<p>Although general managers and team executives would often like to think they&#8217;re reinventing the wheel, the NHL is a copycat league. They may be copying the Cats as well, as several teams are <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/panthers-trade-seth-jones-accelerates-leafs-trade-deadline-clock">trying to emulate the Florida Panthers</a>, who are looking to repeat as Stanley Cup champions while representing the Eastern Conference for the third consecutive year.</p>
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<p>This is the most important season in recent memory for the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/combinations">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> (we&#8217;re sure you&#8217;ve heard this before!) with Mitch Marner, John Tavares and <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/why-matthew-knies-untouchable-toronto-maple-leafs-trade-talks-nhl-trade-deadline">Matthew Knies requiring new contracts</a>. The window to <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/the-future-does-not-matter-toronto-maple-leafs">win is right now</a>, nine years into Marner and Auston Matthews&#8217; tenure with the club. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving is <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/elliotte-friedman-maple-leafs-acquiring-notable-talent-trade-deadline-its-gonna-cost-them">on the phone</a> and may not be reading this, but here are some things that can be learned from the Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights.</p>
<h3>Maximize your contention window by going all-in, draft capital doesn&#8217;t matter</h3>
<p>It may be a hard sell for your scouting staff, or fans invested in top prospects, but draft capital does not matter for contending teams. It&#8217;s easy to get attached to certain players and prospects, but unless they&#8217;re a top-10 pick, chances are that the player won&#8217;t be contributing to winning immediately. Finding players that match your timeline, whether you&#8217;re a contending team, or rebuilding team, is paramount, and the worst place to be in the NHL is firmly in the middle.</p>
<p>During last year&#8217;s deadline, the Panthers correctly assessed that a handful of mid-round picks were worth some key upgrades. Florida traded a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024 and a third-round pick in 2025 to the Ottawa Senators, in exchange for Vladimir Tarasenko. Tarasenko wasn&#8217;t a home run, but he did record five goals and nine points on a balanced Panthers&#8217; third line. Although he signed with the Detroit Red Wings in free agency, you can bet that Bill Zito and Brett Peterson wish him well with a banner hanging at Amerant Bank Arena.</p>
<p>Florida also traded prospect Calle Sjalin and a conditional seventh-round pick in 2024 in exchange for veteran forward Kyle Okposo, who added some depth and was universally beloved in the locker room. Zito, Peterson and the Panthers&#8217; brain trust are certainly not regretting the draft capital required to make a few upgrades.</p>
<p>Vegas took advantage of a team hell-bent on acquiring prospects at the 2023 trade deadline, sending Zach Dean to the St. Louis Blues, in exchange for Ivan Barbashev. Barbashev made an immediate impact with the Golden Knights, recording six goals and 16 points in 23 regular season games, before notching seven goals and 18 points in 22 postseason games and was a major part of the Stanley Cup victory. He signed a five-year, $25 million extension for the Golden Knights, which may be one of the most team-friendly deals in the NHL at the moment, as he&#8217;s still a stellar top-six contributor. Vegas and Florida are both among the leading contenders this season and it&#8217;s partly due to the realization that draft capital doesn&#8217;t matter in a win-now window.</p>
<p>Dean, who was the Golden Knights&#8217; first-round pick in 2021, played in nine games for the Blues during the 2023-24 campaign and has been stuck in the AHL for the better part of two seasons.</p>
<h3>Take calculated bets on goaltending, unless you have an established star</h3>
<p>Relatively few people knew who Adin Hill was prior to the 2022-23 season and while conventional wisdom dictates that you need excellent goaltending to win the Stanley Cup, the Golden Knights made a calculated bet on their internal talent. Hill emerged as a solid goaltender throughout the 2022-23 campaign, but when nominal starter Logan Thompson suffered an injury prior to the trade deadline, Vegas went and acquired Jonathan Quick from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Michael Hutchinson and a 2025 seventh-round pick.</p>
