Yeah, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks made it to the Stanley Cup finals last season, but they weren't the first little-team-that-could-in-a-untraditional-hockey-market story of the NHL.

2002-03 BY THE NUMBERS

Record: 24-36-13-9, 70 pts. (27th overall, 13th East, 4th Southeast); Home: 8-21-7-5; Road: 16-15-6-4 Goals for/Avg.: 176/2.15 (29th overall) Goals against/Avg.: 237/2.89 (Tied 24th overall) Differential: Minus-61 (28th overall) Power play: 14.1 percent (49-347, 24th overall) Penalty kill: 81.5 percent (66-356, 26th overall) 20-goal scorers: Olli Jokinen (36), Viktor Kozlov (22), Kristian Huselius (20) 50-point scorers: Jokinen (65), Kozlov (56)

It wasn't THAT long ago when the Florida Panthers were the toast of South Florida -- and the NHL -- when they knocked off the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and the Lemieux-and-Jagr led Pittsburgh Penguins en route to the Stanley Cup finals.

That was 1996.

Since then, Florida has made the postseason twice, in 1997 and 2000. But the Panthers have fallen off the competitive map as of late in what has become a two-team Southeast Division (Capitals vs. Lightning or Capitals vs. Hurricanes, take your pick).

The Panthers' woes continued in 2002-03 with a third-straight sub-.500 season. It ended with a 1-14 stretch at home, a skid that sent coach Mike Keenan into a mini-tirade, calling his team's play "inexcusable."

But what was Keenan expecting? He knows the Panthers are going to be a project -- they sported the youngest team in the league last season, with an average age of 25, and only one player, Igor Ulanov, over the age of 30. (Quite the contrast to the expansion team that boasted seasoned veterans like John Vanbiesbrouck, Brian Skrudland and Scott Mellanby when it debuted in 1993-94.)

And unlike that inaugural team, the "veterans" Keenan and general manager Rick Dudley have to build the team around are Roberto Luongo and Viktor Kozlov.

But considering what Dudley made out of the Lightning, and the busy offseason the Panthers have had, the tide might slowly be turning. But will the Panthers be a contender again?

Looking at next season
It's been a busy offseason for the Panthers, and the movement likely has gone unnoticed by most. For the second straight year, the team traded away the top overall pick in the NHL draft. After swapping picks with the Penguins and receiving winger Mikael Samuelsson with the trade, Florida used the No. 3 selection on Nathan Horton, a tough, gritty forward from Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League.

Dudley also sent three lower-round picks to his former team, Tampa Bay, and used the No. 25 overall pick on forward Anthony Stewart, who ironically broke Horton's jaw during a fight in junior last year. There is no ill will between the two friends.

The other key move was the acquisition of winger Eric Messier and Vaclav Nedorost from the Colorado Avalanche. While the Panthers gave up a fan favorite in Peter Worrell, they couldn't afford the physical winger's inconsistencies and rising pricetag.

While Messier, 29, doesn't rack up the numbers -- he didn't need to in Colorado -- he's someone who adds a physical but responsible presence, like Skrudland did way back when. Messier will fight along the boards, rush the net and will drop like a dime to block a flying puck in front of Luongo.

But even with those additions, other things need to happen for the Panthers if they want to achieve any success in 2003-04.

First, Luongo must pick up where he left off with Team Canada during the World Championship in May. He made 37 saves in Canada's win over Sweden for the gold and all but erased any doubts that he is one of hockey's premier goaltenders. While he has yet to record a winning season for the Panthers, not all the blame can be put on the 6-foot-3, 205-pound netminder. The Panthers have lacked a big-game, veteran defenseman -- no one expected rookie Jay Bouwmeester to save the world in his first season -- which has left Luongo vulnerable.

Luongo was second only to Columbus netminder Marc Denis in shots faced last season (2,011), and there is little reason to think that will change dramatically, as the Panthers' defensive corps is still developing. Last season, Dudley traded away high-priced veterans Dmitry Yushkevich (to L.A. on Nov. 26) and Sandis Ozolinsh (to Anaheim on Jan. 30) for younger and cheaper models Andreas Lilja and Pavel Trnka.

Mathieu Biron and Branislav Mezei, who missed significant time because of injuries, earned promotions from the minors but right now would be hard pressed to crack the top six on most teams. With original Panther Paul Laus' future in the air -- he missed all of last season with a wrist injury -- and Ivan Majesky traded to Atlanta at the draft, there are still a few spots to fill.

Prospect Filip Novak, who was acquired from the Rangers in the Pavel Bure trade at the 2002 deadline and turned in an All-Rookie team performance in the American Hockey League last season, could make the jump, but the Panthers still are in need of a veteran. There are candidates on the free-agent market. The challenge for Dudley will be finding the one who realizes that the Cup contenders aren't going to call and will be content in helping mold a young team.

Second, the Panthers need consistent scoring from Kozlov and Olli Jokinen, their top two producers from last season who both recently inked one-year deals.

Jokinen is coming off a career year, during which he led the Panthers with 36 goals, 13 power-play goals and 65 points. He'll be hungry in the new season, driven to prove last season wasn't a fluke. Kozlov, who has been with the team since 1997-98, reached the 50-point mark for the third time in the last five seasons with 22 goals and 34 assists.

Winger Kristian Huselius posted his second 20-goal season in just his second year in the league and there is reason to believe he can produce even more. Matt Cullen, acquired in the Ozolinsh trade, scored six goals in 30 games as the Panthers' second-line center after netting seven in 50 games with the Ducks, mostly as a left winger. Center Stephen Weiss, the No. 4 pick in 2001, will be thrown in the deep end again after scoring 6 goals and 21 points during his first full NHL season.

Valeri Bure also returns, and not for a smaller price (he goes from $2.9M to $3.1M), after being plucked off the waiver wire from the Blues. Another Bure with knee problems, it would be nice if he could return to his All-Star caliber self of 1999-00, when he had 35 goals and 75 points with the Flames.

Outside of Pavel Bure, the Panthers have never had a true superstar to lean on, which might be a good thing. The NHL of late has shown that a plethora of stars doesn't lead you to the promised land.

Instead, Keenan will try and mold a gritty group of players into a contender. A situation that's not that far off from 1996.

Joy Russo is a news editor for ESPN.com.