Former Wisconsin Badgers law grad and men’s hockey grad assistant Bill Zito won the Stanley Cup on Monday night with the Florida Panthers. The Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7. With the win, it was the first Stanley Cup Title in the history of the franchise.
A @WisconsinLaw grad and former Badger men’s hockey grad assistant coach raised the Stanley Cup last night
Congrats to Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/qn6rnAjx9s
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) June 25, 2024
Florida had a 3-0 series lead against Edmonton, but the Oilers won the next three games to force a Game 7. It was the first time since 1945 where a team trailed 0-3 in the Stanley Cup Finals and forced a Game 7. The only time a team trailed 0-3 in the finals and won it all was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings.

Bill Zito constructed the Florida Panthers as one of the best teams in the NHL teams this season. He is the general manager of this hockey team and they hope they could go back-to-back next season.
Wisconsin Badgers Bill Zito Has Decisions To Make With the Florida Panthers Roster This Offseason After the Stanley Cup Title

There will be decisions that Zito will have to make with the roster for the 2024-2025 season and beyond. A few free agents that played a pivotal role to the team this season were Nick Cousins, Sam Reinhart, Vladimir Tarasenko, Brandon Montour, and Anthony Stolarz.
It is quite possible that Stolarz will not be re-signed because they will want Spencer Knight to take the backup role to Sergei Bobrovsky eventually. Florida will need to do everything possible to keep Sam Reinhart around for next season and beyond. He had 57 goals and 37 assists during the regular season and also scored the game-winning goal in the Stanley Cup Final.

Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov are two of the main players on the Florida Panthers. Another thing to watch for with the Panthers is a Kyle Okposo retirement. He is 36 years old. Okposo was with the Buffalo Sabres and the New York Islanders before coming to Florida.
Anton Lundell will be a restricted free agent. Lundell is only 22 years old and general manager Bill Zito needs to keep him around for the long haul because Anton Lundell has a lot of potential. As long as Zito is making the decisions for this franchise, they will be in championship contention for a long time.