<p>Hill rewarded his team&#8217;s faith, playing 27 regular season games, then took on the majority of starts in tandem with Laurent Brossoit during the postseason, posting a sparkling .932 save percentage as the Golden Knights lifted the Cup. Brossoit was Vegas&#8217; starter to begin the postseason, but he suffered a season-ending injury during the second of the playoffs and Hill took over, performing admirably, while Quick served as a backup goaltender with Cup-winning pedigree.</p>
<p>Vegas took some calculated risks and won through trial by fire, as Hill emerged as a bonafide star during the 2023 playoffs and hasn&#8217;t looked back. It was slightly different for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky caught fire during the 2023 playoffs as well and didn&#8217;t look back, carrying his best form throughout the regular season and into the 2024 playoffs, where the Panthers sought to exact revenge. Bobrovsky solidified his Hall of Fame credentials during the postseason, with a .906 save percentage as the Panthers ousted the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.</p>
<p>So, what can the Maple Leafs learn from this? They&#8217;ve already made a <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/joseph-woll-highlights-camaraderie-among-leafs-goaltenders-in-open-competition">smart</a> and <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/maple-leafs-are-placing-calculated-bet-on-small-sample-excellence-in-goal">calculated bet</a> on the Anthony Stolarz-Joseph Woll tandem, while Matt Murray could conceivably play the role of Jonathan Quick as a goaltender with Cup pedigree that can be slotted in as a No.3. Stolarz served as Bobrovsky&#8217;s backup for the 2023-24 season and when healthy, he&#8217;s been arguably the best goaltender in the NHL this season, boasting a 13-5-3 record with a .926 save percentage and 2.20 goals against average. Woll has also been stellar, <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/joseph-woll-elevated-to-leafs-co-mvp-as-injuries-continue-to-pile-up">carrying a true starter&#8217;s workload</a> when Stolarz missed nearly two months while recovering from a procedure on his knee, posting a 21-11-0 record with a .907 save percentage and 2.70 goals against average, prior to Wednesday&#8217;s games.</p>
<p>It appears that Stolarz will enter the playoffs as the starter but if something goes awry, Woll is more than ready to take over, and Murray remains in the system as a plausible backup. Toronto hedged on small sample excellence and now boast elite goaltending, so it&#8217;s incumbent upon Treliving to shed some draft capital for some difference-makers to propel his club over the top this spring.</p>
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
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Although general managers and team executives would often like to think they're reinventing the wheel, the NHL is a copycat league. They may be copying the Cats as well, as several teams are <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/panthers-trade-seth-jones-accelerates-leafs-trade-deadline-clock">trying to emulate the Florida Panthers</a>, who are looking to repeat as Stanley Cup champions while representing the Eastern Conference for the third consecutive year.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
This is the most important season in recent memory for the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/combinations">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> (we're sure you've heard this before!) with Mitch Marner, John Tavares and <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/why-matthew-knies-untouchable-toronto-maple-leafs-trade-talks-nhl-trade-deadline">Matthew Knies requiring new contracts</a>. The window to <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/the-future-does-not-matter-toronto-maple-leafs">win is right now</a>, nine years into Marner and Auston Matthews' tenure with the club. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving is <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/elliotte-friedman-maple-leafs-acquiring-notable-talent-trade-deadline-its-gonna-cost-them">on the phone</a> and may not be reading this, but here are some things that can be learned from the Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights.
<h3>Maximize your contention window by going all-in, draft capital doesn't matter</h3>
It may be a hard sell for your scouting staff, or fans invested in top prospects, but draft capital does not matter for contending teams. It's easy to get attached to certain players and prospects, but unless they're a top-10 pick, chances are that the player won't be contributing to winning immediately. Finding players that match your timeline, whether you're a contending team, or rebuilding team, is paramount, and the worst place to be in the NHL is firmly in the middle.

