SUNRISE, Fla. - The National Hockey League announced today that Florida Panthers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Zito has been named a finalist for the 2024-25 Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, presented annually 'to the League’s most outstanding general manager.' The other finalists for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award are Kevin Cheveldayoff (Winnipeg Jets) and Jim Nill (Dallas Stars).
This nomination represents Zito’s fourth finalist nomination for GM of the year in five years at the helm of the Florida Panthers, with the Cats advancing to at least the second round of the playoffs in each of the last four seasons. Zito’s Panthers are facing off against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, marking Florida’s third consecutive appearance in the conference final.
Through the first two rounds of the postseason, 17 different Panthers scored at least one goal, and 21 Florida skaters posted at least one point, while five different Cats recorded at least 10 points. The Panthers owned an 89.5% penalty kill (34/38) while averaging 3.75 goals per game, surrendering just 2.42 goals against per game through the first two rounds.
Following their championship campaign last season, Zito immediately set to work to ensure the core pieces of Florida’s Stanley Cup-winning team would remain in South Florida for years to come.
- Sam Reinhart signed an eight-year contract extension following his 57-goal regular-season campaign and 10-goal postseason run, including the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against Edmonton. Reinhart followed up his stellar 2024 campaign by once again leading Florida in goals (39), power-play goals (13), shorthanded goals (5) and points (81) and was named with Panthers Captain Aleksander Barkov as finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy awarded annually “to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game,” becoming the first pair of teammates nominated as finalists for the award since Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg in 2007-08. Reinhart led all Panthers with six points (2-4-6) in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning and added five more (2-3-5) against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round.
- Carter Verhaeghe signed an eight-year extension after leading Florida with 11 goals in the 2024 postseason and 72 points in the regular season, following up that campaign with his fourth consecutive 20-goal season in 2024-25. Verhaeghe logged eight points (4-4-8) through two rounds in the 2025 postseason.
- Anton Lundell signed a six-year contract extension after recording the fourth-most points (17) on Florida during their 2024 postseason run and followed upon that performance with a career-high 45 points (17-28-45) in the 2024-25 regular season. Through two rounds of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Lundell compiled 10 points (4-6-10) and a plus-nine rating in 12 games.
- Dmitry Kulikov agreed to a four-year contract extension, and the former 2009 Panthers draft selection who had assisted on Reinhart’s Stanley Cup-winning goal skating in all 24 postseason games last year logged a plus-12 rating over 70 games and registered 13 points (4-9-13) in 2024-25. Kulikov produced four points (1-3-4) through the first two rounds in the 2025 playoffs.
In addition to retaining Florida’s top talent, Zito and his staff spent the 2024 offseason reinforcing the Panthers after losing several key pieces of their Stanley Cup-winning team in free agency. Florida signed veteran blueliners Nate Schmidt and Jaycob Megna as well as forwards A.J. Greer, Jesper Boqvist and Tomas Nosek. Schmidt contributed 19 points (5-14-19) from the blueline skating in 80 games and tied for the team lead in goals by a defenseman through the first two rounds of the postseason with three (3-4-7 in 12 GP). Greer led Florida with 222 hits in the regular season recording a career-best 17 points (6-11-17), while Boqvist also recorded a career-high 23 points (12-11-23) ) in the regular season before agreeing to terms on a two-year contract extension with the club.
At the NHL trade deadline, Zito made major moves to solidify the Panthers depth for another long postseason run in acquiring Seth Jones, Brad Marchand, Nico Sturm and Vitek Vanecek.
In the regular season, Jones skated in 21 games with Florida posting nine points while logging 24:55 time on ice, the most on the Cats during the final quarter of the campaign. Through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Jones averaged a team-high 25:45 time on ice while contributing six points (3-3-6) over 12 games, including two points (1-1-2) in Game 7 vs. Toronto.
Marchand skated in 10 regular season games with the Cats after recovering from injury and tied for the team lead in the postseason through the first two rounds with 12 points (3-9-12) alongside his linemate Eetu Luostarinen (3-9-12). Their line centered by Lundell (4-6-10) combined for 34 points and a plus-31 rating across Florida’s first 12 playoff games in 2025. Luostarinen amassed four points (1-3-4) in the series-clinching Game 5 at Tampa Bay and Marchand led Florida with three points (1-2-3) in Game 7 vs. Toronto.
Sturm appeared in 15 regular season games with Florida and seven playoff games, averaging three minutes of shorthanded time on ice per game in the postseason led all Florida forwards through the first two rounds. Vanecek posted a shutout in his first regular season game with the Panthers on March 8 vs. Buffalo, stopping all 21 shots he faced.
2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Final single game tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at SeatGeek.com or at Amerant Bank Arena Box Office (Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Fans interested in Season Ticket Memberships for the 2025-26 season are encouraged to join the waitlist by clicking here, visiting FloridaPanthers.com/tickets or by calling PUCK line (954.835.PUCK).
