By Jordan McPherson
Miami Herald
(TNS)
As the Florida Panthers prepare for their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final and attempt to win a second consecutive championship, there has been a lot of talk in hockey circles recently how a select group of teams possibly have an upper hand in the NHL because they play in states without an income tax.
This applies to six teams: the Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken.
So naturally, the topic was addressed to Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito on Tuesday during the team’s media day ahead of their Cup Final rematch against the Edmonton Oilers.
Zito, who since being hired ahead of the 2020-21 season has taken the Panthers from a team that hadn’t won a playoff series since reaching the Cup Final in 1996 to being one of the last two teams standing each of the past three years, scoffed at the notion that the lack of in-state tax is the primary reason for Florida’s success, calling it “marginal at best.”
“I think the most important thing for us in attracting players is I think the players have understood now how much we’ve been empowered by ownership to try to do the right things,” Zito said. “And it can’t be overstated what the Viola family has done for us to allow us to implement [what we need]. We need a new practice facility? ‘OK. Here you go.’ And it’s beautiful. And to allow us the flexibility to try to do the things that we think are necessary to try to win and to try to have an excellent organization. I think the players feed on that. They know that if the chicken isn’t right that we’re going to get new chicken. And it sort of transcends all that we do. It sounds silly, but it’s true and it’s real. The sun doesn’t kill us. It’s a nice environment to live in. It’s a good place for families. It’s a good place for singles. It’s got a little something for everybody and I’ll point to [coach] Paul [Maurice] and the coaching staff and that room. Players know—I’m not going to go through each one—but so many of the players who have come to us have had career years, and it’s a function of the coaches in the room. Players from the outside think that the tax thing is marginal at best, and I think the real reasons are that we’re trying to figure out a way to do our best to try to win.”
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©2025 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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Tags: Florida, Florida Panthers, Income Taxes, NHL, state income tax, Taxes
