Lightning, Panthers, Penguins: Most Impressive Back-to-Back Champions?

The Florida Panthers are the Stanley Cup champions for the second consecutive season, defeating the Edmonton Oilers again in the final round. The Panthers' championship performance marks the third time a franchise has won back-to-back Stanley Cups in the last 10 seasons, joining the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016, 2017) and Tampa Bay Lightning (2020,2021) as the three repeat champions. Each franchise had a dominating run atop the NHL, but the question must be asked: Which back-to-back championship run was the most impressive?

Florida Panthers

Let's start with the most recent and current champs, the Florida Panthers. The defining trait of this squad is peskiness. They contain star power, are awful to play against, smothering defensively, and in sync as a unit in a way no other NHL team is. They dispatched the Connor McDavid-led Oilers in both Stanley Cup Finals, making their competition arguably the stiffest of any recent champion.

The team is led by Aleskander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, the team's best two-way players. Each has exceeded the 20-point plateau in back-to-back years while being the tone-setters for their lineup.

They also received quality secondary and depth scoring. During the 2024 run, they had three 20+ point scorers, and followed that up with six 20+ point scorers in 2025. Forwards Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart, and Carter Verhaege also provided at least 20 points each during the most recent win. Bennett's 15 goals during the 2025 playoffs are the most in a single postseason of any of these six championship seasons.

Then there's the goaltending work of Vezina Trophy-winner Sergei Bobrovsky. He's played every game in the last two playoffs, posting a goals-against average of 2.33 in 2024 and a 2.20 in 2025. His save percentages were .906 in 2024 and .914 in 2025.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning took over the NHL in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they wouldn't be stopped until the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals. The team was headlined by Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, and superstar goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

The Lightning were, no pun intended, electric during their reign. Kucherov's offensive performance was unmatched by anyone else in this discussion. During the 2020 postseason, he recorded 34 points in 25 games and posted 32 points in 23 games the following year.

Vasilevskiy is the biggest advantage the Lightning's championship team had. Still arguably the top or one of the top-3 netminders in the world, he was at his peak during these two Cup runs. His goals-against average in the 2020 playoffs was an absurd 1.90. His 2021 GAA was the exact same as he captured the Conn Smythe for the first time in his career.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Back-to-back championships erased any doubts regarding Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin's legacies. After a 2009 Stanley Cup run prefaced seven years of disappointing playoff exits, the Penguins ascended the mountain again in 2016 and 2017, defeating the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators to capture the Cup. Crosby was named the Conn Smythe winner as the MVP in both postseasons, recording 46 points in 48 games.

The thing that defined these two years was their patience and opportunism. The first game of the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals was the perfect example. The team went without a shot for nearly 30 minutes of game time, withstanding the Nashville Predators' offensive attack. All it took was one shot from winger Jake Guentzel to break the shotless streak, put the team in front, and give them all they needed to shut things down.

Their power play was also a resounding success for two years straight, thanks to winger Phil Kessel. He led the NHL in power-play goals in 2016 and 2017, scoring five goals with the man advantage in both postseasons.

Their offensive numbers are the lowest of the three back-to-back winners, but to write them off strictly because of that would be overlooking how they won both championships. Their defense was suffocating, allowing an average of 2.29 and 2.28 goals per game during those two seasons.

This question is like asking a parent to pick their favorite child. Each equally deserves the same love and adoration, but there's probably one slightly rising above the rest. In this scenario, it's the Panthers. Call it recency bias, but between the competition they overcame, the two-way production from their entire lineup, and their stellar goaltending, the Panthers' current championship reign is the most impressive of the recent back-to-back Stanley Cup winners.