During the Headlines segment of Hockey Night in Canada Saturday, Sportsnet reporter Elliotte Friedman reported that the Florida Panthers and center Sam Bennett have opened contract talks but stressed nothing is imminent.
A lot of teams will be watching the negotiations to see whether the gritty center with plenty of offensive pop will become an unrestricted free agent or if Bennett’s contract value will set the market.
Bennett, 29, is in the final year of a four-year, $17.7 million deal he signed with the Panthers following the 2021 season.
The Panthers acquired him from the Calgary Flames at the 2021 NHL trade deadline in exchange for prospect Emil Heineman and a 2022 second-round pick. The Panthers also included a sixth-round pick in the deal after Calgary decided it would not re-sign Bennett.
Panthers GM Bill Zito has been locking up his core for the long term.
“Going back to their banner-raising season opener, the Florida Panthers–in addition to celebrating the Stanley Cup that night–signed a critical piece of their team, Carter Verhaeghe, to an eight-year extension,” said Friedman.
“In the aftermath of that, they have begun negotiations with another very important piece of their roster, Sam Bennett. Now, there’s nothing to report at this point in time in terms of being close to a deal or anything like that … according to several people I’ve spoken to, there appears to be the ability to make a deal here, but nothing is done until it’s done.”
Despite bigger projections, Bennett never found his footing in Calgary.
He scored 18 goals with 18 assists in his rookie year (2015-16) but didn’t equal either total again in six more seasons with Calgary.
Bennett has exceeded that point total in each of his three seasons with the Panthers. Last season, Bennett scored 20 goals with 21 assists in 69 games, helping the Panthers to their first Stanley Cup championship.
“We’ll see where it goes from here, but lots of teams are watching to see if Bennett hits the open market,” concluded Friedman