During last year's deadline, the Panthers correctly assessed that a handful of mid-round picks were worth some key upgrades. Florida traded a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024 and a third-round pick in 2025 to the Ottawa Senators, in exchange for Vladimir Tarasenko. Tarasenko wasn't a home run, but he did record five goals and nine points on a balanced Panthers' third line. Although he signed with the Detroit Red Wings in free agency, you can bet that Bill Zito and Brett Peterson wish him well with a banner hanging at Amerant Bank Arena.

Florida also traded prospect Calle Sjalin and a conditional seventh-round pick in 2024 in exchange for veteran forward Kyle Okposo, who added some depth and was universally beloved in the locker room. Zito, Peterson and the Panthers' brain trust are certainly not regretting the draft capital required to make a few upgrades.

Vegas took advantage of a team hell-bent on acquiring prospects at the 2023 trade deadline, sending Zach Dean to the St. Louis Blues, in exchange for Ivan Barbashev. Barbashev made an immediate impact with the Golden Knights, recording six goals and 16 points in 23 regular season games, before notching seven goals and 18 points in 22 postseason games and was a major part of the Stanley Cup victory. He signed a five-year, $25 million extension for the Golden Knights, which may be one of the most team-friendly deals in the NHL at the moment, as he's still a stellar top-six contributor. Vegas and Florida are both among the leading contenders this season and it's partly due to the realization that draft capital doesn't matter in a win-now window.

Dean, who was the Golden Knights' first-round pick in 2021, played in nine games for the Blues during the 2023-24 campaign and has been stuck in the AHL for the better part of two seasons.
<h3>Take calculated bets on goaltending, unless you have an established star</h3>
Relatively few people knew who Adin Hill was prior to the 2022-23 season and while conventional wisdom dictates that you need excellent goaltending to win the Stanley Cup, the Golden Knights made a calculated bet on their internal talent. Hill emerged as a solid goaltender throughout the 2022-23 campaign, but when nominal starter Logan Thompson suffered an injury prior to the trade deadline, Vegas went and acquired Jonathan Quick from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Michael Hutchinson and a 2025 seventh-round pick.

Hill rewarded his team's faith, playing 27 regular season games, then took on the majority of starts in tandem with Laurent Brossoit during the postseason, posting a sparkling .932 save percentage as the Golden Knights lifted the Cup. Brossoit was Vegas' starter to begin the postseason, but he suffered a season-ending injury during the second of the playoffs and Hill took over, performing admirably, while Quick served as a backup goaltender with Cup-winning pedigree.

Vegas took some calculated risks and won through trial by fire, as Hill emerged as a bonafide star during the 2023 playoffs and hasn't looked back. It was slightly different for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky caught fire during the 2023 playoffs as well and didn't look back, carrying his best form throughout the regular season and into the 2024 playoffs, where the Panthers sought to exact revenge. Bobrovsky solidified his Hall of Fame credentials during the postseason, with a .906 save percentage as the Panthers ousted the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.

So, what can the Maple Leafs learn from this? They've already made a <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/joseph-woll-highlights-camaraderie-among-leafs-goaltenders-in-open-competition">smart</a> and <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/maple-leafs-are-placing-calculated-bet-on-small-sample-excellence-in-goal">calculated bet</a> on the Anthony Stolarz-Joseph Woll tandem, while Matt Murray could conceivably play the role of Jonathan Quick as a goaltender with Cup pedigree that can be slotted in as a No.3. Stolarz served as Bobrovsky's backup for the 2023-24 season and when healthy, he's been arguably the best goaltender in the NHL this season, boasting a 13-5-3 record with a .926 save percentage and 2.20 goals against average. Woll has also been stellar, <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/joseph-woll-elevated-to-leafs-co-mvp-as-injuries-continue-to-pile-up">carrying a true starter's workload</a> when Stolarz missed nearly two months while recovering from a procedure on his knee, posting a 21-11-0 record with a .907 save percentage and 2.70 goals against average, prior to Wednesday's games.

It appears that Stolarz will enter the playoffs as the starter but if something goes awry, Woll is more than ready to take over, and Murray remains in the system as a plausible backup. Toronto hedged on small sample excellence and now boast elite goaltending, so it's incumbent upon Treliving to shed some draft capital for some difference-makers to propel his club over the top this spring.
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
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