Brandon Bussi: The One That Got Away From the Panthers

After winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, the Florida Panthers spent the Stanley Cup Playoffs on their sofas after finishing the 2025-26 season with a 40-38-4 record and 84 points. This was the first time the team failed to qualify for the postseason since 2018.

On Sunday night, the Carolina Hurricanes shut out the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 to claim their second-ever Stanley Cup and their first since beating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in 2006. The person in net: Brandon Bussi, a former Panthers prospect who became the first goaltender since 1937 to record a Cup-clinching shutout as a rookie. Did the Panthers give up on him too soon?

Bussi’s Origin

Bussi was undrafted and came into the league in March 2023 with the Boston Bruins after spending three years with Western Michigan of the NCAA. He spent his entire time with the Bruins organization playing for their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Providence Bruins, suiting up for 111 games across four seasons with 63 wins, a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.60, a save percentage (SV%) of .916 and eight shutouts.

On July 1 of last year, he signed a one-year deal with the Panthers as an unrestricted free agent (UFA). But like his time in Boston, he never suited up for a regular-season game in Florida. After preseason and training camp, he was placed on waivers to get some playing time with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, but was claimed by the Hurricanes on Oct. 5.

He suited up for 39 games for the Hurricanes during the regular season, earning a 2.47 GAA and a .895 SV%, but he stood out in the final round of the playoffs. In three Stanley Cup Final games with the Hurricanes, he won three, posted a 1.60 GAA and a .931 SV% with a shutout. As a result, he’ll have his name etched on the Stanley Cup. With the struggles in the crease for Florida, they could’ve used a great performance from him for a playoff push.

Panthers’ Goaltending Situation

Last season, the Panthers traded goaltender Spencer Knight in a package deal to the Chicago Blackhawks for defenseman Seth Jones. That move has left them with a question mark between the pipes, especially since this summer, both their goaltenders, Sergei Bobrovsky and Danill Tarasov, are set to become free agents.

There hasn’t been any word on Tarasov, and the talks with Bobrovsky have reportedly gone south. The only move the team has made regarding shoring up their goaltending was extending prospect Cooper Black a little over a week ago. It’s possible that if general manager Bill Zito had never placed Bussi on waivers, their goaltending issue could’ve been fixed before it ever became one.

Waiving Bussi Is in the Past

In the end, it worked out for Bussi, who earned his starts and will likely be the new starter in Raleigh next season. But that doesn’t change the fact that Zito has a goaltending problem on his hands.

Given how their netminder situation turned out after trading Knight, it feels as if it could’ve been avoided. Someone young with something to prove and capable of going on a hot streak could’ve been the starter for a few years at a low cost to the organization. But no one has a crystal ball, and the moves have already been set in stone. Now, Zito could be seeing Bussi as the one that got away.