SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers already know one thing that will be different going into next season. Expectations will not be low.

That’s a welcome change.

Progress, and a lot of it, was made this season by the Panthers. They had their best regular season winning percentage in franchise history, but still couldn’t get out of the first round of the playoffs — so it’s now 25 years and counting since Florida won a postseason series.

They’re convinced the long-awaited breakthrough is closer than ever.

“There’s a lot of positives,” Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. “You’re always looking to get better. Can’t be satisfied with the improvement that we did have this year, which was significant. And hey, let’s keep thinking that’s the rate we want to keep getting better at.”

Florida got at least one point in 42 of its 56 regular season games, won 37 of them outright and was even a contender for the President’s Trophy until the season’s final weeks. But the Panthers didn’t have enough answers for Tampa Bay in the playoffs, falling in six games to the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

“That’s why your parents put you on the skates when you’re 3 or 4 years old, to play in these types of games,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said a few minutes after the season ended. “I enjoyed every second. We lost games, we won games, I enjoyed every second.”

When the final horn sounded, Barkov quickly made his way to the Panthers’ net and greeted goalie Spencer Knight. That’s a scene the Panthers want to see repeated tons of times over the coming years.

Florida’s goaltending was shaky in the first four games, with Sergei Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger both struggling. The Panthers then turned to Knight, a 20-year-old rookie who — in a five-month span — went from backstopping USA Hockey in the world junior championships on the way to a gold medal, then playing for Boston College in the NCAA tournament, then trying to save Florida’s season against the Stanley Cup champs.

Florida’s plan for Knight, after he turned pro this spring, was to play him in one game to get the debut out of the way. He wound up going 5-1-0 with a 2.23 goals-against average, more than proving he can handle the big stage.

“It was good just to get a taste of what playoffs are like,” Knight said. “I was trying to help the team win — that was my priority — and to have fun while I was doing it. So, I think, a couple weeks after I kind of decompress I’ll look back on it, but for now, obviously, it’s tough.”

Driedger (.927 save percentage, 20.07 GAA) is a free agent, and with plenty of teams needing a No. 1 option — along with an expansion draft for Seattle looming — it would seem most unlikely that he’s back. Bobrovsky has five years left on his $70 million deal, and Knight is Florida’s future in net.

General manager Bill Zito, in his first year with Florida, reshaped the roster while keeping the core of key players like Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau intact. He’ll have much to figure out this summer, especially with restricted free agents like Sam Bennett, who Quenneville raves about.

“We had a good team this year,” said Huberdeau, Florida’s leading scorer with 61 points in 55 regular season games, then again with 10 more points in then six playoff games against Tampa Bay. “We had a lot more depth. … I like our group. I like the chemistry in the room, on the ice. I like what we’re doing. It just didn’t go our way in this series but we’re optimistic for next year.”

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