How to Build a Stanley Cup Champion in the Salary Cap Era

What does it take to win a Stanley Cup team in the modern era of the NHL?

The Florida Panthers are the 2024 Stanley Cup champions, and they achieved their glory against arguably the best rendition of the Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers that we have ever seen. Suffering through the adversity of losing three contests consecutively after taking a 3-0 series lead, Florida had to go through a lot to win their very first championship in a do-or-die Game 7. What was the formula that they followed to achieve such an incredible feat?

Nathan MacKinnon and Steven Stamkos (The Hockey Writers)

Since the salary cap was implemented for the 2005-06 season, the landscape of the league has certainly changed. Let’s take a look at some of the criteria that a lot of teams that have gone the distance had on their squad.

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At Least One Borderline Superstar Forward

Almost every Stanley Cup champion since the 2005-06 season has had a borderline superstar—or greater—forward. It can be somewhat subjective as to what qualifies as a “borderline superstar,” but generally they’ll be one of the best in the NHL at some broad trait—their scoring ability, chance creation, hockey IQ, two-way play, etc. As a rule of thumb, we’ll only include forwards who were at least a point-per-game scorer in the regular season or led the postseason in points to not make our criteria too broad.