit Red Wings | | Waivers |
| June 9, 2022 (2022-06-09) | Evan Fitzpatrick | Charlotte Checkers (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| July 15, 2021 (2021-07-15) | Anthony Duclair | 3-year | Re-signing |
| July 15, 2021 (2021-07-15) | Gustav Forsling | 3-year | Re-signing |
| July 26, 2021 (2021-07-26) | Sam Bennett | 4-year | Re-signing |
| July 26, 2021 (2021-07-26) | Lucas Carlsson | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 26, 2021 (2021-07-26) | Noah Juulsen | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Juho Lammikko | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Carter Verhaeghe | 3-year | Extension |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Maxim Mamin | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Brandon Montour | 3-year | Re-signing |
| August 1, 2021 (2021-08-01) | Sam Montembeault | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 5, 2021 (2021-08-05) | Chase Priskie | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 11, 2021 (2021-08-11) | Sam Reinhart | 3-year | Re-signing |
| September 25, 2021 (2021-09-25) | Justin Sourdif | 3-year | Entry-level |
| October 9, 2021 (2021-10-09) | Aleksander Barkov | 8-year | Extension |
| November 26, 2021 (2021-11-26) | Ryan Lomberg | 2-year | Extension |
| March 16, 2021 (2021-03-16) | Zach Uens | 3-year | Entry-level |
| May 2, 2022 (2022-05-02) | Santtu Kinnunen | 2-year | Entry-level |
| June 27, 2022 (2022-06-27) | Matt Kiersted | 2-year | Extension |
| July 5, 2022 (2022-07-05) | Aleksi Heponiemi | 1-year | Extension |

## Draft picks

Below are the Florida Panthers' selections at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, which were held on July 23 to 24, 2021. It was held virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 24 | Mackie Samoskevich | RW | USA | Chicago Steel (USHL) |
| 2 | 56 | Evan Nause | D | Canada | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |
| 4 | 120 | Vladislav Lukashevich | D | Russia | Loko Yaroslavl (MHL) |
| 5 | 152 | Kirill Gerasimyuk | G | Russia | SKA Varyagi (MHL) |
| 6 | 184 | Jakub Kos | LW | Czech Republic | Ilves U20 (U20 SM-sarja) |
| 7 | 210 | Braden Hache | D | USA | Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) |